Good stuff and allure of polymer

We've mostly tried to follow the lead at SHAPE, preferring to find ways to support them rather than reinventing the wheel or turning things upside down.

But on the last full day at the Sandy Bay location, after a phenomenal send off luncheon, the opportunity presented itself to make some beads with polymer clay. The super thing is that you can actually give a very basic intro. class in about 15 mins., can't you?!

--- Soften the clay, follow the baking instructions, wash your hands thoroughly...have fun! ---

Our instructions were a little more detailed than that but not much and there was an immediate interest, comfort and affinity with the mush-ability of clay. (Thats a word, right?)

Woody, who is in charge of the paper recycling, is a true artist and immediately seemed to understand the potential. He asked "what can it do?" and I could see his creative wheels turning. Good stuff. Amazingly he had already ordered some FIMO so he'll have more to play with than the couple of packs that I brought along. Providence.

Then Lolly, the grant writer/teacher, who said she had never done anything creative, really got into it. Within 15 mins. of me teaching her, she was working with Wendy, who is blind , making seed beads!  Good stuff! Others joined in. Within a day they had used all the clay I'd brought.

Wendy went blind 8 years ago from glaucoma  - that could have easily been treated had she had proper eye care. (Saint Helena only has a eye doctor for 6 weeks a year.)  Her situation does not seem to have dampened her spirits or her enthusiasm to try new things. 

 And now we are off - we board the ship at 1400 hrs. But we are so hoping we'll be back soon! 

Offshore

We were invited to join a group of 35 for dolphin/whale watching. There were hundreds of dolphins and they put on quite a show and although we've see the humpback whales from land (they are migrating south now) we didn't see any from the boat. 

Our ride is the Gannett III. This is also how everyone gets on and off the island right now. There is no deep water harbor so larger ships drop anchor further out, passengers board a small boat, are ferried to this spot, wait for a break between swells and jump shore. 

Jamestown as seen from the water. The larger white building close to the center is the customs house. The grey on the hill to the left is metal netting, put in place to protect buildings and people from rockfalls. 

It is said that when the island was first found it was covered with vegetation - how I'd love to see it like that again! There are efforts underway to support re-growth of endemic vegetation and overcome the serious erosion but it is slow going.  Still, the rocky barren cliffs are certainly interesting. 

It sometimes seems that on Saint Helena there is positive and a negative side to everything. Who doesn't like dolphins, right? But right now the fisherman say the dolphins are over populating and eating too much of the mackerel, which is the bait fish they use for tuna. 

Do it yourself by Sarah Kate Burgess

My search for jewelry made from humble materials led me to the work of Sarah Kate Burgess. 

These are definitely some of my favorite do-it-yourself jewelry pieces ever. I'm looking forward to exploring her work further (when I get back to unlimited, dependable, free internet 

in about 14 days ;-) 

Do you see what I see

We spent a fabulous day, just us, in the "remote best accessible by small boat"  Lemon Valley on the north-west coast of the island. We scrambled ashore at 9:45 and spent the next 4 hrs. exploring ruins, watching dolphins feed just of shore and engrossed in tide pools. 

A small boat brings you to the dock but doesn't tie up so you have grab the rail and leap. 

As the final prison for Napoleon, Saint Helena is the most fortified bit of land in the world. Sadly all ruins and are just that in ruins. 

No quite as perilous as it looks. Thats Samuel and I on a trail that about a meter wide. 

Some sort of sea slug 

Fabulous water clarity! 

Yes, some people feed ducks or birds but not me ;-) Hope to have the video ready in the next day or two of the octopus that came right out of the water!  

Introducing Ashley

They say when Ashley first came to SHAPE he was quite uncommunicative. Initially its hard to tell how connected he is to what is going on around him. 

Ashely cuts and wraps beads made from card stock/boxes donated to SHAPE from around the island. 

           

But start to spend some time with him and you realize he is very bright, misses little, loves color and is aware of all sorts of things even when he seems to not be paying any attention. 

And quite wonderfully, he is responding, with words more and more often. The day I got a direct "cool" in response to my new necklace design was a very good day indeed.

Working out payment and banking details for SHAPE's Etsy shop has been so much more complicated than we thought. The bank is in London, phone calls are $3min.,  SHAPE frequently loses internet connection and so on and so on...

But Paypal and banking info. needs to get straightened out so that they are actually getting the money from the sales they make. 

Coming soon to the Etsy shop - handmade journals using recycled paper. 

Recycled paper

Recycled paper pulp bowls

Global craft

Our daughter emailed to announce that Cynthia Tinapple's new book,

Polymer Clay Global Perspectives, arrived in the post  -  I'm excited from afar! I have project and interview near the center of the book and have images of work on the front and apparently back covers.  The book is available for pre-order and will ship on July 30.

I've finally managed to find someone on the island with an oven thermometer and since I have an electric oven instead of a wood-fired one as expected I'll be making some polymer beads for SHAPE. They have a great little oven/stove combo thing. They use the "hob" (burners)  for candle making but I've put out the feelers out to see if  they'd be interested in using the oven to start making some simple polymer beads as well.

Today was my 5th flax class and I was thrilled to be able to produce this small bag in one morning. The woven green flax must dry, weighted, pinned into shape for a couple days. Then it will permanently hold its shape and I can freeze it to kill any "critters". (Bugs abound in a sub-tropic environment.) This is a completely different material for me and I've really enjoyed exploring it. Flax grows all over the island and you can just park along the road the cut what you need. Up until the invention of nylon rope in the 1960s, flax was used to make rope/cord and Saint Helena provided all the flax used to bundle mail for the British Empire. So its pliable and strong and because you can tuck it and fold it and weave it you can make things out of it with no connectors or glue or anything.  I love this simplicity. Yes, if we were staying I would definitely be continuing my once/week class.

Step one of a square bottom basket

The bottom is complete

Weaving the sides

Folded and wove the top back through to make the points - then decided to pinch the top and add a handle to turn the basket into a purse. 

Eleanor helps Josie with a her large market bag

I enjoy the camaraderie of the mornings as well. The teacher is an accomplished craftsperson (You know the kind who's good at everything they put their hand to? Thats Wanda. )  who makes her living doing tailoring and upholstery. My classmates today were Saint Helenians, British expats and one South African yachtie here for a few months while making her way north through the Atlantic...a very global group!

Landscape and Cityscape

I'm really happy that we did a good bit of hiking before now as the rains are getting more intense. Here are some images from the past week. 

The hike to the Heart Shaped Waterfall is the most well and maintained hike - except for the fact that there is no sign saying where the hike is.

Unfortunately the waterfall is currently just a drip. Ben is there in the lower right for scale.

On the way to Distant Cottage

My boys and I considering the view

Local bananas and local tomatoes are becoming less and less available but we still have local cabbage, onions, sweet corn, beets, carrots and chard.  The hills are getting really green, nights are a bit chilly and there have been some minor rock slide issues. This is winter in Saint Helena. 

The Run, seen below, is basically a walled stream the carries water from higher elevation through the back gardens of Jamestown and out to the sea. It makes for an easy interesting walk. 

I often find the the backs of building more interesting than the front. The climb of these stairs combined with the blue door have always made me imagine something magical inside.

Thanks for reading - have a great weekend!