Blog

Following a Thread ----------

12/12/2019

The beginning.....
Below, are some pages from the magazine - World of Interiors; an article I saved because it resonated strongly with me in a number of ways. It's written by Marie-France Boyer, with photos by Serge Anton and was published in 2014. It talks of Eric Ossart and Arnaud Maurieres, two Frenchmen who were collecting rugs in eastern Morocco.
I bought these pages with me when I moved to Morocco in 2015....

The context.....
I'm intrigued by the colour, pattern and design of these rugs made by women from the Aït Kebbach tribe of the eastern Moroccan desert. They were once nomads whose vast desert terrain took in Algeria, and were forced to change their lifestyle in 1956 when Morocco gained independence and the frontier between the two countries was defined. They settled on the Moroccan side and no longer lived beside their flocks of sheep. They had slept in tents on blankets, both of which they wove, but now found themselves on hard floors surrounded by flat walls. And so they started to weave soft rugs and cushion covers; creating a decorative and comfortable environment for their families.
No longer having a ready supply of sheep's wool they bought jumpers from the souk and unravelled them. The fibre was generally synthetic but the colour range was fantastic. The women sometimes added real wool, dyed with chemical powder, tea or henna. Also scraps of cloth were knotted and woven through along with purchased strong cotton yarns.

Where the thread led.....
You can imagine my delight when this exhibition opened in June 2019, at the Yves Saint Laurent Museum in Marrakech :

" DESERT DESIGN - Contemporary Rugs of the Eastern Region of Morocco "

Eric Ossart and Arnaud Mauriѐres, the collectors of the rugs in the magazine article above, were the Curators of this exhibition. They bought some of their vast collection to the walls of the Temporary Exhibition Space. By doing this, they changed the context* of these rugs; no longer spread out on a concrete floor or the dirt ground, they transformed into large, abstract, fibre sculptures. Each wild, strong and vivid creation paired with a neat name plate; here the Ait Kebbach women were being individually honoured. It was most gratifying to see their faces alongside photographs of their landscapes and intimate shots of their house interiors. Also to celebrate with them their achievements; the public acknowledgement of their ingenuity, skills and hard work. What a joy!

* The word context originates from the Latin - contexere - to weave together.

Fortunately, photos were allowed in this exhibition
and a complete and affordable catalogue was published.

ABOVE - LEFT TO RIGHT
Mina Badi - Khadija Lahcen - Haga Ougil
BELOW - LEFT TO RIGHT
Adjou Bassou - Ito Bouykbane - Tisserande (pseudonym)

L to R: Aïcha Marouche - Fatima Oujil - Zahra Ouhya

The thread has many strands....
So inspired by these various coloured fibres, patterns and wildly beautiful, creative responses these women have made - I started my own experiments...
During my Textile Tours we spend time with Mina (an Amazigh woman in the Draa Valley) who, among her many skills, shows us the knot she makes to create her rugs. This knot "unit" of colour/texture can read like a pixel, a stitch, a blob of paint etc, and build into patterns to create overall designs.
Here are my experiments/samples using both purchased and recycled materials....

I use a simple cardboard loom, that you've seen my tour participants use on my Facebook posts, and a cotton warp. (I'm still using the large hank of cotton I purchased in Agdz souk in Southern Morocco.)
The knots/pile are created from recycled polypropylene bags cut into small strips, alternating rows with a cotton weft.

With these two samples, above and below, I really like the back face - perhaps more than the front. In fact, here in Morocco, rugs are sometimes flipped over for the Summer months.
Having the back face uppermost aids the cleaning of the rug - as feet walking backwards and
forwards help to dislodge any built up dirt and deposits it on the floor for sweeping up.

The second experiment using smaller polypropylene strips, and a cotton warp like the sample above, but with a multi coloured acrylic thread weft.
I'm using the polypropylene bags mainly for their colour. The material is not robust enough for a rug unfortunately, but it's a material I had to hand in abundance, and suitable for testing these techniques and ideas.
To explore further, you'll see pictured below, I tried some cotton cloth strips (cut from old scarves). The warp is the usual cotton like before, but the weft is a hand spun sheep's wool. This combination of materials is widely used here in Morocco to make Boucherouite (rag) rugs.

