Hello hi
The best way to learn is to experience...in the time that i've been practising as a textiles design artist i've had a lot of people even friends ask why I don't dedicate some of my time to sharing the skills that I have. They suggested going to schools and teaching a few kids what I know in terms of art and design and being the person that I am i've always said "no i'm too shy", "no public speaking is not for me" or "no I wouldn't have time" and a lot of other excuses. That changed when I got a call from The Swallows Foundation SA, offering an opportunity to work with crafters from different Eastern Cape villages.
At the time of the call I was working as a retail assistant in the fourth month of the six months I had given myself to quit. I had just gotten that first big order I wrote about in the previous post and struggling to make time to start with the order. So...to cut the long story
short... I accepted the offer, gave in my weeks notice a few days later, and with only three weeks left to start this new chapter I had to finish the bag order, deliver and prepare to be away for the next three months.
The offer
So...The Swallows Foundation SA which is also known as Isiseko Senkonjane is an organisation based in the Nelson Mandela Bay, it helps with developing arts and culture in the Eastern Cape.
For this particular project with the help of two textile design artists ,myself and Ziphozihle Rapiya, the organisation is visiting three regions namely Hamburg, Queenstown and Gcobo, to work with crafters in villages in around these regions to assist with product development. So...using the materials they already have we would think of ways to enhance their end product by modernising them using different design methods and techniques.
For this particular project with the help of two textile design artists ,myself and Ziphozihle Rapiya, the organisation is visiting three regions namely Hamburg, Queenstown and Gcobo, to work with crafters in villages in around these regions to assist with product development. So...using the materials they already have we would think of ways to enhance their end product by modernising them using different design methods and techniques.
Our first stop-Hamburg
The first place we went to was Hamburg this is where we would rest our heads after a long day of work Emagqubeni (what the locals call the area we stay in within Hamburg),we would spend a month between two villages that are around Hamburg, namely Wesley and Loverstwist.
Week 1- Wesley Villagers
We spent the weekend preparing for our first day with the Wesley group of ladies that work under an NGO Nceduluntu run by Colette, they are divided into two groups one does cute little needle felted sheep and the other group makes beautifully hand woven carpets.
Like I mentioned before as one of my excuses...I'm no public speaker...the nerves were killing me, our sessions started with a prayer and that made things a lot better. Both groups of ladies ,weavers and felters, were in one room working together. We began with inspiration/mood boards, for this the ladies had to each look through magazines and collect images of items they liked and of ones they saw themselves creating. This exercise was for them to see and learn different ways of getting inspiration, that they could use everything anything as inspiration.
Divided into 5 groups they had to stick down the images collected.
Beautiful work!!! Everyone enjoyed themselves and a lot of them grasped the concept of putting their ideas on paper for later reference.
Our next exercise involved developing patterns and this was done by choosing a shape and repeating it and playing around with it until it formed some kind of a pattern, one could use more than one shape, in different sizes.
So...some understood and some not so much, there were a few that kept complaining about their eyes and not being able to see properly, what I forgot to mention was that we were working with elderly people so that was to be expected. With all of that all of them were willing to give this a try. Using these drawings the next step we went to was fabric painting, here each person was given a chance to simplify their drawing and this was done by using view finders (a square or rectangular piece of paper that has its middle cut open into a smaller square).
This little piece of paper helps with focusing on a small section of a bigger picture. The ladies were asked to choose a section they like from their drawings using their view finders, they would then repeat what they see within the view finder on another bigger piece of paper before painting it on fabric.
And so the painting began... given A3 size pieces of fabric they had to paint their patterns.
Next was something I had done before but had unfortunately forgotten how to do..oopsie. Knitting and crocheting. Some already knew how to and that made things a little easier and I found myself being taught a thing or two aswell.
On the following exercise the ladies had to develop weaving patterns. We showed them a few examples from simple ones which included a pattern they were using already to much complicated ones which they would attempt themselves on graph paper. The graphed pattern would then be attempted on a weaving loom later.
The ladies were ladies were divided- the weavers went to set up their looms to weave the new patterns they had come up with. From what they had woven they were expected to make other products besides carpets, maybe cushions, bags, throws etc.
The needle felters were challenged to produce bigger sheep and other animals that complimented each other.
That's the end of week1, I'll post week2 and week3 soon. Bye for now.
