SLOW WORK & A SIMPLE LIFE

so, found this on flipboard; fits in with my planning the next decade.  i complete 70 this year, and want to achieve certain objectives.  it's a 'minimalism challenge', and since i love lists......................and why reinvent the wheel.  for me it's not about interior decor or how much i own, it is about how i want to live my life.  
some of the items are - stay offline for one full day, examine your daily habits, let go of a goal............. who wants to do it with me?  oh pleeeeeze. 

http://tinyurl.com/ouhzedz


xo, karenza

so, this is the thing.

for the past year or two i have been making these little booklets and distributing them to whomever.

i tear recycled paper into half, then fold it over, and then write on the blank pieces.

it makes for an interesting

'textural' read because there are all sorts of interesting snippets of information on the side that is not blank.  like so

this particular booklet has some pages from northrup's women's bodies, and a page from a notice from our housing coop.

the clean green recipes are hand written, and personally guaranteed - i use these myself.

the buntings are here, the buntings are here

the buntings are here.

here are buntings.  and the dictionary says...........................
buntings are triangular shaped paper or fabric, attached to a line, and hung as decorations.

 i remember buntings from the days of yester year, when i was just a wee babbie, sucking at my

little fist, waving my arms and legs in the air at the colourful moving little flagsies.

well, it could have happened that way.

for my own nefarious purposes i have stretched the meaning of buntings - which are basically decorative streamers to be hung all over - to include bunched up fabric on a 'line' and scrunched up paper on a line.

yes, here they are - all made from fabric scraps and candy wrappers that were destined for land fill.  

yes, here they are..............................i forgot to take photos of them being made, but really, it isn't rocket science..........is it?


anon dear ones, anon
xoxoxoxoxo
karenza

allergic to labels show was smashing success, so many friends, old and new, and i forgot to take my camera………………..

not much else i can say. 
it has been a hectic 2 weeks, i have done nothing other than eat, sleep, read this weekend.
will take and post photos of the work.  the only photo i have is this, thank you rosemary.

happenings - past, present, future

there is so much happening in the 'hood, the city, the geographical west coast, the 'north american' land mass, the 'hemisphere' the planet, the galaxy, the universe and beyond.  and i keep thinking of the butterfly flapping it's wings in tokyo and mount st. helen erupting fiercely.  

something like this image posted by my friend vikki, the image is photographed by stephen ellcock. in such beauty we could be destroyed.  

my friend jacqueline's husband of many years died earlier this month; i never knew him - just from facebook pictures.  a good man; he had to be a good man to be married to jacqueline; who is a strong and gentle woman.

and one way or another our time on this planet, the world, this universe......................

chindi needlework clinic - mending sheets

after a while sheets tend to wear and thin out at the center portion, while the edges retain their 'bounce'.

indians are a frugal people.  i remember my grandmother, josephine jacobs hackett, settling down every afternoon, after lunch and before nap time, working at this type of work.  and she did it all by hand, no sewing machine.

as a self proclaimed practitioner of the slow work movement,(google it), and in keeping with the promise in my last post,  here we are.  you can view this clinic by clicking on the youtube link http://www.youtube.com/user/kalikalimai1?feature=mhee
the reason for this link method is because i couldn't get blogspot to accept my little slide show.  

stay tuned for further chindi needlework clinics in the downtown eastside vancouver.  

toodles
:)karenza

mending & darning workshop - last session of pilot series.

my scarf

i am giving a workshop on darning and mending.  bring your clothing or linen and help save our environment while saving your money.

the workshop will be at the carnegie community center, 401 main street, vancouver, in the basement art studio. 

it is on thursday 26th july 2012 from 1 to 4 pm.  coffee pot ready.

this is an article on darning as an art form, a quick and easy read.

http://www.treehugger.com/style/darning-clothes-as-an-art-form.html 

two week long summer events one in the downtown eastside, the other off downtown eastside

so, tune in to inner city blues reggae with augustos pablo. found him while trolling you tube.  something that is very, very downtown eastside, as experienced by many sisters and brothers, including myself.


while you listen to this, you can read about the langara summer school on sustainable communities, and the indian summer festival on the blog i write for cacv.


and, just to stir it up, here is assassin - something's gotta give.  as my young nephew shaun, has informed me,  yolo.  leave me a message and it will be revealed 

needlework workshops by chindi

without ado, (doesn’t it sound frightfully jane austen?) these are the workshops being given by chindi nation during the summer months.  except for one, they are all in the downtown eastside (rah, rah), and also, except for one, they are free.


but first, what would you like to see chindi nation doing in the way workshops to promote the sustainable use of textiles to make beauty around us.  with tremendous emphasis on enjoyment while making.  please leave a comment in the section at the end of this post.  it will be of tremendous help in designing workshops.  thank you.

winter workshop - handmade gifts

saved - on the brink of being chucked to become landfill, these sample books were donated to the ewma studio.
  