Now this combination is definitely one I can take further; perhaps I'll explore the Joutia (the Sunday second-hand Souk), here in Essaouira, to recycle some coloured cloth. Certainly the course rug wool, in many colours, is in plentiful supply. For the larger project I'm planning, it will be time and patience that are hardest to find.
These small samples were fun to make - I offer one and two day Boucherouite 101 workshops - where you'll learn to set up a simple loom and weave and knot a sample piece using your own recycled cloth, wool, cotton and polypropylene bags. Suitable for all levels including beginners.

More strands....
There are paintings brewing too but I'll save them for another Blog post.

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Zinaida goes to Morocco...

23/8/2019

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My first encounter with Zinaida Serebriakova was sighting her fresh and beautiful self-portrait in Whitney Chadwick's book: Women, Art and Society (now in it's fifth edition). I was struck by it's openess; by the painting's many access points: the direct and honest gaze - a moment shared with the artist as she brushes her hair, in the morning, at her dressing table. I sense the morning light by the brightness of the room and the unlit candles. All that reflected light bouncing off the white walls, pale textiles and the mirror itself. There is eagerness in her eyes for the day ahead I feel.....

The oil painting is titled: At the Dressing Table - 1909.
Before she painted this self portrait, at the age of 25, she had studied with Ilya Repin and Osip Braz, spent time in Italy (1902 - 1903) and attended the Academie de la Grand Chaumiere in Paris 1905 - 1906.
Zinaida was born in 1884 on the estate of Neskuchnoye near Kharkov (now Kharkiv, Ukraine) into one of the most refined and artistic families in the Russian Empire.
You can read more details about her life HERE including her battles, sacrifices and heartaches (taking note of where and when she appears in history) as she tried to make a living, for herself and her family, from her artistic practice.

A couple of years ago, the image below, popped up on my FB feed on the Female Artists in History page. Instantly I recognised the women as Moroccan, loved the loose and proficient style of the artist's pastel sketch and searched for more of her work online. What a delight to find out this was Zinaida Serebriakova's work AND that she had visited Morocco on two occasions - 1928 and 1932.

Here are more of Zinaida's excellent pastel drawings from Morocco - lively depictions of individuals, and she certainly honours the individual; clothed in their everyday dress, quietly sitting for their portraits. She captures the unmistakable light of Morocco; whether blazing and bouncing around a market square or filtered through greenery in a Riad courtyard.

I'm attracted by her compelling combination of expressive lines;
depicting contour, decoration, volume.....

Notice the way she works the pastel using it's side or point and also blending,
probably with her fingers, to achieve a more painterly effect and bring intensity to the faces. Lovely colours in the skin, working all their tonal values to achieve form and likeness.

I encourage you to research more of her work and techniques.
Her oil paintings are beautiful, I specially like the family portraits....

Also the way her pastel drawing style is evident in her handling of oil paints;
there is the active brush line, used both wet and dry, and the strong contour.

I believe, a portrait made in the midst of another culture, in a traditional house (dar, riad or kasbah) or market place (souk), carries not just observations from sight, but the line created in time, holds sounds, smells, textures; sensory memories that enhance and deepen the drawing experience for the artist, and also in the end, the seeing experience for the artist's audience.
There are opportunities on my tours for portrait sessions - if you request them. These are always significant experiences for everyone involved. For example, if we draw en plein air, our sitter can translate the comments that passers-by make (sometimes very witty). Also the ever inquisitive children, who huddle and whisper quietly behind you, have the opportunity to glimpse a process they may long to emulate. It's also fun!

Any of my tours can include portrait sessions. Feel free to contact me via my Contact Page if you would like to arrange these for yourself and friends, perhaps your painting or craft group.
You can work in whatever medium you feel comfortable with. It doesn't have to be drawing or painting. It can be photography or work with fibres and textiles, even inspiration for jewellery.

