My Week in Thailand

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Luana

SilomDancers1_W

It has been a truly amazing trip so far here in Bangkok – my first time in Thailand. (and a big check on my Bucket List) I've had 2 days of sightseeing, 2 days of the Color Marketing Group Conference work sessions, and today I went to the big Chatuchak weekend market.

I have uploaded a batch of photos from Wat Phra Keow – the big temple complex in the old city with the iconic golden reclining buddha. I'll upload more photos to this new Bangkok folder over the next week, as time allows.

There is not much obvious evidence of the recent devastating floods in and around Bangkok, although my travel companions and I have looked at piles of debris and assumed that was the source. I received an email from a friend about an effort to help all the homeless animals who were abandoned during the floods (and are now living on the street), but it is not clear what happened to the people who were displaced.

For the next two days we're taking a private car out of the city, for 11 hours a day, to explore the coastline and the countryside. I plan to take many photos and share those with you. Monday night I'll be attending a dinner show with Thai dancers, and taking lots of photos of the dancers and their colorful costumes. (flying home Tuesday so I can spend Valentines dinner with my family)

Today on the way to the big market, I discovered that my ATM card was missing. Bummer! I called my bank to cancel the card, borrowed cash from a friend and managed to still have fun at the market. On the way out to the taxi street, I got a big black cinder in my eye, and am now on antibiotic eyedrops. Hopefully a good night's rest will help my eye tonight.

Thailand is known for its silks, and I've enjoyed seeing all the ladies dressed in their beautiful silk dresses, jackets and sarongs. We visited the Jim Thompson House (museum and gardens) to learn about the man who revitalized the Thai silk cottage industry. I also walked through the huge flower market, and visited the Grand Palace. Lots of great images to share with you from those photography walks.

Bangkok is a frenetic colorful city with gridlock traffic, unfailingly polite and friendly residents, and a fascinating history that is expressed everywhere through its art and architecture. It reminds me of Bali in many ways. (the people, and the colors) It is unacceptable to talk loud or lose your temper here, but the traffic and loud music makes up for that – ha!

I shared images of quilts from 6 shows, during my keynote presentation at the conference here. I showed images from local (Colorado), to national (Houston and Sacred Threads), and international shows.(Birmingham and Tokyo) I'll be sharing this same presentation in Canberra Australia on April 21st. It was great fun to share images of all those gorgeous intricate quilts, with those who truly appreciate color and design.

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Creative Nudge – Fusion of Yin and Yang

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Luana

EmikoOsawa550

One of the things I truly love about traveling to all these international quilt shows, is to see how the art and craft of quilting is mutating and expanding every year. I love seeing how techniques and ideas develop in parallel but unique ways on opposite sides of the planet.

Sometimes a true piece of fiber art makes the traditional quilters scratch their heads. Sometimes a masterful and technically perfect pieced quilt can be dismissed as unoriginal. Hey, it's all fabulous! I love seeing when the two halves of the Yin-Yang intersect and you find a distinctive forging of the artistic and the technical in one visually stunning piece.

At the Tokyo Quilt Festival, there were so many of these types of fusion quilts. To be sure, there were many on both ends of the Art/Tech spectrum, but here is a *closeup* of just one quilt, that shows a fusion of intricate curved piecing, precise applique (with a difficult gold metallic fabric), swirling topstitching and quilting, then scatterings of opaline and moonstone-like beads that look like Tinkerbell just flicked her wand… but in reality we all know they were painstakingly placed, and applied individually by hand.

Emiko Osawa created this beautiful piece: it took 2nd place in the "Wa" category, which showcases Japanese techniques and traditional themes.

I am working on a slideshow from the Tokyo show to be posted this week, but first I wanted to share the photos taken by my friend Akemi, when she visited Kesennuma on July 15. This was just two days after our 2155 donated quilts were distributed (through Mission of Love) in this coastal town. For those of you who graciously rushed quilts so we could get them to those in need quickly, I wanted you to see what it looked like in this community, the week those homeless residents received your beautiful quilts.

