Tout simplement…Merry Christmas

Simply

Wishing you all

Some good humour

(Bruce, the French snow man)

simple pleasures

and a splash of colour

This festive season. 

Joyeux Noël

See you after a good deal of food I don't really need :)

xxx

Inspire: it's not light we need but fire!

That's exactly what I was thinking this morning at 6.30am when I awoke to find the fire still burning in the hearth. Thank goodness for small mercies! Mind you, a little light also comes in handy at 6.30am in this part of the world, when all is dark and the only sound you can hear are the sounds of mice playing in the pasta packets in the pantry. Nice ;-)

There are projects in the air here at la Rivière. Subtle (and not so subtle) changes are occurring which bring out a hint of the inner fire. And where there's fire - there's colour!

Beaker has suggested a move to further shores. Seeing none of the options include Down Under, I've resolutely declined the offer. Not because I don't love to travel… BOY do I LOVE to travel!

 But because I'm setting up my own BIG art project here with marginalised women in Toulouse. A project I can move across to India afterwards.

Yes, as well as home schooling.

Yes, in case you were wondering, as well as trying to organise my own exhibitions.

Can you find the word 'courage' in the image up there?

I have to keep painting COURAGE in order to keep pulling it from somewhere.

I'm hoping to tap into a bottomless spring of it at some stage in the near future.

 Life here is all about metamorphosis. 

Even this piece rose out of the ashes.

Metaphorically speaking that is.

I just happened to splash a bottle of indigo ink I was having difficulty opening 

all over the bottom of a finished piece of work.

It was originally ONE WORD written on a page dating from 1715.

I nearly cried in frustration. 

NEARLY!

Then I started again with what I had, mistakes 'n' all.

Interesting what I ended up with.

Nothing like my original intention.

Does that ever happen to you?

It's not light that we need but fire; 

It's not the gentle shower but thunder; 

We need the storm, the whirlwind, the earthquake

Frederick Douglass 

(Dying to know who he is? Click here to find out.)

Have a great week every one :)

Ange

PS:  When I've framed it, like I intend to this week, I'll repost photos and put it up in my Etsy shop.

I HEART Crayons! or Cooking up some colour

It's school holidays in South West France and even though we are homeschooling I decided to jump on the bandwagon and give us all a week's break from the routine. Who am I trying to kid? It's me who needed the break :)

The messmonsters whinge, wine whine, grumble and ignore me when I suggest ways of using the endy bits of wax crayons (and pencil stubs for that matter so I'm working on a piece of art to resolve that dilemma - but that's another blog post entirely). I don't particularly like picking the crayons up off the floor, scratching them out of the carpet, or finding them lifeless and asphyxiated after a rumble in the dustbunnies under the bathroom cabinet either. Wasted art supplies are probably the only thing capable of bringing a tear to my eye. 

But am I one to grumble, dear friends? Am I one to complain?

Noooooo! I thought to myself, 'Ange, surely the wise Internet has a solution to your crayon stub problem.' So I raced straight over to this blog and found ….. a 'save your crayons' recipe. That's not really what the recipe's called, of course. But it feels  like salvation to me :)

Then I did what all decent cooks do and modified the recipe. Seemed too much fuss to heat each group of colours up in a saucepan. Faaaaaaaaar too much messy cleaning up, n'est ce pas?  I remember seeing a photo on another blog somewhere similar to my one with all the cracked-up crayons above. So the messies and I broke up all the crayons we could find and baked them instead! Sorry possums, there are no photos of the messy bits because we got into a bit of a panic trying to get melted wax out of the oven without pouring it everywhere.

It's fun watching all the colours melt in together; and as the messies, except for Libellule, aren't particularly INTO art (do we all detect a hint of rebellion????), I thought this might encourage them a little. After all, it's more fun to draw, colour and shade with funky home made hearts ...

RIGHT?

WRONG!

While my back was turned, and everything including the eyes in the back of my head were focused in front, this is what they were getting up to :)

Truly, the kitchen is an infinitely creative and colourful space! There's something to be said for hand decorated kitchen paper towel, don't you think? I may even commission some for my next dinner party.

Pray that will teach me to let them come up with their own colourful ideas. I wouldn't  have to buy a new heart cookie mold if I had done so in the first place :)

Happy day to you all.