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Morocco's Donkey Hair Artisans' Brushes

14/7/2019

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If you're an artisan in Morocco and work with a brush, it's more than likely that you made it yourself. I've been making some very make-shift ones lately and so have my workshop participants - mainly for mark-making and interesting effects. But if you want brushes for the more precise work that I've witnessed in the studios here, then you need to have learnt special skills and practised to achieve the perfect tool for your job.

My first encounter with the handmade brushes of Morocco was in 2014, when my students and I participated in a Zouaq Workshop - decorative painting on wood.
Our teacher, Mohamed Ben Abdelwahid, is also a "dab hand" at making brushes.
I had the pleasure of watching him quietly work with the simplest of tools and materials: donkey hair, thread, sticks and a knife. He presented all twelve of us with one of these perfect tools, to paint the beautiful designs he'd prepared for us.....

When the exquisitely restored Secret Garden opened in Marrakech in 2016, they employed the Zouaq Maalem (master decorator), Hicham Bahia, to embellish the timber surfaces with floral designs. I witnessed him in action, up on the scaffolding, with his handmade brush and pots of colour, diligently working away. He was single-handedly adorning the entire inside surface of the garden's pagoda centrepiece! Today, you can sometimes watch him working on a smaller scale; creating unique, single panels for sale in their boutique. One of his trusty handmade brushes is pictured below...

In Fes, when you take the time to explore their ceramic workshops, you'll find the artisans make a very particular donkey hair brush; a large head of donkey hair, designed to hold the maximum amount of glaze. In the centre of this mass are a few longer hairs that make the strokes, designed to feed the glaze smoothly and consistently through many strokes before the brush needs replenishing.
The brush in action below; the artisan creates the black outlines of the design...

The same brushes (a brush for each colour) used here to fill in the shapes
with different coloured glazes...

Beautiful work ready for final firing. These high quality pieces are from the northern city of Fes.

These tools below, are not meant to be anywhere near the quality of the donkey hair brushes above. For our purposes, we are not wanting control over a line or a design.
Instead, these make-shift brushes that we create in my workshops, are about the
pleasure of working with our hands and manipulating locally sourced natural fibres.
Here in Morocco, specially in the south, the date palms are a fabulous source of raw materials.
In Essaouira, we add the plentiful Madagascan raffia.
Dipped into black ink, or Moroccan "brun noir" stain they create unique marks.
Allowing our brushes to write, dance and create their own language on the paper is the aim.

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Schrodinger's Cat Paradox - some thoughts from guest blogger: my mother, Hazel.

5/6/2019

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In order to understand/ get your head around what is happening with Schrodinger's Cat I think you need to put the whole experiment into a larger context..........the following is my explanation of what the larger context might look like.

We know from quantum experiments that everything in the universe is composed of atoms, including us. We also know that the observable world, or the accumulation of atoms that make up the observable world is not always what we think it is. For example the colours we see are not inherent in the objects observed, science would suggest they have no colour until they are illuminated by white light from the sun containing the full colour spectrum. The atoms of the object either absorb or reflect certain wavelengths of light and these are picked up by the human eye and brain which interprets the information as certain colours.
We learn to name these perceptions when we are young. This interpretation is done by the rod and cone mechanism in the brain. However we know through further experimentation that there are more colours involved in the colour spectrum than those we can perceive with our eyes and brain. We know there is infra red and ultra violet light which we can only see with the help of instruments. There may be more that we don't yet know about.
We have a similar limitation with sound. It would seem that as humans we can only perceive a certain range of sounds, even though we now know, through research, that there are other sounds at the upper and lower range of frequencies that animals can hear and we can't. There may also be a case for saying that our sense of smell, taste and touch are likewise limited to within a particular bandwidth due to the limitation of the receptors in our brain.
It would seem that these limitations vary between ourselves and the animal kingdom. Maybe brain size is not so important but rather how well it is configured for the survival of the particular species. There is evidence now that birds have receptors in their brains that allow them to navigate on their annual migrations via the earth's magnetic field. We don't know if we, as humans, have this capability. It is seems to be a skill outside the limits of our brain's anatomy.

