Mud Cloth Wall Hanging
"The axe forgets but the tree remembers."
- African Proverb
Two weeks ago I attended an artist workshop lead by one of my...what is the word? Heroes? I dunno.. that word makes me feel like she needs to be dressed in shiny lycra, white knee-high boots, and a cape. I mean, she could totally pull it off but she is cooler and definitely more down to earth than that. Let's put it this way, she has been at the very top of my "people I REALLY wanna meet list" for the past 5 years. Yes, I have a list. If you must know, I am a list nerd so this "really wanna meet list" is one of many saved to the notes app on my phone. I may or may not also have corresponding pictures (lovingly and tastefully) collaged to my vision board. Some of you might now know her as The Jealous Curator (the magical art world wizard with the wicked-good eye). If you're a fangirl like me, you know her as Danielle Krysa. She is an artist, mother, author (3 x over), blogger, podcaster, real life curator, and most recently, an online gallery owner. Well, after typing all of that up maybe hero is exactly the word I am looking for. So, I was 1 of 12 lucky ladies to score a spot at "Girl Crush" (could the name be more apropos?) Guys, I cried happy, I-cannot-believe-this-is- really-happening tears. When Danielle posted the details on her IG feed I am pretty sure (100% sure) that I left a comment that said, "Is this real life?"
So it turns out that sometimes your vision board life drives up to your real life in the back of a Lyft. Upon seeing said vision of recognizable blonde bob and black framed glasses, you may feel like you need to do a lap around the block so you can pull over on a side street and breathe a little. You then might call your husband and say, "I am freaking out!" At this point, your critical mind might start talking... why did you wear the grandpa sweater? Yikes, friend, the hair. Did you remember to floss this morning? But, you are going to meet the lady who just wrote a book titled Your Inner Critic Is a Big Jerk, so you are certainly not going to let this punk steal your joy. You close your eyes for a few minutes and you B R E A T H E. Then you drive back around the block and you find a parking space (we're in L.A., parking is a thing) a few feet from the gallery and then you notice the other humans... nice-looking humans walking through the front door so you know, without a doubt, that you can do it too.
Yep, she is as warm, funny, charming and down to earth in person as she is in the virtual realm. Within the first half hour of the workshop we are all seated in a circle. Danielle is to my left sitting in a wicker peacock chair atop a pale pink feathered pillow (she is queen and should take this throne everywhere she goes). Next thing I know it's "write your name on a tag and tell us about yourself time". Danielle kicks us off, followed by, the amazingly talented artist, Martha Rich (no biggie), and the ridiculously cool and supremely talented L.A. based photographer, Stephanie Vovas. Who am I again and what's my story in 6 minutes or less? Why am I here? I wasn't really sure what was going to come out of my mouth because let's face it, the thing you plan to say in your head is never what falls out of your mouth when it's finally your time to speak. I think I said my "in a nutshell bio". I talked a little bit about my leap of faith and then somehow by the end of my spiel I started talking about the traumatizing affects of being shamed in front of 30 of my classmates by my 6th grade math teacher and how that incident continues to fuel my inner critic. You know what? Nobody in the room looked at me like I was crazy. We all have these stories we carry with us. Maybe it was an ex-boyfriend, or a schoolyard bully, a mean doctor, a parent, a bad boss. Danielle didn't paint for 15 years because she had an evil art professor tell her that she wasn't very good at painting. 15 years! Lady, I SO get it. There are so many things I have given up on or never even tried because that 6th grade girl part of me still feels like maybe she really is the only one who will "never get it"... maybe she really is dumb. So we avoid any and all situations that may lead us back to that feeling. Only I am not avoiding these "possible brushes with shame" anymore. I am showing up. I am breathing. I am doing the things that my inner critic tells me I am crazy to even think about doing. Each time I do it, my resolve gets stronger, my brave gets braver. I am still processing the magical 9 hours that I spent with Danielle and the Girl Crush Gang. My favorite share of the day was the idea that (I will keep it PG) sometimes making *crap art, or experiencing *poopy feedback, or walking through a *muck storm, is actually just laying down thick, *stinky, fertile, soil. So the tree remembers but one day the tree decides that she is going to go ahead and keep on growing anyway because this manure is the *ship that dreams are built on.
Big thanks to my new friend Danielle who remembered but did all the things anyway.
xx
a.
Bógólanfini (Mud Cloth)
Bógólanfini is a traditional art form of the Bamana people from the African country of Mali. The traditional way of creating these cloths is to hand weave the cloth and hand dye it with plant juices and mud. Mud cloth designs look abstract in style, but each pattern, shape, and color you see actually has a distinct meaning, each cloth tells a story.
Materials:
cut up brown paper bags (you could also use thick brown craft paper)
black brush pen or Sharpie marker
wet sponge or spray bottle
tempera cakes (black, white, orange, yellow)
twine or yarn for hanging
hole punch
1. Cut up your brown paper bags. One paper bag should yield 4 "cloths"; two squares (front/back) and two rectangles (sides). 2. Add a little water to your bag. You want it damp, not soaking. 3. Crumple up your paper bag. You want to break down some of the stiffness but you don't want to create holes. 4. Dab off any excess water with a rag or paper towel. 5. Take your black brush pen or Sharpie marker and start laying out your designs. 6. Once all of the black areas of your designs are sketched out you can begin adding your black tempera paint. 7. You can either leave your mud cloth brown (bag color) and black or you can add rust, yellow, and/or white. 8. Once you have painted your base colors, you will set your mud cloths aside to dry before adding the finishing touches. 9. Add details with a white chalk marker or white paint pen. If you are working on a white background (example below) you will add black details with a fine point Sharpie or your black brush pen. 10. Punch two holes in the top of your mud cloth and thread and knot your yarn. 11. You are ready to hang!
