Egyptian Inspiration and Textiles

Egyptian Inspiration and Textiles

First things first.  We are in Egypt!  Yup, you read that right.  More specifically, at this very moment, we’re floating on the Nile, taking in the sights as we make our way toward Luxor.  Everything about Egypt is inspiring, the history, the beauty, the art, the textiles, the carpets, the people… amazing.  I’ll give you a pictorial summary of our first few days, but I have to tell you a quick story, so you get the backdrop for this trip.

When Richard and I got married, we pissed off a lot of friends and family when we announced we were planning on getting married on Christmas day.  Talk about young and foolish.  But friends and family balked at that idea, so we scrapped it and settled for the winter equinox, which was December 22nd that year.  We then planned our honeymoon.  We decided we would spend xmas eve and xmas day in Jerusalem at the King David hotel, New Year’s Eve was going to be in Giza, overlooking the pyramids, then a cruise along the Nile, ending in a quick flight to Jordan to take in the sights of Petra. Did I mention our son was 9 months old when we got married?  Never ones to go with convention, we did things our way and then often would remark to each other later that “our” way wasn’t necessarily the best way and there was a reason people get married, take a honeymoon and THEN have children.  But I was in my later 30’s by the time we decided to have children, and planning a wedding took a back seat.  So there you have it.  Anyway, the intifada broke out about three months before our wedding and as we were traveling with a small child we were advised to scrap our plans.  (We had reserved everything, right down to the guides.) So we did.  We canceled everything and ended up going to Mexico where all three of us got really, really, really sick.  So sick. You have no idea how sick.  We referred to it as “the honeymoon from hell.” Except that I have great memories from that trip even so.  But we always wanted to try and recreate our planned honeymoon.  Years ago I was fortunate enough to be sent to Jerusalem to cover a conference, and Richard tagged along, so we were able to do that part, but we never did get to Egypt or Jordan, until now, more than two decades later.

Okay, now that you have the backstory, let’s get on with Egypt!

On the Nile in Edfu

Our Cabin (and the artistry of the staff) as we float along the Nile. Those are bottle caps for eyes, by the way.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.  I can’t write about Egypt and not show you a photograph of the pyramids.  So here you go.

The pyramids of Giza

And the camel ride that cannot be refused.

“Valentino, not the designer.”

Camels, or I should say, this camel was very sweet and friendly.  For some reason I had the idea that camels were ornery, like llamas, but I was mistaken.

And then there’s the sphinx.

The Sphinx

Outside the Egyptian Museum where 2/3 of the collection has already been moved to the new museum still being built.  And yet, it was still overwhelming!

Look at this cloth!

Embroidered Cloth

And this one, which is perhaps my favorite.

Indigo Cloth

The internet is spotty out here on the Nile, so I’m just going to end with a few more photographs.  More to come when I get the chance.

Abu Simbel

Ancient Graffiti

This last was one of my favorites.  I fell in love with the “graffiti” that peppers the temples.  This one is from around 300 BC.  Think about that.  It gave me all sorts of ideas for my next workshop, which I’ve already roped my friend, Pat Pauly into making linen fabric kits for.  More on that in a few weeks!

Onwards to Luxor!

Repetition as Habit

Repetition as Habit

“We are what we repeatedly do, therefore, excellence is not an act but a habit.”

Aristotle

I always think about repetition when I’m stitching.  Stitching a few french knots?  How about a few hundred?  And what about some bullion circles?  A whole cluster of them is even better!

Clusters of Bullion Circles

In nature repetition is a constant and often what is most striking is in the sheer repetition.

The tail of a chameleon

Or look at one of my cacti…

While in Africa I was amazed at the patterns and repetition in the Zebra

Patterns on the giraffe

If I love a particular stitch, I’ll stitch a few hundred and over time I will have mastered it.  It’s like anything.  If I want to be a kind person, then I need to practice being kind.  Even when I don’t feel like it.  Even when I’m in a hurry.  Even when it means taking a breath, stepping back from the situation, and remembering that I’ve never regretted being kind.  Never.

Repetition.