If we extrapolate from these notions of limitation to our perceptions of the world then we could say that there are a whole range of possibilities 'out there' that are unknown to us and that we are only aware of in a limited form and a one dimensional opinion. If we think about something as mundane and predictable as the sun rising every morning. For most of us it is comfortable to think that it rises in the east and sets in the west. However if we think about it a bit more we realise that it is only true if we position our place of observation on this planet. If we move our point of observation to the moon or beyond we now know that in fact the sun only rises from the perspective of the earth, from further out in the universe it is easily observed that the earth turns on its axis towards the sun, the sun doesn't move around the earth, (this was considered heretical thinking at one period of history). Whether the sun rises above a fixed point in the morning or the earth turns to face it, is therefore a matter of perspective.

It would seem that everything we perceive within our limited perceptual framework is subject to comparison and relatedness. We seem to be innately programmed to make contrasts. We cannot perceive darkness unless we know about light, we cannot understand wetness without knowing dryness or good without evil, etc etc. We seem to need to define opposites to bring our perception into focus, we are constantly making judgements , consciously or not to understand our world. We seem to be 'hard wired' to do this and it may be part of our survival mechanism to decipher what is a threat to our existence and what will benefit our development. We learn, develop and refine this process throughout our lives.
We could easily say that we are 'constrained' by our own interpretation of the limited information that comes in through our nerve cells………... and we don't know that we are constrained. Our view of the world or our focus of attention may be a bit like a torch beam or a searchlight in the dark. If we are the carrier and director of the torch we can perceive what the light focuses on, but we are oblivious to what else is beyond our beam of conscious attention. There is a theory in quantum physics and some branches of philosophy, that the very act of focusing our attention on something brings it into being, or at least recognition, like moving the torch around in the darkness. This then begs the question, did we create it with our beam of consciousness or did it exist already and we just highlighted it, or is it both, in that what we perceive already existed and we not only highlighted it, but also defined it, differentiated it, judged it and categorized it to make it understandable.
Which brings us back to Schrodinger's cat. Maybe the cat in the box is in a state like the darkness beyond our torch beam of consciousness, it may be there but until we see it or hear it and pass judgement on it we cannot say if it is alive or dead. It is in a state which is undifferentiated by observation by our consciousness. However, it does not mean that the cat isn't in some 'state' but just one that we have not yet categorized and therefore recognised as either dead or alive.
Taking into account the bigger picture behind this paradox is to my way of thinking the way to make some sense of the puzzle, it is the hypothesis of a possible explanation, and, as with all hypotheses, is open to destruction.

To have glimpses of the bigger picture it helps to observe our thoughts, the stream of consciousness which flows continuously through our mind via our brain cells firing and which interacts with the incoming information from our senses. It is so continuous and all pervading inside our head that we are mostly consumed by it. We think we are 'it'. We construct our own reality and filter our view of the world through it. It is sometimes called 'the stream of consciousness'. If we meditate or find a peaceful setting and cease the chatter inside our head it is possible to observe the workings of this stream and to realise that we are not just this stream but something outside of it and we can in fact be an observer, not a simple task but a rewarding one. The stream appears to 'happens' to us because we are in this molecular body structure and this state of consciousness. How much of it is simply ruminations of accumulated life experiences and thought processes and how much of it may come to us from 'outside of our torch beam ' is a point of much speculation. There have been recent discoveries of higher level processing cells in the brain called microscopic tubules which may well prove to provide an interface for access to another state, which at a more gross cellular level we have no knowledge of. We may be connected to it through our DNA, who knows it may even dictate our Karma!

So……. given that it would seem we have our limitations of perception and that we seem to be hard wired to differentiate and make judgements, it is easy to see why, on first encounter, the paradox of Schodinger's cat exists.
Those are my thoughts on the subject….for what they are worth.

