Well, I'm back from Europe. Amsterdam, Utrecht and Vilnius were awesome places to visit. I finally got to meet in person all of my International Facebook dye and felt friends. Wonderful sights to see and food to eat. It was very, very heartwarming to see how friendly and giving people can be. Everything possible was done to make me feel welcome. For this I thank all of you. The weather was a bit chilly for a Floridian, but true to her nature, Ingrid Garrod made me a gift of a hand-felted Beret to keep my head warm. Fabienne Dorsman-Rey shared opening her bundles with me and her husband Peter fixed one of the finest Quiche Lorraines I have ever tasted. Several of my felting/dyeing friends made pages for a book with samples of the work they do in silk and wool. It was truly beautiful.
I was able to find a Yarn shop in Amsterdam that sold absolutely marvelous wool, silk and linen threads and yarns. What a find! Of course, I had to have some, and even stated stitching on my eco dyed shawl with one of the threads as I traveled around. A few trips to the Noordmarkt in Amsterdam, the Lapjesmarkt in Utrecht left me with a good supply of cottons and linen that will keep me in the dyepots for quite a while.
I landed in Vilnius, Lithuania on a dark snowy Easter night. Even though I had missed an earlier flight, I was met by Giedra Dagiliene at the airport and escorted to my hotel. I so appreciated being met by someone. Thank you so much Giedra.
The presentation of my work at the Seskines Secondary School to a group of Art teachers, students and artists, was wonderful. When it comes to art, language is not really a barrier at all. I'd like to thank all of the people to attended, giving up part of their Easter Holiday and some traveling pretty far, to come see my work and to share an interest in the natural dyeing and printing. My piece titled "Vilnius" was well received and many questions were asked about processes. It was another wonderful day of sharing of friendship, food and art. Thank you Giedra and Company.
It is good to be back home, with many memories and many photos to relive them. I wish all of you good dyeing.
you sound as if you had a wonderful time james. It is so great to hear that the people l am "friends" with on the net and l think are amazing...are so in "real" life!...hope to share some of your images with you once you are settled back home. Lynda
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lynda. They truly are an amazing group of people, generous of time and processes and friendship. We are part of a wonderful world-wide community. I wish everyone could get to travel at least once to someplace they have never been and meet up with friends who share their experiences and joys of working.
ReplyDeleteThe sheer beauty I witnesses first hand, make me want to run for my paintbrushes again or grab handfuls of wool roving and begin a new felt project.
As soon as I feel better, I will post some pics of my trip here.
Oh what a fabulous trip!,
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way as Lynda - its nice to know that the people I've already grown to know and love in the group are genuinely that terrific!
Wow: it sounds like you've been under the weather for a while now. Please take care and get well soon!
xo,
Judy Carpenter
My pneumonia problems are over, The Dr. changed my medicines and I am recovering from the bout with Hypertension. I just need to slow down a little bit. The trip was fabulous, and it was so great to meet and talk with my dye friends on Facebook and to be able to find fabulous fabrics and threads that I can't buy here. I wish everyone the good fortune of getting to travel somewhere they have never been and to have such a great time as I had. What a huge amount of information we were able to share!
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