Many of you have asked where the survivors are living now. Akemi included photos from Miyako in November, showing the temporary housing which is like multi-unit trailer-houses. They told me after 2 years they will have to move out of the temp housing, and the elderly don't know where they will go. Hopefully the government can come up with a solution by then.

To our many friends Down Under, I've booked my tickets to come to the Australasian Quilt Convention in Melbourne, this April. I am planning to be in Canberra the following weekend of April 21. More details to come – hope to see many of you there!

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Stuck in Seattle

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Luana

Last night I returned from my quick trip to the Tokyo Quilt Festival, and I am still processing all that I saw and heard.

If you follow me on Facebook, you already know that I got stuck in the Seattle snowstorm, it took me 2 1/2 days and several planes to get to Japan, via Taiwan…. and my 3 1/2 day trip (insane!) was reduced to 2 1/2 days.

So I got to the show floor at 4:30 pm Friday, and had 2 hours to walk the show and take photos. (I was supposed to arrive at Narita 5 pm Thurs, but instead arrived 1 pm Friday) As a result of my 2 days traveling, and shorter time there, I was talked out of my planned trips to Kesennuma/Sendai Saturday, and a booked Mt Fuji trip Sunday.

However my friend Akemi gave me a flash drive full of photos and videos from Kesennuma (the coastal town where our 2155 donated quilts were distributed), which she took July 15 which is 2 days after our quilts were given out there!

I met a woman who had lost her home and all her possessions, who used to live on the coast in Sendai, and now lives in “temporary housing”. I will post photos of the temporary housing, the coastal damage and debris, etc.

I also met a woman who is on the city council in Kessenuma. I spoke with so many people about the tsunami, and heard so many stories. Everywhere you go there are tsunami fundraising projects, pleas for donations, and evidence the toll this has taken on the national spirit.

Saturday I went to a wonderful textile museum in Kamakura, and there met a group of Sashiko artists and teachers. Akemi translated, we chatted and laughed, and admired one lady’s head-to-toe sashiko ensemble. We were all good friends by the time I left, and we exchanged cards. (although I can’t read Japanese – maybe they will email me!)

Sunday I returned to the show and looked at every quilt carefully, and visited with my Japanese, American, European and Australian friends who were visiting the show, or running vendor booths. This show usually has about 250,000 attendees during its weeklong run, although it felt a little slow this time. I also felt a sadness, and a little less creative sparkle in this year’s show. Understandable, and it made me especially glad that I had come this time, to support the show and the people.

I am preparing a slideshow to share my favorite quilts with you, but I also wanted to share this image because it is an expression of how I felt while at the Tokyo Quilt Festival. As I looked at the quilts, I found myself also seeing images of what happened in Japan on March 11, 2011, and I know that many of the quilts there are expressing emotions that range from grief and loss, to hope and healing. (The show runs through this Saturday)


KesennumaQuilt550

My thanks also go out to Keiko Goke, who lives in Sendai, who arranged for me to meet those who could tell me stories about the tsunami and the aftermath. My thanks to Akemi Narita for being my guide, translator and friend in Tokyo. Let me collect my thoughts, edit and gather my photos, and I’ll have more to share by the weekend.

I got home Monday night in time for Sam’s 15th birthday party, and gave everyone in my family a big long hug. Every day is a gift.

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10 Months after the Tsunami in Japan

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Luana

After 2 1/2 days of travel, I finally made it to Tokyo on Friday afternoon instead of Thursday afternoon. I managed to get myself transferred to a flight going to LAX, then to Haneda Airport, but after sitting in the Seattle snowstorm on the tarmac for 2 hours, they unloaded us and we waited around another couple hours. Then they rerouted me to an EVA Air flight to Taipei (Taiwan), then Delta from Taipei to Narita. Those of you who have flown to Asia will appreciate the deliciously long torturous route. Anyway, I made it to Narita, took the long bus ride into town, took a quick bath and made it to the last 2 hours of the show on Friday!