Hazel.

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2019 - 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair - Marrakech

5/3/2019

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Readers of this Blog will remember my post from the first
1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair in 2018.

In February I travelled into Marrakech for the day, for this years' fair -
once more held amid the elegance of La Mamounia.

1:54 CAAF appears to be filling the vacuum left by the now defunct Marrakech Biennale,
by offering visitors satellite exhibitions in the many art galleries in the Red City.

Here I'm sharing what inspired me at La Mamounia -
amongst the African artists represented by 18 international galleries...

D U K E A S I D E R E

Born 1961 in Lagos, Nigeria. Lives and works in Lagos, Nigeria. Represented by Retro Africa.

M A H I B I N E B I N E & H A S S A N D A R S I

These collaborative works were made from tar and pigment on aluminium.
Mahi was born in Marrakech in 1959 and Hassan in Casablanca in 1961.
Represented by Katharina Maria Raab.

P I N I A N G

"Power and the City 1 and 2" - Cardboard, acrylic and charcoal collage on wire.
Born 1976 in Dakar, Senegal where he continues to live and work.
Represented by Louisimone Guirandou Gallery

N ' D O Y E D O U T S

"Magnetique 01" - Acrylic and pastel on canvas
Born 1973 in Sangalkam, Senegal. Lives and works in Paris, France.
Represented by Louisimone Guirandou Gallery.

M A U R I C E M B I K A Y I

Unique pieces created from computer keys, fibreglass and resin.
Maurice was born in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo
and now lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa
Represented by Officine Dell'Immagine

D I M I T R I F A G B O H O U N

"Paul - Guillaume, Microcosmos II" - bronze, wood and glass.
Born 1972 in Cotonou, Benin. Lives and works between Cotonou, Paris and Brussels.
Represented by Galerie Cécile Fakhoury.

"Arman was NKissi N'kondi" - bronze, wood and glass.

On the wall behind you can glimpse the mixed media work of Armand Boua, on the left.
He was born in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire and continues to live and work there.
On the right - a mixed media piece by Yéanzi, also from Côte d'Ivoire.
Represented by Galerie Cécile Fakhoury.

F A T I H A Z E M M O U R I

"Suspension" - graphite on drafting film.
At first sight I thought this work was under a layer of encaustic wax medium.
In fact she had reversed the drawing before adhering it to a panel.
A soft milky finish was the result, adding to the sense of suspension in space.
Represented by Katharina Maria Raab.

Now of course, we must take a stroll around the beautiful La Mamounia...

It's designer boutiques, in-house galleries and tiled courtyards.

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Henna Dyeing - first clip your sheep...

16/12/2018

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When I first came to Morocco in 2014 it was a personal delight to see so many forms of textiles.
The breadth of design has to be seen to be believed. The level of "workWOmanship" is amazing.
Take just one example: kilims and rugs; they are hand made; row-by-row or knot-by-knot and created throughout the entire kingdom.
Each region is known for a particular style, design or method which has been handed down, mother to daughter, for generations.
Often, the entire process from sheep to finished kilim, is the work of one woman who has mastered all the steps over many years.
These days synthetic dyes are mostly used to achieve the vibrant colour combinations Moroccans love so much. In the past, wool was naturally dyed and the henna plant was widely used. It yields beautiful ginger gold and brown hues.
In the Draa Valley, in Southern Morocco, Mina, who still dyes with henna, very generously shares her skills with my Purely Textiles tour groups. She shows us each step and we participate in her process:

First clip your sheep. Wash the fleece in the river. Dry it in the hot sun. Hand pick it clean.

Take the cleaned fleece and comb it into long strands using carders.

Take your combed lengths of wool and spin on a drop spindle. Mina's practised hands had a full spindle in no time. Of course, we took a little longer to achieve the rhythm and precision.

