ARTISANS (Weekly Art Project #20, 2020)

 It's weekly art project time again & this week I wanted to honour the Artisans of Egypt.

One of the purposes of having a few extra days in Cairo was so that we could go & see the extraordinary craftmanship of equally extraordinary artisans that this city is blessed with.  As we visited metalworkers, glass blowers, jewellery makers, plasterers, ceramicists, marquetry experts, weavers & painters we had to constantly be mindful that we had a budget!

It was extremely hard!

There were two sites that were topmost on my to-see list; the quilters of the Tentmakers Street & the Souk El Fustat Gallery representing the Akmeem embroiderers.

The small stall like shops where the tentmaker men sit & applique their exquisite cushion covers & wall hangings was a kaleidoscope of colour in a dusty unassuming alley. The men were welcoming & keen to know where we were from & excited to share their beautiful work.

 In a complete contrast the Gallery showcasing the Akmeem embroideries was in a modern (& dust free) complex & there was only one person on duty who really couldn't tell us anything about the embroideries.  This meant that the brightly coloured works had to speak for themselves, so they told us visual tales of life on the land, the growing of vegetables, the management of stock and the importance of water.

How was I going to honour these artisans in my project this week?

 It has taken more thought than you would imagine, but in the end this faded and tatty cushion cover helped.

It is one I bought from the Tentmakers & gave to my parents-in-law who are now deceased.  I actually rescued it from the rubbish pile when we were sorting through their household.  I wondered whether I could use it as a base, a starting point for my project.  Perhaps I could alter it in some way without losing it's charming qualities.

 I sat at the computer scrolling through my photos, making visual notes of motifs that leapt out at me & gradually my idea started to unfold.

 Rummaging through my (newly tidied) box of plain coloured fat quarters I found what I needed & began the process of bringing my ideas to reality.

 Having carefully traced the lozenge shape & cut out enough fabric needed to place over the existing ones, I began to stitch in the lotus design I'd drawn on each lozenge.

 With the addition of a new centre, I was ready to let the cutting back begin!  Here's how it went...

With embroidered embellishment & a bead in the centre it was ten folded back to maintain the A4 size & shape I've kept with all the other weekly art projects.
I don't think I've ever attempted this type of repurposing or upcycling or revamping...(whatever one wants to label it), but I am very pleased with the outcome.  If I wasn't restricted by time I would have liked to have added more running stitch.  It is an appropriate reminder of my visits to see artisans at work, as well as remembering my in-laws who never had the opportunity to visit Egypt but were fascinated by our adventures there.  It never ceases to amaze me how art making can link so many seemingly random connections!  I hope your art making is making you feel as satisfied this week. :-)