(thunder, lightening, eerie noises).....
read on to find out what happens next

wearable art not costume, using reclaimed and remants

right now is a very exciting time.  and for me, it is also a healing time.  why?


everybody in the downtown eastside (dtes) knows the heart of the city festival.  a weekend of celebration of fine and applied arts.  music, theatre, art work, workshops.


so, this year, i will be having a wearable art show at W2 cafe, in the new woodwards atrium.  there will be models, food - anglo indian food - and beautiful women, representative of the women of the dtes modelling clothing.

pouches & headband at aboriginal day fair

21st june is aboriginal day in canada.  and as always, well for many years, the downtown eastside of vancouver had a fair in oppenheimer park.

it was a great day to be out in the sunshine, many friends to greet, and a lot of "new" people to meet.  the workshop tables were set up under little tent things.  we call them shamiyanas in hindi.  they have a roof, and no sides.

and the chindi (rags/scraps) always draw people who want to know what is happening.  

forgot to take photographs of everybody, but did get some.  and my friend elsa was there to help, which was a great help.

salish sun days - 28 may 2011

my dear friend, sandra pronteau, bead jeweller, story teller, community activist, mother, among other things asked me to be part of the salish sun festival 2011.


there was a call out for volunteers, and so i thought to workshop a "making something quick and easy using textile scraps" and came up with small pouches.  

you will not see the faces of people in any workshop by me; this is as a courtesy so they retain their privacy.

the pouches were small, no larger than 3 or 4 inches, and as is usual with chindi design projects, the fabrics were scraps.

door weaving at ewma 18 may 2011

a bright sunny day was wednesday.  perfect weather for an outdoor activity.  a total of 10 people joined in the weaving, some were ewma members, some were friends, and some were passers by who wanted to join in.  the door looks awesome, you can see for yourself.  view digital story on this project on youtube.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVEcI5wwAgs

end of first session

weaving shadows weaving hope - public art community beautification project

join ewma artisans/artists and your neighbours in weaving a decorative panel for the protective grating in front of our street entrance door.  a lot of weaving materials (fabric, paper, twine, yarn, threads, found objects) will be provided.  but, if you want, you can bring something with you to weave into the panel.

dates: 18 & 25 may, and 1 and 8 june
time:  1:30 to 4:30 pm

coffee, teas, juices & lots of water to rehydrate.

this is a joint event, sponsored by atira, ewma and facilitated by myself, karenza t. wall, of chindi nation

chindi workshops

cindy, salima, teresa

the first in a series of textile workshops, held at the ewma rice block store front.  

Wednesday May 18th | May 25th | June 1st | June 8th


2:30PM - 4:30PM


EWMA Studio - 52 East Cordova Street


Join EWMA artisans/artists in weaving a decorative panel for the protective
grating in front of our street entrance door. Some weaving materials (fabric,
paper, twine, yarns, etc) will be provided but if you want you can bring
something along with you to weave into the panel.
Refreshments will be provided.


Facilitator: karenza t. wall
Chindi Jam
Chindi means scraps or rags in hindi dialect
Rags is another word for clothing trade
Jam is when musicians get together for an improvisation session
thank you to ewma for hosting this work.  for more information on ewma contact.
Jessica Numminen
Coordinator, Enterprising Women Making Art (EWMA)
T: 604.685.8043 | E: jessica_numminen@atira.bc.ca

grey to green - fence project

 this project was mounted, and an opening held in december  2010.  me?  i'm operating on indian time.

the organization that sponsored this project is intersections media, curated by james koester, involved 15 downtown eastside artisans/artists, among them colleen carroll, laura harrison, tomoyo ihaya, j. peachy and myself.  check this installation out on blogspot.


the works are attached to the fence, in the lane behind the waves internet cafe, corner of cordova and main.  take the plunge the next time you walk past the laneway.  it is truly worth it.

seen at centre a - january 2011

happy new year to all.


i was wandering home, and caught sight of this display at centre a.

busy busy busy

i have not been able to post for too long, and am missing doing this.  

there are a whole lot of exciting projects going on in the downtown eastside, vancouver, and it has been difficult to choose which i want to join because of course, i want to do everything.