We take the spun hanks of wool to the dye pot.
Mina coats the pot with mud and ash to make it easier to clean after.
Into the pot goes water, dried henna leaves and seeds.
Dried pomegranate skin is added as a fixer. Not the edible variety but a bitter, smaller type.
We also add some white silk cloth samples.

A fire, fueled with dried palm stalks and leaves, is lit under the pot.

After just 15 minutes of boiling you can see the colour forming. Another 15 minutes and the fire is allowed to die down, the lid goes on and the contents left to steep overnight.
The wool hanks and silk cloth are hung to dry.

Here are the hanks, after we rolled them into two ginger balls, nestled in the golden-hued silk.

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One of my cake recipes - Moroccanized!

25/7/2018

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Many of you purchased my slim, hand-bound cookbook "Morning Tea at Sonja's Studio"
before I left Australia.

I've continued baking the cakes, puddings, slices and biscuits here in my kitchen in Essaouira, Morocco - making adjustments here and there,
and delighting in the new flavours that the
souk-bought ingredients add to the recipes.

One of the recipes, in particular, I decided to "Moroccanize"
I'm happy with the result,
so I thought I'd share it with you here.

Recipe No.12 is Italian Carrot and Almond Torte -
(thank you Diane R. for the original recipe)
and has now transformed into -

Moroccan Carrot and Almond Torte

4 eggs, separated
1 cup raw sugar
2 teaspoons, or more, finely grated orange rind
¾ cup firmly packed, finely grated, carrot
8 chopped dates
splash of orange flower water (don't use rose water)
2 cups almond meal
2 tablespoons plain flour combined with
1 heaped teaspoon baking powder
¼ cup, or more, chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons raw sugar
Icing sugar for dusting (if you like)

Preheat oven - moderate 180˚C.
Grease a deep 20cm round cake pan and line with baking paper. I need to triple the paper on the base, for my small oven, to stop the bottom burning.
Beat egg yolks and sugar in a large mixing bowl until thick and creamy.
Fold in orange rind, carrot, dates, orange flower water, almond meal, flour and baking powder.
Beat egg-whites in a bowl with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
Fold into cake mixture; pour into prepared pan.
Sprinkle top evenly with chopped walnuts, raw sugar and cinnamon.
Place in the preheated oven for about 40-45 minutes, or until lightly browned and cooked when tested.
Cover the top with foil if nuts are over-browning.
Stand cake in pan for 10 minutes; turn out onto wire rack to cool.
Serve either warm or cold. Dust with icing sugar if you like.
You might like to add a few dollops of natural yoghurt sprinkled with cinnamon.

I find shopping for fresh ingredients in Morocco to be inspirational!
Buying from the carts piled with fresh seasonal produce that roll into the Medina everyday, and selecting from the baskets and bowls in the souk, are some of my simple pleasures.

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Tuareg Veil Weights

20/6/2018

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As you may already know,
I have a fascination with these beautiful pieces of adornment.

They are worn by Tuareg women, who receive them as gifts from their husbands, and are tied to the end of their veils to act as a holding weight against the Saharan winds.
Not face covering veils;
Tuareg men cover their faces, but the women do not.

Originally these weights were actual keys to women's jewellery chests and have evolved over time into separate, functional
decorations and symbols of wealth.
There is a correlation here to the Lady's "chatelaine".

Tuareg society is matrilineal and the women own the home
and its contents and are free to divorce.
The Tuareg are a large Amazigh (Berber) ethnic
confederation of about three million people.
They live in the Sahara of Libya, Algeria, Niger, Mali
and Burkino Faso and are nomadic pastoralists.

Occasionally I come across some fine examples of Tuareg veil weights in the jewellery shops and souks here in Morocco.
They are individually wrought using a combination of various metals: brass, bronze, copper, steel and silver.
A language of etched Tuareg symbols completely cover their surfaces. They are talismanic amulets; intriguing and exceptional.

The pictures below show various veil weights;
different sizes and shapes. You can see how they are worn - generally "assrou n'swoul" : thrown over the shoulder.