Remembering My Mother and Stitching Anyway

Remembering My Mother and Stitching Anyway

This blog is a reminder of my mother.  She was my biggest supporter and commented over the years more than anyone else. It was through this blog that I often kept in touch with her and towards the end it was the one full proof way I knew I could reach her, especially when my emails would go unanswered and my phone calls went to voicemail.  I knew she would read whatever I was posting.  Over the last few years when she could no longer speak, she would send me things that she knew I’d post here, much to everyone’s delight, because the things she sent were such fun.

Like this video:

And then there was this one that I loved:

Mostly I’m missing my mom and while I know this will ease over time, it’s still causing me to wake up many days feeling listless and kind of “blah”.  I know from other periods in my life when I’ve felt down and a loss of energy that doing the things that I don’t feel like doing are the things that often make me feel better.  It’s funny how that works. It’s counterintuitive, but if I can remind myself to do those things anyway, I’m halfway there.

It reminds me of when I was the Director of the Aspen Writer’s Conference and had organized to have Michael Crichton speak to kick off the conference.  During his talk he was spoke of a work ethic.  He was speaking of what artists, specifically writers, but it applied to anyone in the arts, often do. He said, imagine if you were an airplane pilot working for a major airline and got up in the morning and thought – you know I don’t really feel like flying today, I think I’ll sleep a few more hours. – You’d expect to be fired immediately or at the very least given a stern warning and if you tried that again, you’d be out of a job.  He then went on to ask, why do artists treat their work any less seriously?  If you’re a writer get up and write. If you’re a painter, paint and so on. The point was, our feelings don’t really matter when it comes to getting the work done.  If we think of ourselves as an artist then put in the hours and create the art, regardless of the feelings.

With that in mind I keep showing up for the work, regardless of how I’m feeling, because I create.  That’s what I do.  That’s what I’ve always done. Today is no different than any other in that way.  Yesterday I taped a video on this idea, and some of the things I do when I’m feeling low energy, which almost always comes hand in hand with doubt.

Here’s to having feelings and showing up anyway.

Prepping for Africa

Prepping for Africa

Off we go on our grand adventure to Africa tomorrow!

Here is a little recap of the last 24 hours…

Yesterday: Wake up to find we have been sent a notification from the airlines that our flight has been cancelled. Wait, what?!???

My heart skips a beat, a precursor to the flood of panic that immediately follows. Time for some deep breathing. Logic kicks in. We will get another flight out, it’s going to be fine. I quickly send off emails to the travel agency and leave voice messages for them as well, just in case they don’t get the email, even though it’s 6am and they’re on Central time and won’t be open for at least four hours, you can never be too careful or thorough.

Anxiety Girl from RunSingTeach

I practiced my french – j’ai pratiqué mon français. Still feeling some trepidation and panic, but attempting to speak another language helps. Meanwhile Richard has been experiencing heart palpitations and has an appointment with the doctor to make sure he’s in tiptop shape for our trip. I remind him that it’s important that he wear his hiking boots, since they’re new, at least once before our trip, to ensure he doesn’t get blisters while we are away. He nods distractedly.

The travel agency gets back to me, we laugh about traveling and how anything that can go awry, often does, but it won’t be a problem, she’s got this and will call me back when she’s figured out our new airline and flight.

I decide this is a good time to get some stitching done to calm my frayed nerves.

Wrapped Grommet – Ariane Zurcher Designs

Several hours pass and I get the news that we are rebooked on a different airline departing out of a different airport, but we will make our connecting flight and all is well. Knowing that we are all set to go as originally planned I go out to get my Covid test as required by the airline and Africa.

I throw on an old pair of sandals and walk briskly over to the CityMD nearest us only to be told that they’re swamped and test results will take 3-5 days. Yikes! They suggest a different place that is about a half a mile away. A true New Yorker, I walk over to this new place, which is actually a folding table set up on the sidewalk on 14th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues. It feels as though I have pebbles in my sandals, which I cannot find or get rid of. Never mind, there’s no line and so I fill out the various online forms to register and they assure me test results will be delivered within 24 hours. Perfect!
“Go easy on me,” I plead to the young man, who I swear couldn’t be older than 22. He assures me that he’s known for his gentle touch and before I know it the deep nasal swab has been deftly done and is over. “That’s it?!” I exclaim. “Yup, you’re good to go,” he says.

