Indrani Perera

poet, publisher & mentor

Tag: the village continuum

Leather Craft

A couple of weekends ago I was back at the Village Continuum Festival, teaching a lovely and keen group of people the basics of leather craft. It's my third year of teaching at the festival and the second time I've run the Introduction to Leather Craft workshop. At my first Village Continuum Festival I taught a two day shoe making workshop.

It was lovely to be running the same workshop again – I felt as if I had a much better idea of what I was doing, how I wanted to run the workshop and what I wanted to teach. Of course the things I was teaching aren't necessarily the same as the things that the people in the class wanted or needed to learn from me. Sometimes a chance remark can spark a huge realisation and we don't even know.

I love seeing people mastering a new skill. Megan from Canberra didn't have any sewing or crafting experience before the workshop. She chose to do the most difficult stitch and she nailed it. It was a good lesson for me in letting people do what they want to do without too much emphasis on how hard it is – sometimes if we don't know something is meant to be difficult we do it without any trouble at all!

As usual, all the finished pouches were gorgeous and reflected the unique personalities of their owners. My favourite part of any workshop is seeing what people come up with using the same basic raw materials. There's always such a variety in the finished product even though everyone started with the same two pieces of kangaroo skin leather.

We even had some cross crafting going on again with the calendula balm made by Sue in the Herbalism workshop being used to oil some of the pouches. Other pouches were burnished or waxed and some were left natural. Over time the oils from their owner's fingers will darken the leather.

Thanks to all the lovely people who came to the workshop. It was such a joy to be working with you all!

November 16, 2017
Forest Boots

Although I was crazy busy in the lead up to the Village Continuum festival, I did manage to squeeze in making a new pair of boots to wear to the event. After all, a girl's gotta have the right shoes! I lurve these new boots of mine. Like most things, they took me ages to make. Lots of imagining, thinking, figuring out and designing in my head went on before I got around to sewing them.

Even though this is my fifth pair of shoes, I still get immobilised by fear during the making process. This time the fear struck when it was time to shape and sew the heel. What if I stuffed it up? What if I wasted leather? What if they didn't get made in time for the festival? Three terrible sins! Well like most things, mistakes are never as terrible as they seem (they offer a chance for creative solutions after all) and the fear is always worse than the mistake you may not make. Wasting things is bad but you can always turn the waste into something beautiful by recycling. Being late? Not so bad really as long as you say sorry.

If like me you think that you can never have too many pairs of shoes and that making them yourself is the ultimate in self sufficient crafting, have I got the workshop for you! For two days over the Australia Day Long weekend I'm going to be teaching shoe making workshop on a farm in Trentham that is converting to biodynamic. It's going to be a magical 2 days in a special setting. Come and join me and make a pair of shoes!

December 8, 2016
Crafting Lessons Learnt At The Village Continuum

{Basket woven by my ten year old daughter, at The Village Continuum festival.}

We're wired to create. It's in our DNA. I just know it. It's why there are cities and spoons, buildings and blankets, stained glass window and shoes. We just can't help ourselves, we make. The Village Continuum festival was maker's paradise for me with so many amazing traditional craft workshops on offer. If you didn't make it this year and you love craft, you should seriously think about going next year.

{Stringy bark rope made in Josh's workshop and dyed in Heather's natural dye pot. L: eucalyptus R:onion skin with iron mordant}

{Dye pots simmering over the open fire. Onion, eucalyptus and cherry ballart.}

Cross Crafting

One of the really exciting things about the Village Continuum festival was the cross crafting that occurred. There was a steady stream of people going from the rope making workshop across to the fire and the natural dye pots to make their stringy bark rope colourful. Shoes and leg warmers from the felting workshop went into the dye pots too. We even had one facilitator who was chucking whatever she could find into the dye pots- old thermals, socks and bags that needed livening up.

There was also butter made in one of the workshops served the next morning at breakfast time.

{Top: Max's wallet. Bottom: the workshop template}

Creativity

When you put a bunch of people together, show them some skills and give them the tools and materials they need, amazing things can happen. In my leather craft workshop at the Village Continuum, nine year old Max took the card and note wallet prototype and flipped it on its head. He took the middle piece of leather, attached it to the top and turned the whole thing into a little pouch. I love it! Especially the button detail with the loop (the button has been sewn on backwards as well!).