I have managed to source just eight pieces, available for sale. These are numbered, sized and priced and can be posted worldwide (no charge for postage).

Enquiries can be made through my contact page.

Five beautiful examples in various sizes being worn here...

Below - two stills from the documentary "Adalil - Mistress of the Tents" - (on Youtube) -
here a Tuareg couple talk about how they became engaged.
Adalil's daughter tends to her veil weight while trying to elicit
a stronger and more romantic response from her husband.

Here are the eight Tuareg Veil Weights.

Metal, brass and copper.
33cm in length - $315
SOLD

Metal - 11cm in length - $285
the different view below shows the "knob" to maybe tie
a tassel to.
SOLD

Silver with brass
and copper additions.
15 cm in length - $350
SOLD

These five beauties are made from brass, steel and copper - 24cm in length - $270 each

Take a peek at my Instagram and Facebook page
to see them acting as weights on my own shawls.

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Madrid in April was all about Fashion...

17/5/2018

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This is quite a long story, but just notations with many pictures - because I was happily inspired by what I experienced visually. There were beautiful juxtapositions of textures and textiles, colours and tones.
I gathered many ideas for works with paper and books, printmaking, sewing, weaving and collage...
I hope it sparks lots of ideas for you too...

Two exhibitions at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum:

Sorolla and Fashion
the works of Valencian painter - Joaquin Sorolla - (1863 - 1923)
alongside an exquisite collection of costumes from the era 1890 to 1920.
and
Louis Vuitton - Time Capsule Exhibition
1854 to the present - an elegant selection of LV designs anticipating the needs and
desires of a changing world over 160 years (the world of the very rich, that is).

So let's begin with Sorolla...

Joaquin Sorolla in his studio and his painting of his wife Clotilde.

SILK in all its many manifestations: taffeta, muslin, satin, lace, crepe, chiffon, even silk cheesecloth. Combined with glass and metal beads and sequins.

An incredibly complex design.
The fine lace medallions inserted into the thin silk skirt hardly showed a stitch!

Cotton and lace - white on white - texture reigns.

This was my favourite Sorolla painting - Under the Awning, Zarautz - oil on canvas - 1910.
I love the expression of the breeze in the hat veils, all the reflected light under the awning and the blazing sunshine on the sand behind. I wonder what they're so keenly observing?

A two-piece garden party dress in cotton and lace with matching parasol

Another oil painting titled Under the Awning, Zarautz Beach.
This beach is on the north coast of Spain, not far from Biarritz in France.
The tonal gestures that make up the white clothing are delicious.

A summer garden party dress in linen and cotton from 1908 - 1910 with parasol.
The painting is Snapshot, Biarritz - painted in 1906

Gentleman's linen taffeta jacket and trousers 1920 - 1924.
Straw boater with grosgrain ribbon (of course) 1920 - 1930
Antonio Garcia on the Beach - oil on canvas - 1909
This is one of my favourite men's ensembles - a linen suit. Runs a close second to doeskin breeches, thigh high boots and frock coat - or am I giving too much away?

Raquel Meller - a Spanish singer and international star in the 1920s and 1930s.
Painted here by Sorolla in 1918

Very excited to have the opportunity to study a couple of
Mariano Fortuny's (y Madrazo) creations - based on the ancient Greek "Delphos" design.
Mariano is the son of Mariano Fortuny y Marsal (1838-74) whose exhibition I visited,
at the Prado, in Janauary - my blog post HERE
He lived and worked in Venice and his villa is now a museum.
It houses his lighting designs and inventions for theatre and home.
In particular, his pleated silk and stamped velvet garments - he invented the silk pleating method and patented it - and developed a method of block printing velvet with metallic pigments. His silks were all naturally dyed by hand in beautiful colours.

This top, below, in fine silk taffeta with metal thread cord and Murano glass beads
shows the subtlety, beauty and fine craftsmanship of his work.

