Newest idea!

Got this great idea for a book… but I need to back up a bit and give some background info.

Last spring I taught a mudcloth workshop in St. Louis and made a strong connection with one of the students in the class. JudyC is a fiber art instructor in a local college there, and supervises new teachers. (I think I got that straight!) One of the things that I mentioned in class was how the Mali cloth that is mordanted before putting on the mud is called basilanfini (cloth that can heal) due to the healing properties of some of the tannins. She and I made a pledge to push each other into creating new work with a basis in healing (healing cloths, big and small).

Earlier than that, local quilter and fiber art friend Moya and I had agreed to focus on pockets (and the play on words that can come from that, as in “out of pocket”) as a way to force some creative work.

I’ve sort of put the two of them together and the three of us have shared some of what we are doing as well as act as instigators in getting work accomplished.

Next summer I’ll be teaching mudcloth, gut and simple bookbinding at Convergence in Tampa. There are several exhibits that I’m thinking of entering as a way to show my various work to more than just the people in the classes. The basketry exhibit would be ideal for a gut piece. The exhibit Small Expressions, which has a 15 inch limit in any direction, seems to be a good place for a book….

Fast forward to the idea:

A bag/purse of pockets that hold healing cloths of various sizes dyed with mud. Then it becomes a PocketBook of Healthy Dirt – or something along those lines. Each pocket contains a separate “page” of the “book”.

I think I’m almost having too much fun with the play on words. <g>  Better get the project started!

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