November notes
In case you hadn’t heard, Christmas is Coming, so ….. following our recent successful Collage Card Connection project and the auction of online auction of cards last month - we raised almost £4000! for the charity Women for Women! - we have been thinking hard about how to best use the remaining collages to raise additional funds.
The idea we have decided on is to offer sets of 3 randomly chosen, A5 collages for the set price of 20€ (this will include p&p.). There are some absolutely fabulous cards left to win, each one of which would make a unique friendship gift. Included also with each set will be an envelope with the name and address of one of the original contributors and the suggestion that the card of your choice forwarded as a gesture of kindness and appreciation (optional). Whether or not you managed to win a Collage Card at our recent auction, this is a wonderful, seasonal way to continue the creative “connection” generated by this project, and at the same time raise extra funds for the charity, Women for Women.
ANNOUNCING FIRST OUT OF THE HAT! Collage contributor Debra H from Australia has been invited to join us as a guest at one of our workshops next year! Well done Debra and we look forward to meeting you!
Dear Les Soeurs Anglaises
Thank you, and all who contributed to the Collage Card Connection, for your generous donation of 3730,20€ to Women for Women International. Your donation will help more women survivors of war find their voice, seize their power and rebuild their lives. When women enrol on Women for Women’s programmes they find the support, solidarity and practical tools to help them realise their power. They learn to save money, build businesses, understand their rights, improve their health, and change social norms. They pass on this knowledge to their families and communities – sharing their power to create a world that is more equal, peaceful, and prosperous for everyone….. Thank you so much for being a part of it. In deepest gratitude, Sara Bowcutt
Managing Director – Women for Women International – UK
2. Ava Roth is a Toronto-based encaustic painter, embroiderer and mixed-media artist who for the past several years has been working almost exclusively with beeswax, foraged wood, birch bark, foliage and horsehair creating incredible collages often suspended in embroidery hoops. The work explores the boundaries of where humans collide with the natural environment, and imagines a more beautiful outcome of our encounter.
3. There’s something about the beautiful work of Jacqui Mair that is both soothing and nostalgic. Her combination of essentially domestic subject matter and unexpected colour mixes may look obvious at first sight, but as she says, “It takes time; the paper choice, the subject matter, the process of layering. The affection for paper runs deep, the papers I paste play together, they fight and their surfaces, whether five months, five years, or fifty years old, must sit seamlessly together.”
Jacqui will be sharing her wealth of creative experience, skills and vision at a workshop here in June of next year. Like all our events, numbers are limited but this is something not to be missed….
Still Life Beyond the Window with Jacqui Mair
5 days / 6 nights / 8TH TO 14TH JUNE 2022
4. The fashion industry is one of the major polluting industries in the world. The production and distribution of the crops, fibers, and garments used in fashion all contribute to differing forms of environmental pollution, including water, air and soil pollution. The textile industry is the second greatest polluter of local freshwater in the world, and is culpable for roughly one-fifth of all industrial water pollution caused by the vast overproduction of fashion items, the use of synthetic fibres, and the agricultural pollution of fashion crops.
It’s reassuring to discover that many of the young designers are addressing these issues. Sidiso Khumalo is a sustainable textile designer based in Cape Town who has spoken at the United Nations on sustainability in fashion and is currently working closely with the International Trade Centre Ethical Fashion Initiative.
5. Sorry, just could not resist this one……
6. Want to be brave with colour? Just follow the chromatic boldness of the Maasai Mara, or the West African cultures that have been weaving textiles for thousands of years. Kente, which means "basket" and references its basket-like pattern, is woven on a wooden loom in which multiple threads of dyed fabric are pressed together, each colour with its own symbolic reference - yellow is preciousness, royalty, wealth, fertility, beauty; blue is peacefulness, harmony, and love etc.. It is thought to have originated in Ghana before the 11th century, with excavations in the region showing instruments such as spindles, whorls, and loom weights.
7. Oh, my word, I love this man’s work! Areez Katki is an artist & writer who draws from historic and social research to explore his genetic landscapes via processes that include embroidery, weaving, painting, sculpture and printmaking. Born into a Persian Zoroastrian family, his practice addresses the social constructs of spirituality, postcolonial identity and sexuality while, at the same time, raising questions about the political nature of craft itself—employing textiles as an anchoring device to illustrate the migratory condition; he also writes poetry and short stories….. talk about multi-talented.
8. Local architect and good friend, Elizabeth Faure, decided at the age of 68, to build her own A frame house on a very limited budget. And when I say, “build her own…..”, she literally laid the foundations, lifted the rafters, fitted the windows and everything in-between whilst dealing with the Kafka-esque bureaucracy of French building regs. She is an inspiration to us all when we feel a tad aged and inadequate, and a great example of the virtue of persistence. Watch the film and smile…..
9. A few years back we were delighted to host a Poetry Workshop led by Roger McGough. Turn full circle and Chris Grimes, our Instant Wit guru, did a recent podcast with said Roger for his series, “The Good Listening To Podcast” that is regularly featured on UK Health Radio. Chris is always a joy to listen to as he feeds his guests leading questions such as: What's the best piece of advice that you've ever been given? What's your favourite inspirational quote? And what advice might you proffer to a younger version of yourself?
at Les Soeurs Anglaises in May next year to run another of his not-to-be-missed Comedy Impro events.
Laughter Lab III with InstantWit
12TH TO 16TH MAY 2022 / 4 WORKSHOP DAYS : 5 NIGHTS
10.
AXIS MUNDI
The point at which heaven and earth meet.
There are other definitions. But think about this one.
Better yet, think of it this way:
"A" point at which heaven and earth meet.
There is a point at the base of a baby's neck where heaven meets
earth.
And, certainly,
when fall moves into winter,
in the late afternoon light filtering through not-quite-bare
branches,
there is a certain shimmering essence that nearly breaks the
heart.
Consider the point at which,
lying on your back,
you look up into a blue sky and, in a moment of grace, imagine a
worthwhile tomorrow.
Or when an unexpected wind sweeps around a corner and brings
with it a hint of some distant unknown sea
Maroon and gray and gold strata on a rocky headland
above a green-gray sea.
Tea in a special cup.
Points at which heaven and earth meet.
A string of points, connected, make a line.
A line can be followed, to a destination,
can draw us in.
Axis mundi.
Dianne Crumbaker