This little pouch tells you everything you need to know about creativity. Age doesn't matter – young kids and old people can do it. Step outside the box (or in this case the pattern). Turn things over. Go backwards. Do it your way. Make it what you want. Be different. You are unique. You can do it.

{Basket weavers weaving their baskets}

Collaborative Crafting

I think there's nothing better than crafting with a bunch of other people. It's why I love doing craft workshops and attending awesome festivals. You get to chat, learn and be inspired. You get to swap stories, talk about your loves and for just a little while feel connected to each other as you share your stories, hopes and dreams. It's amazing how people open up when their hands are busy doing something else.

Sitting together in a workshop chatting as we carve, sew, cook, learn and teach fills my soul right up. I learn as much from the other students as the teachers when I do a workshop and the Village Continuum was no exception. When I was doing the Coal Burn Spoon making workshop, one of the other students, Art, taught me so much about branch wood and choosing a good piece.

{Speedy running an impromptu razor sharpening demo}

Spontaneous Crafting

You just couldn't stop the passionate folks at the Village Continuum from sharing their skills and knowledge with each other. This is Speedy teaching an impromptu razor sharpening workshop during the festival. Speedy is a goldmine of traditional craft knowledge and can turn his hand to just abut anything. From blacksmithing to cheese making, he's done it.

Festivals like The Village Continuum are so important for slowing down and bringing together creative people who are happy to share their skills and knowledge. It was an honour and a privilege to be part of creating something so beautiful. If I had my way, I'd be gong to a festival like this every weekend!

December 2, 2016
Post Festival Blues

{One of my most treasured possessions – my Village Continuum Crew patch}

Creating a festival with a team of other people has been a huge highlight for this year for me.

Now, a few weeks after the festival, I’m definitely suffering post festival blues. Working on and for the Village Continuum festival was a huge part of my life for the last 6 months. And now that it has been and gone, I'm feeling bereft and blue.

I'm missing the sense of community that came with being part of a team. Sure we all worked separately in our own homes but there were a billion e-mails floating back and forth in the ether as we discussed all matter of matters from what to put in the goodie bags to gate open times, catering options, site decoration and how to structure the timetable.

There’s plenty of projects waiting for my attention but I just can’t focus on them at the moment. I think I’ve entered a period of mourning, I’ve got that post creative project flat feeling. I suspect that is partly because for so long, I put everything I had into the festival. And now that it has gone, there's a huge hole.

I had a ball at the festival itself and while at the time I tried to consciously enjoy it as much as possible, I’m wishing I was still there. I loved the amazing community of people who came to the event and created a village with us. They were all so talented and willing to share their knowledge, skills and experience as well as enjoy the workshops at the festival.

I wish every day life was like the festival – a group of amazing people hanging out together, making things, discovering new skills and each other and most of all being open to sharing their lives with complete strangers with faith and trust.

And you know what? When I think about it, it can be. Every day can be filled with hanging out with amazing people, making things, learning new skills and living with faith and trust. It's all about how we perceive the world and how we choose to live our lives. I'm choosing great people and craft! What about you?

November 24, 2016
I’m Still Here!

Hello? … Hello!

Oh good. You’re still there. And I’m still here! Although it may have looked like I was doing a disappearing act, I’m still here at the other end of this keyboard. Being part of the crew organising the Village Continuum festival was huge and it kind of took over my whole life. Actually, it did take over my whole life! All my keyboard time was spent working on the festival.

While there was still some crafting going on (there’s always some crafting going on!), I didn’t have any spare time to share it here. I know, terrible isn’t it? No time to write and share. But the festival is over and I’m back! Although for how long, who knows? The warmer weather always gets me about and about more…

I did manage to keep posting on Instagram so if you want to check out what I’ve been making for the last few months you can – @indraniperera.

