A Rainbow of Battle Scars

[Dyed with Indigo yesterday. And the huge red dot is one of many mosquito bites]

Guatemala Day 3: More Dyeing & Tying Knots

Another beautiful day here in Antigua. Still working on natural dyeing. Also started setting up the loom with our Momostenango artisans. Take a little tour below.

Preparing the dyes:


Achiote (a natural pigment used to add color to food):


A slight intermission:

Dyeing the thread:



Longwood dust (makes a beautiful purple which you can't really see in this photo):


This is Olga, our instructor at Indigo. I caught a very special moment here:


Cheesy student picture:


Sorry ... the video I took of Jorgé threading the loom is taking too long to upload. Let's just say that this process takes awhile, and I'll have more opportunities to take footage.

I hear thunder ... gotta get back before it starts downpouring ... xoxox

Guatemala Day 2: Natural Dyeing and Mosquito Bites

The good news is that I have been in Guatemala for 2 days and haven't gotten sick [yet]. The other good news is that today was our first day at Indigo. Indigo is a textiles center in Antigua ... the only school in Guatemala that teaches students and local artisans how to natural dye with no chemicals.

Pictured here are the rug weaver artisans from Momosenango that will be working with us:

This is my favorite artisan ... he wouldn't stop smiling. I love him.

First, we had to wash and weigh the fleece and thread that the artisans brought with them from Momostenango in order to prepare it to be dyed.



And here are a few shots of us preparing the dye material ... including coconut (brown), eucalyptus, Indigo (blue) , Cyprus (light brown), pomegranate (yellow), Arragan (light green) and lots more ...



Cochineal ... a beetle! Used for red dye:


Some of us today:

I'm sitting outside right now and being eaten by mosquitoes ... gotta go. xoxox

Bridging Cultures Through Design: Guatemala

Up until about 3 years ago, I never liked the idea of traveling. I mean, I had traveled a lot ... but the concept didn't always sound that fun to me. I felt like I would miss something by leaving whichever city I was living in. So ridiculous, I know. But that's the truth.

Fast forward a couple of years ... and without a blink of an eye ... I found that everything was lining up to be a part of a design class in Guatemala. I mean, the the trip was practically planned for me. I didn't have to do much work. It just happened.

This trip is a dream for me. The vastness to the truth of that statement can not even be described in words ... dramatic interpretation ... or even a short skit.

The name of the course is "Bridging Cultures Through Design." The name of the course just makes me want to cry. There are 7 students, including me, an accomplished professor who works with 3rd world countries, and an assistant to her. We're all going to work with artisans in Antigua .... they'll teach us, and we'll teach them. Among the things I'm going to learn while there ... weaving, spinning, natural dyeing, felting, embroidery ... oh my.

There have been a lot of natural disasters recently in Guatemala - and it's ever-important that our class still go on our trip. The artisans get paid for teaching us these things - and this $$ is especially important to them right now.

This week, our class is in San Francisco together, designing rugs that we will be executing in Guatemala ... learning to felt and spin ... and doing research.

On Sunday July 4th, I leave for a total of 3 weeks - 2 weeks doing work with the artisans, and a week on my own doing God-knows-what.

I'll be blogging about my experience the whole time. I hope you enjoy! <3