And the highlight of the exhibition - for me - was this Fortuny Delphos gown.
Pleated silk taffeta combined with Murano glass beads.
What a masterpiece!
Unfortunately you'll have to imagine the exact colour - a subtle turquoise green.

Now lets go downstairs to the Louis Vuitton exhibition...

At the entrance - one of the seamstresses from the House of Louis Vuitton -
demonstrates leather hand-stitching techniques.
Three screens show all angles as she works - trimming thread, gluing thread ends, and explaining the advantages of hand stitching for longevity and strength.
Explanations delivered in French and translated to Spanish -
fortunately pictures tell a thousand words.

I was fascinated by the tools, of course,
and the beautiful case that was designed to house them all.
I was also imagining a Louis Vuitton designed "artist's field sketching bag"...

The wardrobe trunk - what a perfectly designed piece of luggage that was.
And LV's latest design; I bet this never sees a luggage carousel -
only handled by your leer jet personnel from the hands of your chauffeur.

These are beautiful - linings in watered silk and suede - hand blown glass containers
with silver lids - for your toiletries, cosmetics, perfumes and that perfect cup of tea.

Radical changes in design here -

Hard to beat the simple elegance of this backpack and umbrella.

The only thing missing from the show was the smell of leather.

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1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair 2018 - Marrakech

11/3/2018

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The Marrakech Biennale was meant to happen again this year - 2018 - but was cancelled due to the withdrawal of its sponsorship.
Cue - 1:54 CAAF - the Contemporary African Art Fair -
held annually in London, New York and for the first time, Marrakech. Displaying their art in the beautiful and famous La Mamounia, were seventeen international galleries representing over 60 artists. A very relaxed atmosphere, great conversations with enthusiastic and informed gallery directors and the art, well, that was pretty good too! Here's a little of what took my fancy -
AND of course, feel free to google any of the artists if your inspired to follow a creative thread!

Ibrahim el-Salahi

photo of Ibrahin el-Salahi by David Levene for the Guardian

Still working at the age of 88, this Sudanese artist painter, former politician and diplomat is one of the artists installed in MoMA's fifth-floor galleries whose work bears the wall text: “This work is by an artist from a nation whose citizens are being denied entry into the United States, according to a presidential executive order issued on Jan. 27, 2017. This is one of several such artworks from the Museum’s collection installed here to affirm the ideals of welcome and freedom as vital to this Museum as they are to the United States.”
Ibrahin el-Salahi was also the first African artist to have a retrospective at the Tate Modern in London. Vigo Gallery was his representative at the Fair and I had a delightful conversation with their young curator in front of Ibrahim's ink drawings. I assured her I couldn't afford the $50,000 price tag, but still she was keen to show me examples of his work and happily let me photograph the drawings I liked - here they are - Indian ink and gum arabic - gorgeous.

Horse and Rider - 1970

1964

1977

Kyle Meyer

I've seen many fibre/textile works over the years; starting in the 1960's and 70's when women were boldly and creatively proclaiming their Truth using the so-called "gentle arts" as their medium of self expression. This work was largely ignored by major galleries - and was given the new name of "craft". Of course, if a man produces a woven artwork, a knitted wall hanging, a knotted rug or a patchwork quilt - it suddenly and easily slips onto a gallery wall as "fine art". Am I bitter? You bet!
Kyle Meyer (above), Abdoulaye Konaté and Joël Andrianomearisoa (below) have created some beautiful work but I can't help but view them through my Woman's Eye.

Abdoulaye Konaté

Man Wall Hanging (my title)

Joël Andrianomearisoa

Labyrinth of Passions (the Green Process) 2017

Nu Barreto

Always exciting to view an artist's portfolio - here the representative of Louisimone Guirandou Gallery takes us through Nù's surprising red pencil drawings - this artist is from Guinea-Bissau, born in 1966, now lives and works in Paris.

Ouattara Watts

A very interesting watercolour and I really liked the pairing with the mauve suede bag.
Then the owner of the bag turned up - in a fabulous crocheted dress!

Moshekwa Langa