While last Friday I was smacked to the ground by a taxi, this Friday my hands have been drawn by the sensational Esti! What a wonderful day it is!! Yes these are my hands, enhanced and decorated by Esti. I am in awe of her drawings, and I feel pretty special that she has interpreted my hands in this way – look at the swimming fish in the detail. Wow.

I must admit, I was pretty reluctant to send an outline of my hands as when I drew them, I felt like I was giving away a piece of my soul. I am super conscious of my hands, for so many reasons. One being that my fingers are quite long and even though my mother always said how wonderful that was, I always felt like a bit of a freak. But even if I did give a piece of my soul away to Esti, she just gave it right back to me, and that piece is more beautiful and unique now than it ever was.

Click here to read and view Esti’s full post.

Thank you Esti, you have totally made my day.

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Well folks, I am about to jump on my bike again for the first time since I had the accident. I am pretty scared, to be truthful. I didn’t think it had affected me so much but apparently it has. But today there is no more procrastinating as I have so much work to do, I’ve sort of piled it all up into one day, the last day of the week, and now I have to race around and pick up samples and props for next weeks shoots. i feel like a bit of a baby, being so reluctant to get on the bike. But here goes nothin’. Wish me luck out there!!

So where was I… oh yes, my obsession with the work of weavers! Another weaving studio which I am smitten with is that of Kelly Stewart and Kenny Nix – the lovely couple who have created the Gene Straus Design Weaving Studio. They have an extensive online gallery and I have been perusing it over the past few weeks, imagining them looming away, coming up with new ideas and fashioning loose threads into woven treasures. There is such a personal touch to their website – writing about how each piece was formed and what it was formed from – you see, Kelly and Kenny create rugs from tossed away clothing and scrap wool selvages. There is so much work to strip the fabrics into usable threads, let alone the amount of time and energy into creating the designs and starting the production, making each of their handwoven rugs unique yet so affordable.

What you see above has been made from old denim jeans which I think is just amazing. I imagine this rug on white wooden floorboards at an entrance way. In fact, I imagine alot of their designs in white spaces, creating warmth, depth and texture. Weaving old into new – I love it.

Click here to peruse their collection.

“A TibetSydney hand-weave isn’t a rug; it’s a story. A story where one becomes part of the narrative… Here it becomes a calm controversy of textures, palette and meanings between the occidental and oriental, futurism and antiquity, noise and contemplation, skin and intellect…”

I have found I have become so fascinated in the art of weaving – it is such an art, and just the sight of a loom makes me a little giddy. The TibetSydney showroom in Queens St, Woollahra is not only an inspiration for it’s weaved creations, but is also an interior masterpiece, created by famed architect Donavon Hill…

I first learnt about TibetSydney in Vogue Living, and I remember drooling over the images and carefully digesting every single word…

And I remember thinking, how does something so ‘everyday’ like a rug, become so evocative, so rich and layered, so full of depth. And I thought – it is culture. It is influences. It is one’s personal experiences and attachments as an artist that is interweaved into each piece, creating and weaving stories into each creation.

This is something I hope to achieve in my own work, in whatever medium it takes. The idea of weaving one’s cultural experiences and intimate moments into an everyday artefact makes an interior sparkle with life.

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Click here to read the story narrative of the TibetSydney rugs, and the inspiration of the designs.

Some years ago, the time known as ‘my indigo days’ when I had my store, I used to hold special exhibitions to mark the arrival of new furniture or art. One night, in November of 2003, I was to hold my last exhibition. I was showcasing the work of a local photographer’s visit to India, and I had invested in a large collection of antique furniture from India as well as antique jewellery from Tibet. The opening night was a hit – the store was full to the brim. And one of the lovely people who came in that evening with her 4 young children in tow was Sophie Bouris.

I will never forget, because my store was not exactly child friendly. But these children were so well-behaved – surrounded by loads of strangers, in a frenzy of chatter and bustle as cushions, tables, clothes, and jewellery were being ogled and passed over the counter. Sophie and I connected on that one fleeting first meeting, and looking back we see that our chance encounter was perhaps, no chance at all.

I tell you all this because it is my meeting Sophie that led us both to meeting Tenpa, and both of us individually yet concurrently, developing a special connection with him and his family.

Fast forward to today, and Sophie and my other dear friend Leona, recently returned from an incredibly sacred journey to Tibet with Tenpa, his sister Thongga and their father who is known to many as Rinpoche, but who I call pala (father, in Tibetan). The journey was perilous as the risk of Tibetans travelling back to their own country can be fatal. I was distraught when they all left, and I sent them my positive thoughts every moment of every day they were away. I hung on to every email Tenpa was able to send me to tell me they were all safe, and I was a wreck when I would receive mail that sounded tentative and less than reassuring. But they all arrived home safely and live to tell the tale.

And here it is…

Sophie has compiled this incredible book filled with stories and events from the journey, including her stunning photographs and the journey details through the eyes of pala, Tenpa and Thongga. I have been lucky enough to have sneak peaks over the last few months as the book has been developing, and I will give you only five words to describe it: intimate, captivating, intriguing, heart-breaking and inspiring. A must read for not just those interested in Tibet, but anyone who has a heart.

I am so excited to announce that Sophie has given me the go-ahead to offer the book for pre-order. Just email me your name and contact details and I will put you on the list for the first books off the printing press in August. The aim of the book is to raise awareness of the Tibetan situation and hopefully raise some money from sales.

The book will initially come out of Australia but we’d like to offer the book all over the world, and in lots of languages – so if you are interested to volunteer translations or to help subsidize a print run here in Europe or America, please let me know.

Thank you Sophie, for creating such an incredible body of work, and for sharing it with us all.