Others Before Self! : A Tibetan cry of colour

*@!!!*!!@&!!** (Mac Speak for ARGHHHHHHHHHHH)

  I just spent half an hour trying to be brief yet witty in my explanation as to WHY I have been having soooo much trouble posting about India, and with one false 'tap' on a key, I've wiped it all.

Sigh

That will teach me two things:

1) Not to make excuses

(sheepish grin)

2) to be more present with what I am doing :)

Honestly though, the real problem is,  WHERE DO I START?

It's not just that there are 2000 photos to go through (yes, you did read right, 2000 photos in 3 weeks). It's more about the inspiration and admiration I feel each time I flick through them again. Now how do I convey this adequately to you? In chronological order? 

I could regale you with quips (a 'Mise' word that I like very much ;-) and anecdotes about missing planes and having to take buses 500km overnight after endless hours flying and a 12 hour wait in Delhi airport. You might think it interesting, or even entertaining. Even a tiny bit. 

However, it has come to my attention (through repeated frustration personal experience) that life does not happen in quite the chronological order one, or at least I, might expect!

So I'm cutting straight to the nitty gritty.

It's not about me.

It's about THIS!!

The colour, gratitude, generosity, courage and love 

that exploded forth during

The 50th Anniversary Celebrations of the

Tibetan Children's Village

Below are a few words to describe the TCV's beginnings in a nutshell, but I strongly advise you to click on the link above to find out more. It is truly a message of dedication and strength, as well as being a testimony to the value of education (you know -  the subject I get on my high horse about ;-). 

After the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1950, and H.H the Dalai Lama's escape to Dharamsala in 1959, many Tibetan children were left orphaned and destitute, separated from their parents during their long and arduous escape from their homeland.  On 17 May 1960, fifty-one children arrived from the road construction camps in Jammu, ill and malnourished. Mrs. Tsering Dolma Takla, the elder sister of His Holiness, volunteered to look after them. 

When her older sister sadly  passed away in 1964, Jetsun Pemma, who came to be known fondly as Amala (mother) left her studies to dedicate her life to the education of an increasing flow of orphaned Tibetan children.  Since its beginnings, the TCV has grown from one small live-in nursery school, to a number of schools spread across India. More than 34,000 children to date have been educated in both Tibetan language and culture, as well as receiving professional training so Tibetain children have a viable future not only in exile, but the day they regain their homeland.

I could go on about this forever. I have frivolous photos, slightly more arty ones (although you and I all know I'll never be a photographer) bits and bobs of colour and calligraphy from around Dharamsala that I will undoubtedly inflict on you over the next few posts. 

However these are my favourite. For the colour, yes. They vibrate with aliveness. But more importantly because they inspire me every time I look at them and remember the sincere gratitude and dedication  these children showed to H.H the Dalai Lama (yes!! I saw him up close!!), to their teachers and to Life itself.

"From the day we became refugees, our basic objective was to rise to the very place from where we have fallen down."

- H.H. the Dalai Lama 

What better lesson for us, than that?

Love to you all

See you in a couple of days

I may be on a roll with this ;-)

   

They didn't know it was impossible...

...so they did it anyway.

Attributed to Mark Twain

I told you I had a secret to tell you. A couple of you already know because I've whacked you over the head with it hinted about it. But I'm still shy about saying it. Seeing I'm hiding away for two weeks (I'll tell you why and where when I get back - hehehe - just for some more suspense), I thought it was safe to tell you now. 

See that plank up above?

Well, I look at it every day and motivate myself - making myself believe what's written on it. And as such ... I've actually managed to convince myself that what I have in mind might work. Are you ready? I'm taking a big, deep breath in ... and out ...ANNNNND IIIIIIN ... here goes:

I've been working on a series of 10 'positive planks' like this one (but in different colours and with different motivational texts) to start up a fair trade project with refugee Tibetan artists in India. It's taken me a while to get the design for the prototypes perfect - even though the 'O' in 'Possible' has slipped over to the side a bit and we'll have to rectify that ;-)

What I'm still working on, are the colours. You would not believe how much I am influenced by the lovely pale and muted tones they love so much in France. To the extent that it's really hard for me to hit the bright, bold colours I think these planks need - especially if they are destined for children's rooms. Amanda at Small Acorns has inspired me with her passion for chartreuse and framboise! What about you? What colours would you put on your wall - in a bathroom? A hallway? A kitchen? Your kids' rooms?