Yesterday I took the train (all by myself!) to a textile museum in Kamakura, met my friend Akemi, and met a group of Sashiko artists/teachers there. Then we had a noodle lunch at a local restaurant (yes, one of *those* bathrooms) and visited a local temple and shrine in Kamakura. Photos will follow later this week!

I have plans for a flea market this morning, weather permitting, photographing more of the show this afternoon, and perhaps something interesting tonight or tomorrow morning before I head back to the airport tomorrow afternoon. Sam's birthday is Monday so if I don't have any further delays, I will pull into the driveway about an hour before his dinner party. Whew!

Because I lost a whole day of my 3 1/2 day trip (now 2 1/2 days, as you may have surmised by now), my friends who live here talked me out of making the long difficult journey up the coast yesterday. (probably 7-8 hrs round-trip) The train only goes so far, then you have to rent a car or take a bus to get to the tsunami site. So I have one friend who was in Kesennuma 2 days after Mission of Love distributed the 2155 quilts to local residents. My friend is giving me the photos today, and I will make them available to you on my photo page.

Keiko Goke (who lives in Sendai) tried to help me – she offered that her husband could drive me around to see the area – but in the end it didn't work out for him. Anyway I must have looked like I crawled out of jetlag gutter because everybody agreed I should not go Saturday. So I am doing my best to get the story of what is happening here on the coast, and to get photos for you, from local residents.

There are many quilt exhibits and quilt/sashiko fundraiser efforts going on here, as you can imagine. I see them at the Tokyo Quilt Festival, and I saw more at the museum in Kamakura.

http://www.mapple.net/spots/G01400122601.htm

 I see pleas for donations everywhere – in fact I dropped money in fundraiser boxes at 2 temples yesterday. My friend says the temporary housing for the homeless will expire after 2 years, and nobody knows where the elderly will go after that. A New York Times article today discusses the lingering radiation in crops coming out of Northern Japan. So although the disaster is largely forgotten in the Western press, the aftermath will continue here for years to come, as the aftermath of Katrina still continues in the US.

I want to take this opportunity again to thank all of you who rushed to ship your 2155 quilts to us and Mission of Love. Our contact in the military who supervised the distribution, as far as I can tell was then transferred to Afghanistan and we have not been able to get in touch with him to get any photos he had of the distribution day. However we know they were received with grateful astonishment, and we know they are treasured by the Kesennuma tsunami homeless who undoubtedly still count them among their few possessions. My friend's account of her July 15 tour of the area, was simply heartbreaking. So my friends, we done good, as they say.

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

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Creative Nudge – A Culture of Beauty

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Luana

I am dashing off this newsletter late Tuesday, just before I leave for Tokyo early in the morning. In case you missed my last newsletter – I decided to use my miles to get a last minute ticket – to go to the Tokyo Quilt Festival again!

The other plan is to go to the coastal village of Kesennuma on Saturday, where we distributed your 2155 donated quilts on July 13. I don't know if I will find anyone who received our quilts, but I can find out how this community is doing, and take lots of photos of this hard-hit region. (most affected by the tsunami in March 2011.)

The dream that is Venice, still haunts me, and I will have images to share. Here is a gold tile mosaic mural on the outside of a building, that I snapped from the back of the vaporetto (water bus) as it churned up the Grand Canal. There are some cities in the world where art and embellishment is everywhere…and Venice is surely one of those cities. Barcelona is the other city that comes to mind, that has eye candy almost anywhere you look. The colors of the buildings in both of these cities, are like a window full of those French macaroons that are so popular now!

It is going to be very interesting to travel from Italy to Japan within just a couple weeks. Both Italy and Japan have such an incredibly strong design aesthetic. The craftsmanship and attention to detail is stunning, but the sheer grace and beauty of design in both countries is almost overwhelming. I remember the first time I stood in that space between the Duomo and the golden Baptistry doors in Florence, I literally had tears running down my cheeks.

