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African Threads

Valerie Hearder's African Threads

African Threads
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Category Archives: Inspiration

November Light

African Threads Posted on December 21, 2018 by Val HearderDecember 21, 2018

                      It is Solstice, our darkest day and yet my soul still lingers in November light. It was a month of renewed creative energy for me. The darkening monochromatic landscape … Continue reading →

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Posted in Creative process, Inspiration, Musings, natural dyes, Nature, Uncategorised | Tagged blakc wallnut ink, gold, light, natural dyes, November, retreat, saffron.linen, Solstice | 6 Replies

Stitching on Spirit Island

African Threads Posted on October 6, 2016 by Val HearderOctober 6, 2016

This past week I was on Manitoulin Island to visit Judy Martin’s home with Penny Berens and Margi Hennen. Manitoulin is known as Spirit Island due to deep spiritual significance to the Indigenous People. What joy to be in this … Continue reading →

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Posted in Community, Creative process, Embroidery/Stichery, Inspiration, Slow stitches | Tagged Creative process, embroidery, indigo, inspiration, Judy Martin, Manitoulin, Penny Berens, prints, retreat, Spirit Island, stitching, stitching friends | 1 Reply

Africa Nova

African Threads Posted on May 10, 2016 by Val HearderJune 24, 2016
crafts display

I’m just back from South Africa and I have so many fabulous textured images to share!This display was at a wonderful gallery shop called Africa Nova in Cape Town. Telephone wire baskets along with ceramics, beaded dolls and the traditional circular red hats worn by married Zulu women. African icons from Ethiopia and beaded giraffe from Zululand.

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Posted in art, Inspiration, South African Tour, Textured Tuesdays, Travel | Tagged Africa Nova, beaded, gallery, giraffe, icons, South Africa, telephone wire, Zululand | 2 Replies

San Rock Paintings

African Threads Posted on May 7, 2016 by Val HearderJune 25, 2016
Rock Painting of figure

The San left their mark in these fascinating, vulnerable paintings. Priceless treasures, they are our earliest human art and speak of a cohesive culture connected to nature. Many of the paintings are fading due to lichens, weathering time and sometimes senseless vandalism. I found it profoundly moving.

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Posted in art, Inspiration, Musings, Nature, South African Tour, Travel | Tagged Botswana, Cape, Cederberg, Clanwilliam, frack, Kalahari, Khoisan, Namibia, paintings, rock art, rooibos tea, San, South African tour | Leave a Reply

Bead and Basket Textures

African Threads Posted on May 3, 2016 by Val HearderJune 25, 2016
baskets and beaded work aprons

African bead aprons and finely woven baskets. Kim Sacks Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.

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Posted in AfricanThreads, Inspiration, South African Tour, Textured Tuesdays, Travel | Tagged African, aprons, baskets, bead, bead work, Johannesburg, Kim Sacks, Kim Sacks Gallery, South Africa, woven baskets | Leave a Reply

Telephone Wire Basket

African Threads Posted on April 26, 2016 by Val HearderJuly 7, 2016

We saw this large telephone wire basket at the African Art Centre in Durban, South Africa. Vibrant colour and textur

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Posted in AfricanThreads, art, Inspiration, South African Tour, Textured Tuesdays, Travel | Tagged basket, Durban, South Africa, telephone, wire | Leave a Reply

African Beaded Skirt

African Threads Posted on April 19, 2016 by Val HearderJuly 8, 2016

Detail of a beautifully textured Shangaan beaded fertility apron, Limpopo Province in South Africa.

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Posted in AfricanThreads, Inspiration, Social Commentary, South African Tour, Textured Tuesdays, Travel | Tagged beaded, fertility apron, Limpopo Province, Shangaan, South Africa | Leave a Reply

Indigo and Clay

African Threads Posted on April 12, 2016 by Val HearderJuly 8, 2016

Deeply textured hand built pots by a Zulu craftsman paired with indigo dyed cotton. Love being in South Africa.

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Posted in AfricanThreads, Inspiration, South African Tour, Textured Tuesdays, Travel | Tagged cotton, indigo, pottery, South Africa, Zulu | Leave a Reply

Textured Tuesdays

African Threads Posted on March 8, 2016 by Val HearderJuly 8, 2016

The Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, Japan. We got up at 4:30 am to get to the market and see the fresh fish ready for sale and distribution. it was full of pattern and texture. These are fresh octopus.

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Posted in Inspiration, Textured Tuesdays, Travel, Tuesday Textures | Tagged fish, market, octopus, textures, Tsukiji | Leave a Reply

Textured Tuesday

African Threads Posted on February 29, 2016 by Val HearderJuly 8, 2016

Whalebone vertebrae, many hundreds of years old. I found this at Red Bay Labrador at the earliest known Basque Settlement in North America. the Basque hunted whale and returned to Spain with the oil. There are 9 holes drilled in the centre of the vertebrae, perhaps made by researchers looking at the DNA of the whale, I don’t know.

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Posted in Inspiration, Musings, Nature, Textured Tuesdays, Travel | Tagged Basque, Labrador, Red Bay, vertebrae, Whalebone, whalers | Leave a Reply

Textured Tuesday

African Threads Posted on February 23, 2016 by Val HearderJuly 8, 2016

I photographed this detail from a piece of handwoven raffia cloth in a shop in South Africa. Decorated with beads and cowrie shells. Some of the squares are dyed with indigo. It has a kind of pom-pom edging.

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Posted in AfricanThreads, Fabric, Inspiration, Musings, Nature, Textured Tuesdays | Tagged cowrie shells, hand woven, indigo, pom-pom edging, raffia | Leave a Reply

Tuesday Textures

African Threads Posted on February 16, 2016 by Val HearderJuly 8, 2016

Cabbage field, Second Peninsula, Nova Scotia. This farm at the very end of the Peninsula is a sweet spot. I took this photo many summers ago when I spotted this field of crinkly cabbages, so like crushed velvet.

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Posted in Inspiration, Musings, Nature, Tuesday Textures | Tagged cabbage, crushed velvet, Nova Scotia, Second Peninsula, summer, textures | Leave a Reply

Sketchbooks & Journals

African Threads Posted on May 9, 2007 by Val HearderJuly 8, 2016

Sketchbooks and journals are a dynamic part of the creative process. And judging by the new crop of books and web sites on journaling and creative sketchbooks, it’s obviously something that appeals to almost all of us in the creative … Continue reading →

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Posted in art, Creative process, Inspiration, Studio, Uncategorised | Leave a Reply

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