As well as being part of the organising crew, I also ran a leather craft workshop at the festival. I was so pleased and humbled at the number of people who turned up to do my workshop. Before the workshop I had cut out 20 pouches and I was thinking that I would be going home with some. Boy was I wrong. There were over thirty kids and adults crammed into the tiny tent, all eager to learn about leather craft and make their very own vegetable tanned kangaroo skin pouch!

I'm grateful to the lovely Kate Horne for coming to help and cut out more pouches for all the people patiently waiting for their leather. The time went by so quickly as they all sat and crafted. Marking stitches, making holes and sewing leather. Watching them teach other what they already knew or had just learnt was wonderful. The synergy and energy of workshops and people creating together is always inspiring. A community of crafters – that’s the world I want to live in.

These are some of the pouches that were made. The others went off with their very excited owners before I could get a snap!

I love giving people a template and the basic skills needed to complete a project and then sitting back and watching them unleash their creativity. Options – it’s all about having different options and allowing people to have some choice. It’s so empowering to be able to customise something and make it truly your own. Looking at the pouches, you can see the owner’s personalities and style peeping though.

There were two choices of pouch – the round coin purse and the note & card wallet. A few simple choices such as coloured cotton thread for embroidery, black or white waxed linen for sewing and some coconut shell buttons made 27 very unique pouches.

It's so rewarding to be teaching people so hungry for traditional crafts and mindful making. I've still got a big grin from ear to ear and a bounce in my walk!

November 17, 2016
Making Fire

When I was a teenager I went camping for the first time with a good friend and her family on their bush property in the New South Wales countryside. I spent hours around the campfire, staring at the flames and poking the fire with a stick. I was fascinated by the beauty and the power of the flames flickering and dancing along the logs. Eyes squinting against the smoke I would mutter under my breath “White rabbits, white rabbits” until the smoke stopped blowing my way. As the fire died down I would stare entranced, at the glowing embers.

Fire is primitive. It’s terrifying and fascinating. It keeps us warm and cooks our food. And yet for most of us it’s something we take for granted, packaged in a box of matches or tamed in a lighter. Last year I was really excited to meet Speedy at The Village Continuum festival and learn how to use a flint and steel. He had a tinderbox filled with homemade pre-charcoaled cotton, ready to use as fire starters. He told me that 150 years ago everyone carried around a tinderbox with flint, steel and tinder so they could light a fire whenever they needed. It was the modern precursor to the box of matches.

In making the things I need and the life I want to live I like to get back to first principles and learn the traditional, original techniques for doing things. For me there is a real satisfaction in working with my hands. I prefer to sand by hand rather than using an electronic sander. I like the physical effort – the feeling of my muscles and my body working, breaking a sweat as I work hard. Afterwards I feel satisfied. Whenever I can, I like to do things by hand with the obvious exception of blogging. I haven’t quite perfected my homemade, pedal powered internet device. Let me know if you do!

But back to fire! Last weekend I met the resourceful Claire Dunn, the author of My Year Without Matches. Claire showed me how to use a fire stick and a piece of wood to make fire. Like all experts, she made it look easy. However, when it came to my turn I found it was actually much, much harder than it looked!

To make fire I rubbed the fire stick between my hands, at the same time pressing it down into the notch in the bottom piece of wood. My palms were hurting and my hands were strained with the pressure of trying to hold the fire stick in place. When your hands reach the bottom of the stick you have to keep the downwards pressure while moving your hands back to the top of the stick and then start all over again. I kept going and going. I think that at one point I even managed to get a wisp of smoke from the wood (but I’m not sure, it could have been my hopeful imagination!). Claire told me that it took her hours of practice to make it look so easy. I’m always telling my kids – it’s just practice. Looks like I was right!

Even though I didn’t actually make a fire, I felt like I achieved something. I like knowing that I can make a fire even if I don’t have matches or a lighter. That I can be self-reliant when it comes to this most basic of human needs. As well as learning something new, I connected with a raw and primitive power on it’s own terms. It’s a power to be respected and feared. One to be used wisely and well.

Thanks to Claire, I know the basic technique for using a fire stick. Now I want to make my own fire stick and find a place out in the bush where I can practice making fires. Although I suspect that in reality I will be practicing on the balcony of my flat! Nothing like making do with what you’ve got :o)

January 28, 2016