When I travel to either place, I am just a sponge….soaking it up and thinking about what kind of social and historic bubbling brew can create a culture of beauty that is so consistent.

VeniceGoldMural1_W

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MLK, Venice and Tokyo

Posted on January 15, 2012 by Luana

With the long Martin Luther King Day weekend coming up, I know a lot of quilters who will be spending the day sewing up a storm. I'd like to send out a special hello to our friends in the many African-American quilt guilds, as we observe the accomplishments of MLK, and the inspiration he left behind. I try to explain to my children about the Civil Rights movement, and the struggle against injustice. So I am grateful that we have a day to honor MLK, although his work is far from finished. I am also grateful that we live in a world where families can adopt across racial boundaries, make friends and play in multi-racial neighborhoods. MLK's work continues, but I am glad to be alive and see how far we've come.

If you haven't seen my first batch of photos from Venice, be sure to check it out on my photo page, or my Facebook Color and Design page. I'm working on the next batch this weekend. It is a lot of fun to share these images – and I hope you'll find the colors and art an inspiration.

Hey guess what? I didn't have plans for next weekend, so I used my mileage points to get a ticket to Tokyo this week! I am leaving Weds and will be at the show Friday. I am also working on traveling up to the coast to see what it looks like now, 10 months after the tsunami hit. Not sure yet if and how that will happen but I'm working on a plan for next Saturday – a week from today. I don't know if it is possible to get to the little village where we distributed the 2155 quilts that you donated, but I want to go and see in person what is happening on the coast now. We'll see ….I'll let you know in my midweek Creative Nudge as my plans come together.

And of course, after the trip, I'll have some wonderful photos from the Tokyo Quilt Festival!

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Creative Nudge – a Classic View

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Luana

VeniceSilhouette1_W

How often are you drawn to an image or design that is old… classic… even clich?d?

The familiar can also be comforting, and if that's what you're after then reproducing an old classic quilt, or reproducing another artist's work, can be very satisfying.

However, for many, it is unthinkable to copy or reproduce another's work, when creating a quilt or work of art, even if it is by an artist from a couple hundred years ago.

Truly, either way is fine. (As long as you are not breaking another's copyright for self profit) What is most important is that we find joy, peace, or healing in the process. We make it our own by doing what WE enjoy, not what we think others expect.

During my visit to Venice over New Years, I thought a lot about this concept. I absolutely delighted in discovering and photographing those classic views of cathedral silhouettes, gondolas reflected in canal waters, and the open spaces of Piazza San Marco.

However I was also alert to the opportunity to capture an image with a sense of humor, with some local color, or with the irony of hyper-tourism in this antiquated city.

Why do we create?

To express a feeling that cannot be verbalized.

To release an energy that can be shared visually with others.

To follow a pure urge to make things.

We can talk about it and think about it and even argue about why we create, but all that really matters is that we do it.

Whether you are copying the work of a master, or an anonymous 17th century crafts person…whether you are inventing from scratch or meticulously recreating another's beautiful idea….it is all valid and valuable.

Learn the concepts of color and design by copying, then use the work of others as a springboard for your own creative process. We are all influenced by the work of others. Lets be honest about that. Then we can build on top of what we have learned, and rearrange all the elements into something fresh and intriguing.

While in Venice I knew that my best photos would be by the water's edge at sunset, (thanks to the work of countless artist over a few centuries) but then I followed the wisdom of my own eye, and made it my own.

I've posted my first batch of Venice photos on my photo page, and on my Facebook Color and Design page. Enjoy!

Best wishes and Happy sewing,
Luana

********************

6 Houston Quilt Festival Videos available now!

See my photo page for travel images, comment on my blog, follow me on Facebook or Twitter for more color and design ideas. Quilt show reviews on the eQuilter Video page.

11 Day Tour of Ireland + Quilt Festival
(click "View Trip Itinerary" for details)
June 5-15 with Luana
$3165 Air/Land, $2573 Land Package Only

Click Here to See ALL our Newest Products This Week!