I have a brief moment when I consider whether it would be worth purchasing another airline ticket for this young man so that we can bring him with us and have him perform the 9-10 Covid tests we will have to get throughout our trip. I voice this thought in a joking tone. He laughs and says something like, “I wish.”

He has no idea how serious I am…

The pebbles in my sandals are now really quite painful and I’m having a difficult time walking. I stop at a random pharmacy, purchase some bandaids only to realize that there are no pebbles; I’ve developed large quarter-sized blisters on the bottoms of both feet. How does that even happen?

I hobble home grateful that I can stay put and not go anywhere else.

Upon arrival back home I am confronted with more forms that need to be filled out no more than 48 hours before leaving. I can feel my anxiety rising. Oh and weren’t we supposed to start taking our malaria tablets? Oh no, that can wait until Friday.

New email comes in from the travel agency reminding me to print out our Rwanda visas. Wait, what? Rwanda visas???? I did that, didn’t I? I’m sure I did, but never received confirmation that our applications were approved. I search for and eventually find the email saying that our visa applications are “pending.” I forward all of this to the travel agency with the subject line: HELP!

I have a Zoom call with my “Ask Me Anything” Patrons, which is really more like a party, very boisterous and lots of fun. I show off my latest stitching project and we discuss stitching, techniques, different ways of doing things, piecing backgrounds, and other things, including my next two workshops coming up end of September. The Zoom party is lots of fun and distracts me momentarily from all that’s going on travel-wise.

The Zoom party ends and I see another email from the travel agency. I call them instead of emailing back. She’s taking care of the whole visa debacle and assures me it will all get sorted out. I check my credit card and see that the money has been removed for our travel visas. She tells me there’s one more form to be filled out, but she’s having her assistant do it because while I was on the Zoom call she spoke to my husband who, it turns out, is having heart palpitations due to stress and she doesn’t want him to get any more stressed out.

Richard tells me he loves his new hiking boots, wore them all day and guess what? Not a single blister. I admit that I wore sandals that I’ve never had issues with and now can barely walk.

We laugh. Because seriously, what else are you going to do? We haven’t even left yet and this trip is feeling epic!

Today: I wake to see that my Covid test has been emailed back to me and I’m negative, thankfully.

After I finish writing this post I am double checking that all our various documents are printed out multiple times. I swear we have added at least a pound to our baggage weight with all the documents. We are only allowed a small duffel bag and cannot bring more than 33 pounds including carry-on each. I will be weighing my various tech equipment & computer, finish packing and will try to remember to breath.

Breathing is important. Wish us luck!

And remember in five days we will be hiking with these guys.

Livestreaming, My Bernina & Africa

Livestreaming, My Bernina & Africa

As it turns out the bobbin winder on my new Bernina is broken. Silly me, thinking I could wind the bobbin upside down, I didn’t realize this until it was too late, and it did us both in. Off to the shop it will go, but in the meantime, I continue to fine tune my newly organized working space. In between stitching, reorganizing and preparing for our upcoming trip, I did manage to do a livestream for my YouTube followers.

Some love the livestreams and others dislike them. Part of what’s fun, in my opinion, about livestreaming is the interactive aspect. It’s really what sets these videos apart from a recorded video. For me it’s fun to hear from all of you as I’m working. There’s an easy going banter that is often funny, there’s lots of laughter, with the added plus that I’m able to answer questions in real time, demonstrate different things as I’m working and in general have fun. However part of the livestreaming experience is that I also greet people when they say hi, sometimes get side tracked, but usually am able to stay on target, and try things I might not otherwise try because of things suggested by others.

In preparation for our trip I found the following video.

This is where we will be going. In fact, in one week from today we will be in Rwanda! Hard to believe.

This is the piece I’m currently working on:

If you like this piece, consider signing up for my Improvisational Stitching Workshop beginning end of September!