HELP!

I have no idea if any of these Tibetan artists are going to want to work on this project with me. I won't find out till I get to Dharamsala later this year. And maybe the planks will undergo a transformation because we rarely end up with exactly what we envisage in the begining. That's the beauty of collaboration and the whole process of art itself, eh Jackie ;-).

Do I know how and where I'm going to sell/distribute them once they're made? NOPE! Not yet anyway. First things first. For some reason I'm just driven to having them made, getting some positive out there and working with women's and girls' groups again like I did at UNESCO. It's sort of like a culmination of my life at this point...  Women's education, Art, Empowerment, Positive ... 

Do I panic sometimes and think THIS'LL NEVER WORK? 

Never! Nearly every day. I try desperately not to listen to that little inner voice that says, 'Who do you think you are? Anita Roddick? There are REAL designers out there who could do this better than YOU! Every one else is already trying to save the world - what do you think you're going to achieve?!'  In fact - I literally knock that voice out of existence with a flurry of paint and a whirl of the paintbrush full of positive intentions. Persistent little bugger - it keeps coming back. Yup - really have to arm myself with these planks to keep afloat ;-)

Well - there you have the secret. Please don't tell me you think I'm crazy. I know that already! Too long in France being 'not normal' does that to you. Any advice on making it work - I'm listening!  Didn't you hear me say I was planning on homeschooling my kids? Until I am lucky enough to move back to a different school system - YES! Life is likely to be busy so I'm arming myself with a big sense of humour right now!

Speaking of busy - I have a flight to catch!!!

Raspberries and yoghurt in turquoise bowl ready for the kids' Bircher muesli tomorrow morning - CHECK,

Notes on everyone's pillows saying I love them - CHECK

Special whipped cream in a can that I never buy because I'm to ecological sitting in the fridge with an 'I miss you!' note on it? CHECK!

Selection of French cheeses and saucissons in suitcase ready for friends across the ditch - CHECK!

Blog post written - CHECK

Housework

Flying out the door. See you in two weeks ... I'm going to miss you all enormously!

Love 

Ange

Barcelone: Colorie moi en... PROPRE

Barcelone, berceau de la couleur! Où il fait TRES BEAU

Un monde en mouvement perpétuel... Un grand rire multicolore. Un arc en ciel de formes voluptueuses. Barcelone parle, chante...VIE!

La plage, comme d'habitude, me chuchote ses conseils ...

J'ai pu jouer à Lara Croft de la platja pendant une journée:

On effet - tout est bon à colorier!

Baaaaaaarrrrrrr celona! (Thanks Freddy)

I disappeared to Barcelona for the weekend, without warning anyone. I like disappearing. Makes me feel...

 ... magic.

Barcelona has no fear of form or colour. It is a full on swirl of rainbow music, a myriad of words one on top of the other, underneath and inside as well, with NO PUNCTUATION! Breathing in and out is almost a simultaneous action with no pause. Everything exists all at once... with a permanent exclamation mark!

You don't go for a run through Barcelona - you fly through it. From Besos (Kisses) to The Big W (Hotel, not supermarket for the Aussies ;-) this was my 15k run on a 22° Saturday evening Barcelona style in no particular order, as there is no order: La Femme au Chocolat, 20 year olds in shorts and bare feet off the beach, naked men off the beach, Hewy Lewis and the News, 20year olds in green stockings black opened toed heels and patterned shirts, Don't Leave Me This Way, Miro statues, Whale monuments, Surfersinandoutofthewater, boysbands, transsexual parades, The Eagles, into the less touristy Parca de la Citadella (less than the Parc Guell at least) and its fabulous world of marginality. Real Life. Art and movement in fluid form: jugglers, capoeira, volleyballers, acrobats, singers, dancers, rollerbladers, spanish guitar, cobbled streets, flashes of yellow. Flash, swirl, poof and my feet have left the ground for my wings are out and I am no longer breathing. I have merged with and become Barcelona in all its colour...

Quite simply alive with inspiration!

Phew! I'll be back to normal tomorrow.

Chasing Rainbows

There's nothing like wrenching old wiring from the claws of crumbling stone walls to prove that...
colour has a way of surprising you where you least expect it!

(Electrician must've been ripping his hair out trying to match them all up at the end ... )