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An Artist’s Life Work

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Luana

About 2 am Wednesday morning we made it home safely from our long journey. (3 flights over 24 hours, to get home from Florence)

I am going to be processing this trip for a long, long time. Thanks to Mason's semester of art history classes in Italy (see the last midweek Creative Nudge newsletter) we had a tour of Italian art history with Mason as the lecturer, that really altered my perspective of reality as a creative person.

On our last day there, we visited San Marco church and monastery, which is now a museum. It features the life work of a famous Dominican painter, Fra Angelico. He painted frescoes in every monk's cell in the convent, plus more frescoes throughout the complex, including the magnificent Chapter House fresco.

We also visited works by Michelangelo all around the city, which are not on the usual tourist stops when zipping through the city in a daytrip. Having previously seen the great works by Michelangelo (such as the Sistine Chapel, and The David), I enjoyed seeing works like the Pieta (in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo) and the Night/Day and Dawn/Dusk marble figures of the New Sacristy at the Medici Chapel.

I had to go stand in front of his Holy Family (Tondo Doni) painting in the Uffizi again, just because it is one of the most gorgeous things I have ever seen up close and personal. Last time I saw it there was no protection – you could lean in and inspect it closely – which was kind of scary. Now there is a plexiglass covering for which I am grateful.

This trip was my 3rd time in Florence, but my first in Venice, and I can hardly put words down about the experience. So I am posting photos from Venezia this weekend and perhaps I can say with images, what can't be expressed with words. To talk about the Light, the colors, the water… would just be cliche. It was great to go in the winter (less tourists), and for New Years Eve (to celebrate with the locals). Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

I will try to distill the essence of what inspired me on this trip, and you can see it on my photo page over the next few days or week.

We wish you a New Year full of creative inspiration and visual joy, that takes your breath away and puts a fire in your belly!

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Happy New Year from Venezia!

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Luana
NYSanMarco2
 
*
As promised, I am sending you my New Years Greetings and humble gratitude from Venezia, the City of Canals, City of Bridges, and City of Light… Venice, Italy!

As I wrote about in the midweek Creative Nudge, I've been dreaming about this trip since I was 12 years old, and after watching Katherine Hepburn in "Summertime" (set in Venice) for the umpteenth time, I decided to tack on a 3 day visit to this beautiful city while picking up Mason from his semester abroad in Florence. After director David Lean (Lawrence of Arabia) made Summertime, he had fallen in love with the city, and bought a home here. In an interview recently aired on PBS, he said the movie was a chronicle of him falling in love with Venice.

 
Now that Mason has become an art history maven, we have such a great time traveling together. It is one of the areas of knowledge we access most frequently when writing descriptions for our fabrics, so it is wonderful to have a "refresher course" and see the Real Thing. Our mutual love of art history is something we'll treasure together for the rest of our lives. Sam is just walking around with his mouth open, occasionally squeezing my arm and whispering in my ear, "THANK you Mom!". Last night we saw a "local" production of Verdi's La Traviata in an 800 year old building, then strolled back in the misty evening, admiring the lamplight shining through the seafog as it softly reflected off the canal waters.

Speaking of seeing the Real Thing, you know there are many cities around the world with canals, that refer to themselves as the Venice of the West, the Venice of Texas, the Venice of China, etc., but wow there is just nothing like visiting the real city from which all this inspiration has sprung.

You may already know that Venice has always been a favorite hangout for expat artists and poets, including Claude Monet, Whistler, Goethe, Charles Dickens, William Turner, Cole Porter, Ernest Hemingway, Diaghilev, Percy Shelley and Robert Browning… and Shakespeare wrote two plays that were set here. (Merchant of Venice, and Othello) I've spent many hours in museums, gazing dreamily at the misty pastel-hued paintings of this magical island and its atmospheric skies above…and imagining seeing it in person. Have you seen Midnight in Paris? I dream of visiting Venice in the 20's…

Thursday night when we arrived it was dark and rainy, and Friday morning when we started our tour of the city, it was cloudy and chilly; but by that afternoon the sun started to peek through, and by sunset we had such an incredibly awesome display of misty colors over the bay, that felt like we'd traveled back in time with the Impressionist painters!

