progress can be slow

The weaving is going slow.  I'm not going to lie, its kind of taken the back burner lately.  The warp threads are the ones we put on the second day of the workshop back in October.    Although the progress is very slow, I'm throughly enjoying the entire process.  Only downside is I originally intended to use some of this for holiday gifts... alas, December has some how slipped past me.  I ended up buying gifts this year, but never fear.  I bought them all from local small businesses and locally made when I could. 

The weave pattern is a herringbone (slightly visible in the blue stripes) and the oatmeal colored tread is my own hand spun.  There isn't really a rhyme or reason to the stripes or their widths.  It's telling me when to switch it up.

spinning my wheels

Since I have some free time, now that I'm out of school, I've been spinning again... and thinking of buying my own wheel.  It's been almost a year since I started spinning and I'm not showing any signs of stopping or slowing down.  There are currently several 5 gallon buckets full of fluff in our apartment as we speak.  Taunting.  Teasing.  Pleading to be carded, stroked and spun.  Finances have been solid, but finding space in the budget for a $500 - $800 purchase is proving to be slightly more challenging.  It'll happen soon.  I'm almost to the point were I can swing it.  Until then, I'm distracting my fingers with the drop spindle, knitting, collecting, and weaving.  But... I can only hold off for so long...

the world keeps spinning

This week has been hectic for me.  I started work Tuesday and a new class Monday.  Both are wonderful and going to be challenging/fulfilling.  Coupled with the stress of moving at the end of the month, finding a new place, getting my finances in order, etc, I've been quite strung out with anxiety and things to do.  To alleviate that anxiety, I've escaped by watching a short movie or TV show while spinning.  It's more about the spinning than the TV.  The TV is just noise, pictures, something to stare at.  Since I haven't acquired a wheel yet, I've been perfecting my drop spindle skills.  My threads are becoming more uniform.  I can make them thinner and more delicate than I used to.  The small amount of control I can have over my threads and the fibers calms me down.  The spinning of the spindle reminds me of how fast I'm flying through this summer and how much progress I've made personally and professionally.  I'm quite tickled with myself.  

Drop spindle with Merino Wool Top

Spindle with Blue Faced Leichester Top

process

I've been collecting these lovely plant specimens without much explanation as to how I'm preserving them.  Well, here it is.  My homemade press, key, and workspace.

Plant press in it's storing place in our living room.  Two 24x36 pieces of wood with clamps.  When it gets full, I sit on it to get the clamp get it as tight as possible.  Also pictured are some gourds.  Oh how I love gourds.

Specimens are put between pages of newspaper and then squished (pressed) in above press.  If I was a better botanist I'd also place the specimens between sheets of corrugated cardboard.  Perhaps I can excuse it by saying cardboard is harder to acquire than newspaper.

The plant is then 'keyed' out.  Meaning I look up what it is based on certain characters and traits.  I'm wrong a lot, so I usually check myself using various internet databases.  I'm getting better at it.  Especially since I can usually tell what family something is in without the key.  It's a huge time saver.  Practice makes perfect.  I'm also expanding my anatomy vocabulary... so I can nerd out even harder.

For smaller samples I press them directly into my sketchbook.  I've found that I like the final product of this process slightly better than the larger press.  I think it's due to the paper in the sketch book.  The paper is thick, slightly absorbent, and has a moderate tooth.  The book is also kept closed using a strong elastic band.  I'm a bit picky about my sketch books...  I press plants and draw/paint/collage in them.

Where the 'magic' goes down.  My 'desk' is an old library table found in a relative's basement before I was born.  It's my favorite piece of furniture in my apartment.  

water partners

Break my butt... that wasn't much of a break, and to be honest, I don't feel revitalized or refreshed.  Alas, class will start again tomorrow and it's looking like I might be having another one of those terms.  On a brighter side of things, I've been doing some research on interesting NGOs and NPOs that I might try to work for in 8-9months.  Here's one that I found that could utilize my interests and knowledge in international water issues:

WaterPartners

WaterPartners International is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization committed to providing safe drinking water and sanitation to people in developing countries. Working in partnership with donors and local communities, we have helped thousands of people develop accessible, sustainable, community-level water supplies. WaterPartners not only offers traditional, grant-funded programs, but is also harnessing the power of micro-finance to address the world water crisis.

sketches and squiggles

felted bowl finished

Finished Felted Bowl!  Before and after felting process.

Not a bad first attempt.  I'm going to refelt it again soon, since I did it by hand and had to stop because my hands were raw.

projects and tinkering

Below are photos of fun time playing with old jeans with Erin, camera practice, and my felted bowl project still on the needles.  Enjoy!

article idea...

