A step-by-step folk art tutorial.

In February of 2020 I had the honor of visiting the workshop of a master leheriya artisan. Mr Neelgar’s family has been practicing the Rajasthani craft of leheriya for four generations.

I like the idea one cloth bearing opposite characteristics simultaneously. Especially appealing is when this duality extends the versatility of an item. With this theme in mind, I began to look for more cases of textile double-dealing.

I’m continually fascinated by handmade textile’s ability to link cultures and tell a story about our human history. In studying textile history, I often find surprising links and commonalities that are seemingly worlds apart. Such is the case with the iconic American bandana and the ancient Indian craft of bandhani tie-dye.

“Desert Time” was a concept I heard often before finally moving to the desert. I understand it means things just take longer here. The plants and trees grow slower. People’s lives move slower. I heard it is hard to get things happening here because…well, “desert time”.

After a rainy winter, California was in bloom this spring. A “super bloom” some called it. There were showy fields of poppies a day’s drive from LA, but it didn’t take a road trip to experience the spectacle.

It is funny how I need to re-evaluate from time to time what I consider to be a tool and why I might be taking too good a care of it. Sometimes it is downright silly. My brand new chainsaw looked pretty good all shiny and polished off the showroom floor. It looks quite a bit nicer now after a weeks worth of work, laying in next winters firewood. But cutting into the first tree I honestly had the thought, “but isn’t it going to get dirty?”