I've been taking lots of photos, with lots of creative inspiration to share with you: the expansive Byzantine gold mosaic ceilings and inlaid marble floors of St Mark's, the chalky pink and lilac colors of the sunset sky, the terracotta colors of the buildings reflected on the teal canal waters, and the vivid rainbow of Rialto Market. I'll be editing and posting photos this coming week when I return to the US, sharing lots of art, color and design inspiration with all of you!

I am traveling to Bangkok to speak at the Color Marketing Group Asian conference in February, then Melbourne Australia for the Australasian Quilt Fest in April, and of course my tour of Ireland in June. If you share my passion for travel, color and creative inspiration, perhaps you can join me in Ireland, or meet me in Australia!

Happy New Year from Venezia, and may you live a beautiful childhood dream in 2012!
We wish you a beautiful New Year full of health, peace and abundance, with friends and family, and the time to enjoy it all.


sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

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Creative Nudge – A Dream Come True

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Luana

VasariSunset_W

I've just had one of my childhood dreams come true, but not the way it was originally dreamed. When I was 12 years old I dreamt of coming to Florence to study painting and art history. My oldest son has just completed his semester abroad in Florence, studying art history and photography, (he hoarded all of his business school electives for this semester) and I am here to spend a week with him and then bring him home. He and I saved up for a long time to make this happen, and now I am going to share my dream with you.

When I was twelve, I read The Agony and the Ecstacy by Irving Stone for the first time. And the second, and the third, and the tenth time. I read that book til the cover fell off and the pages began to drop out. (In case you haven't read the book, or seen the Charleton Heston movie, it was a biography of Michelangelo, sculptor of The David, and painter of the Sistine Chapel.)

Years later, both of my sons read the book and loved it like I did. Sam found an original hardcover copy in a used book store, from the 50's, and got it for his book collection. Mason took it a step further and chose to study art history in Florence, and then signed up for 2 Italian art history classes…one of them solely about Michelangelo.

Yesterday morning Sam and I arrived at the little airport here in Florence, checked into our hotel, and met Mason after not seeing him for 4 months. Then we managed to get tickets to a twice-a-week private tour of the Vasari Corridor – the hidden corridor that Cosimo de Medici built that goes from the Uffizi, across the top of the Ponte Vecchio, and up the hill (on top of medieval residential buildings) through the Boboli Gardens and finally ending in the Pitti Palace.

We had a tour guide, but since Mason has been studying with a famous Italian Art History professor in 2 classes, he was able to whisper our own magical history tour with all the exquisite and lurid details, as we moved through the 3 hour Uffizi and Vasari Corridor tour with about 12 other people.

I was in heaven.

I put out a dream 40 years ago, and it came back to me yesterday. Certainly not the way it was originally envisioned…. but maybe better?

We have a busy week, and I'll be sending New Year greetings to you from a very special place. Since I have my laptop (i.e. color editing of my digital photos is less accurate) I will edit and post the bulk of the trip's images when I return after Jan 3.

Best wishes and Happy sewing,
Luana

(photo taken of the Ponte Vecchio and Arno River, from the Uffizi Gallery – the Vasari Corridor is the 2nd story across the top of the bridge, with the small windows)

********************

6 Houston Quilt Festival Videos available now!

See my photo page for travel images, comment on my blog, follow me on Facebook or Twitter for more color and design ideas. Quilt show reviews on the eQuilter Video page.

11 Day Tour of Ireland + Quilt Festival
(click "View Trip Itinerary" for details)
June 5-15 with Luana
$3165 Air/Land, $2573 Land Package Only

Click Here to See ALL our Newest Products This Week!

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