Below is the speech I gave at the Harn Museum of Art on Water politics and activism.  I'm thinking about submitting it to a local publication several friends of mine work on.  I've been asked by many people to write something about my study abroad experience and perspective on India.  The best I've been able to do so far is this speech below, and the journal entries I posted this summer.  I feel it falls short of both my and their expectations... mostly mine.  I have so much more to say... just no idea how to say it yet.  Any suggestions would be wonderful!

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My research focuses on activism within India’s anti-dam movements and why these particular movements are gendered. By examining India’s multifaceted dam discourse through a gender lens, I seek to draw conclusions on the condition and involvement of women in this sphere of activity.  This is part of a larger body of work I did this past summer for the UF in India study abroad program. 

The issue of water scarcity is seen as part of women’s burden.  This stems from the role of women within the Indian family, community, and society.  Through their role in the family, women are expected to gather the water for household activities such as cooking, cleaning, drinking, livestock upkeep, and maintaining sustenance agriculture.  As water becomes scarcer, women have to walk farther and spend more time, labor, and energy gathering water for daily use.  As farms have failed and more men migrate into the cities to search for work, the women are left as the sole caretakers and maintainers of the household.  Since water is an essential resource for daily activities and survival, women have carried the brunt of the burden of water crises.    

Women emerged into the Indian public sphere during the movement for independence.  Mahatma Gandhi called on women to do traditional activities in public spaces as a means of protesting British industry and control.  Women were encouraged to spin their own thread and take up the national issues as mothers, wives, and sisters of India.  This became a new responsibility that women incorporated into their roles within society.  While the majority of activists were village and rural women, men participated in leadership or figurehead roles.  Yet this is changing as depicted by prominent activists Dr. Vandana Shiva, Medha Patkar, and Arundhati Roy’s facilitation of various environmental movements.  As women become more vocal about water crises and subsequent social problems, they emerge from the margins and into the center of society as activists and defenders of community and common resources.  These women have stepped in and claimed agency within this context.  Through these new constructions, women’s organizations and groups are now gaining support of the community and being publicly granted legitimacy as active members of the communities.

Many of the anti-dam movements, and environmental movements in general, developing across India’s landscape are deeply rooted in the ideas and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi.  Although his great work, Hind Swaraj, was in reference to freedom from colonial rule, its ideas remain highly applicable and are deeply ingrained in modern anti-dam discourse.  As Gandhi describes it, “modern civilization is a disease (Gandhi, 2007, p. 34).”  Modern civilization used in this context refers to the capitalist, industrial, cultural homogeneity that is Western “development” and culture.  Gandhi analyzed this so called civilization as a degradation of morality, religion, duty, and self.  The discourse used in the anti-dam movements updates these ideals and applies them to the current discourse and framework. 

What activists are calling for is “appropriate technology – the application of grace and scale to machinery in pursuit of ecological balance” (Leslie, 2005, p. 28).  The Narmada Bachao Andolan calls for the use of small check dams that could provide modest amounts of power to individual small villages instead of encouraging the wasteful energy consumption habits of Westerners.  Activists call for responsible, sustainable development that takes into account social and environmental implications of dam building and technology.  They call for examination of effects across societal boundaries and a government that listens to the concerns and protests of its people. 

september 21

This video is really quite powerful and awesome.  It sent shivers up and down my entire body.  I love the idea, and I can't wait to see how it pans out this year.  I'm also trying to think of what I'll personally do...

beach day pictures

Through much encouragement from various sources, I'm working on developing my camera skills.  Below are some of my gems from our Sunday evening/afternoon beach adventure.  It was overcast and dreary, yet strangely blissful.

experiments: front yard finds

I  love natural fibers.  I find them fascinating and wondrous.  A shiny pebble in my world of mysteries!  

Yesterday as we were getting ready to go out, I stood in the front yard waiting... and thinking.  I was curious if the African Iris (Dietes iridioides) leaves would make good cordage.  

The plant from the Iridaceae (Iris family) and is also called fortnight lily, and morea iris.  It's native range is from Kenya to the southern tip of Africa along the eastern coast.  In efforts to figure out if it would make decent cordage I clipped some brown/dead leaves and placed them in a bucket of water for about 2 hours.  I was hoping the results would be similar to the daylily cordage I had made previously with Erin.  No such luck.  After much effort and several attempts, I was unable to make the cordage using the methods I know.  But I will not be defeated that easily.  I'm going to take some back to Gainesville with me for Erin.  Perhaps she'll succeed where I fell short.  She's also much more knowledgeable than I am on this sort of thing, not to mention she's much more creative than I.

Today wasn't completely wasted however.  I started on a project I've been plotting for some time.  Today I began making my army of dish towels.  Hooray for sustainable alternatives to wasteful paper towels!