beautiful waste of time

because she loves a good banana, and so do i.

To say it is hot here is probably to make the understatement of the year. This might be a slight exaggeration as I am usually hot 80% of the time. But, it is still hot here. And this is the good time to come. I have been told Feb-April is ideal Hoi An weather, before really hot, hotter, and excruciatingly hot comes round, followed by hot and wet, really hot and really wet, and then just in time for the holidays: cold and wet. In order to hang on through the day hours, we foreigners like to drink fruity drinks. The smart vietnamese folks are sleeping in their shops during the heat of the day (did i mention they were smart). I, the not so bright one, get by on these lovely homemade lemon juices. Just imagine lemonade, but cold, fresh and perfect, the opposite of hot.

This is Lieu and I kicking it on a breezy Saturday afternoon. It happened to be really quiet around the workshop yesterday as i walked by on my way back from some retail therapy down at the shops. My fave lady Lieu was sitting here peacefully making some of her beautiful collage cards. (She also makes wine bags that are gorgeous.) Next thing you know, I stopped in for a chat and a coffee with Karen & Lieu. The Lifestart Foundation Workshop really is the best place to hang in Hoi An when you want a little respite from the bikes and horns and hustle and bustle. The space just pulls you in to linger and stay awhile. Lieu and I are old friends because a few years back I made a portrait of her as part of another artist exchange project I participated in a la the (no name) art group with lifestart’s original workshop members. 12 women artists in the US partnered to make memory portraits for 12 women artists in Hoi An. And there they are still up on the wall here in the workshop including the one I made of Lieu (last image, bottom row, right). Lieu kept in touch with me through letters and would send gifts back to the States for me, so needless to say I was ecstatic to finally meet her in person. She told me she was happy I made her look so young in her portrait. Lieu and I get on really well, despite our limited shared language skills. She reminds me of my grandmother. She is always bringing me good things too, the other day it was a watermelon. I couldn’t fit it into my hotel fridge so i brought it back to the workshop for us all to share at the party yesterday. It was fantastic. Cam on Lieu, that means thank you in my bad Vietnamese accent.

this is hoi an from the back of a motorbike while talking on a moble phone, lol..Thanks to my skilled friend and driver sinh. We are coming back from one of his friend’s house who happens to be this amazing artist, just like sinh. More on sinh’s art studio later.

To see video check out this link on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9891000@N02/4485729483/

this was on saturday.

i have been snapping a few self-portrait moments along the way. This was me waiting for my cooking class to begin..More on that later..

Here is our workspace and the amazing workers within it: Sang, my amazing interpreter/co-teacher, is so good at making the books now, she doesn’t need me at all.. She is standing to the left of me in the first picture.. Her English is amazing & her patience with my non-existent Vietnamese is hilarious.

I am here teaching a 6 day workshop to 6 new potential craftspeople in hopes that the product I have created will turn into a viable means of income for one or two of them in the near future. This past week we have been learning how to make and sew a set of four small traditional stab binding journals.

Ms Ly (pronounced Lay) whose precision and attention to detail astounds me. She will be very successful with this product.. Here, she is learning to paint the symbols that will adorn the front of each book.

Ly and Nhung, who will take over the project once I am gone. They are amazing.

Ms. Thu, an embroiderer by trade, learning how to make some recycled magazine journals.

Ms Nga, quiet and persistent, getting better each day by leaps and bounds. She is also starting a new product line, these beautiful hand knitted scarves.

Mai, who is our typical hilarious teenage boy of the group, he’s always trying to go off on one of the lady’s three wheeled motorbikes, but he really has an amazing eye for pattern and design.

So this is my group and this is where we work. We are next to Sinh’s beautiful art studio where he paints outside and plays us Norah Jones on his laptop for background music. It really is a wonderful place to work, even when its raining or windy. The boys come after morning school and sit outside our front door and make lanterns in the afternoon so usually everything is a buzz. Next door is the actual store front where the goods are sold and the original workshop members that Sherry trained years ago. They are all pros now making their products each day in shifts as they sit and meet new people from all over the world that wander in and have tea, or have a sit and chat, or just walk by on their tour groups.

There is a non-profit group called Lifestart Foundation, that works out of Hoi An (& Australia) on behalf of people who are in need of assistance in order to live. The range of people that Lifestart serves is wide and ever growing: young, old, able-bodied, disabled, etc. I am here as part of an artist training program that Lifestart is introducing in order to better serve their growing population of people in need. The way it works is simple: Lifestart trains people with skills to make saleable items that are sold in their beautiful shop to visiting tourists. The “maker”, once they have sold enough items to get them on their feet, is responsible for their supplies and for the quality of their product, and also in return, receives 100% of what the store earns for their product. Read the rest of this entry »

e&sinh_web

So this is what hoi an looks like from the back of a motorbike while talking on a phone. lol, thanks to my skillful friend & driver sinh. this was shot today as we were coming back from one of sinh’s friends house. more on sinh and his beautiful art studio later.