liber torre - the ongoing story

a digression from clothes

hannah — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 07:26:51 +0000

There are many many people struggling in Zimbabwe at the moment. Take Martin for example, a chap Jonny met the other day. He is 70 and lives with his wife (who is 60 but invalided from a bus accident) and 8 grandchildren whom he supports. His son died and his daughter is in South Africa, and has been for a year, getting medical treatment for a condition she has. They have about 20 acres of land 30 miles outside Harare (this is not uncommon, the government gave land to people before all the contraversial land grabbing started).

and seeking

hannah — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:14:31 +0000

The skins at the butchery were covered in flies and still wet and draped over a tree stump. They did have some old ones which had been dried properly but they were old and brittle, I don't think they would be able to be used for anything apparel wise. So I need to find out how to tan hides naturally, and in a way that is inexpensive and leaves them relatively supple. Then I think we would be able to work with them. Any ideas? Would be great to save these from burial...

hiding

hannah — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:26:17 +0000

Today we are going out to a butchery where cattle become steak. Each cow produces a hide. Up until the international economy wobble about a year ago they were exporting the hides to Italy to be made, I presume, into bags and shoes. Now, it is more cost effective for them to bury them than it is to salt them and try to sell them. There’s a possibility I might be able to buy the hides (which would otherwise be landfill) from them and then find someone who is able to make belts and shoes. Maybe. We’ll see. Whether there is enough of a market here too is another question, but we’ll see.

zimbabwe

hannah — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:30:07 +0000

han: Internet has been very very rare here hence not updating in the last weeks - sorry! but here is a quick one while i have the connection...we are currently doing a permaculture design course (as opposed to a clothing design course) and it really does have implications for business: seeing what is happening naturally, where the flow is and going with it. looking at signs of growth and utilising them. turning excess back into the system and recycling everything. good good. will be writing more details after the weekend, for now I am immersed in permaculture 12 hours a day.....

dreamy days

hannah — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:20:25 +0000

lucy:
I woke up after midday, and now am at the evening end of a dreamy day. I seemed to be industrious today but my mind was somewhere else among retro furniture and psychedelic wallpaper. Being in limbo does stretch my mind further and further into thoughts and ideas and dreams and desires that normally would be left as as ornaments in a metaphorical shop window.

in the moment

hannah — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:22:22 +0000

lucy: isn't it amazing that every moment of our existence is the result of what we have been, and that it's possible to pick out the positive and make them make more positives......how marvellous that is.
perhaps the true goal is perfect freedom, i think this begins by being physically free

in mozambique...

hannah — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:38:12 +0000

Han: I mentioned in a previous post that I was about to go away to southern Africa for a few months to look into the possibility of working with some tailors to progress the clothing collections. We have now been here, Jonny and I, for 10 days, but this is the first chance I have had to sit and write a little. I am sitting in grassy shade which slopes down to the shiny turquoise Indian Ocean, there are dhows far in the distance and apart from the birds and the lady who has just dropped off fresh bread, I am alone. It is perfect.

materialisation

hannah — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:31:36 +0000

lucy: well the summer has been extraudinnairre, beautiful, sunny and busy. due to slight neglect and frantic creativity as well as a couple of incidences of flooding my studio has been feeling rather hard done by, so i have been spending the last few days revamping and beautifying. i have filled up every space on the walls with pictures, mainly pages from a book of imogen beedham's photos which are close up exquisite shots of flowers, mainly in black and white giving the an ethereal and enigmatic quality.

honey you are a rock

hannah — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 10:17:20 +0000

Han and Lu: did you know that every third mouthful of food you eat is reliant on bees to pollinate it?

prep for the trip...

hannah — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:17:37 +0000

Han: Its is simply wonderful for the soul to be out of the city and in the coutryside. Fed fed fed is what I feel. And there are many slightly out of the ordinary things that make me love coming back to see the family. Currently an extremely high and rather swaying treehouse more than three stories high. Which we will be spending our last night here in (if the walls are up in time).

angelos prolificorius

hannah — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 10:22:56 +0000

han: Yesterday in a second hand shopping trip I found a rather good (though not for me) t shirt. It had a pair of white and silver angel wings painted on the back. It inspired in me an idea for some of the clothes, though I know its not entirely original, I do think its a rather wonderful thing. I have been known to wear real angel wings, so to have painted ones is not so much of a change, and it might be more palatable for the General Public. So we'll see.

closing in

hannah — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 10:13:08 +0000

i have been sharing this closing darkness with roy orbison, i have not been able to get the some “in dreams” from my head for quite sometime now. i have a feeling that it was imprinted upon my mind because of a driftsome dance

the closing darkness does really refer to the dusk creeping slowly in on me as i’m tap tapping away doing things i have listed down to do. and perhaps i’m doing ok. candles candles candles.

its been a while, whoops...

hannah — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 10:09:32 +0000

lucy: it has been a rather hectic last few weeks……when i’m not busy there is nothing to tell and when i an busy i no time or energy. oh well never mind, hey! i have been in and out of A and E and weddings….at the same time….a bit like a bouncy ball. Then i zooomed off to Cornwall with rolling hills, roads like gulleys and rain and sun as spazmodic as a loopy dog!

pressing matters

hannah — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:52:21 +0000

nearly there

hannah — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:18:55 +0000

Han: We are very very nearly there....We are just awaiting the last photographs of Lucy's latest creations and then next week should be able to go live. With the new shop too. I have resisted for so long having an immediate way for people to buy on-line, not wanting to be sucked in by a commercialism (I had done this before on a very relational one to one basis).

hats hats hats, July 3, 2009 – 1:14 pm

hannah — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:14:21 +0000

lucy: Today whas been wonderous~ and its only 2 o’clock! I went off for a friday morning charity shop to stock up on bits and pieces for my creative aspirations. I love charity shops, especially the ones that have a relaxed old fashioned flavour~ like my favourite one where I found today a stunning array of vintage hats as well as an original hat box! I had to select a few to start with but no doubt I’ll find some excuse to slowly buy the rest of the collection, though come to think of it, at £2 each do I need and excuse!?

monday morning, June 29, 2009 – 8:26 am

hannah — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:13:39 +0000

lucy: well it seems that today could be a good one, I have at least two pieces on the go and am itching to get back and continue on this creative drive whilst it lasts. Just have to hover around while the family exits off to various destinations and farewells are said: Alice and Mikey back to Southampton with their Grapelet (apparently only the size of a peanut but Grapelet is nicer than Peanut, though Peanut has a comical ring to it…), and Dickon and Dad off to a golf tournament in the same direction to kick the golfing worlds arse!

market time, June 22, 2009 – 12:19 pm

hannah — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:12:33 +0000

han: Very remiss have I been in recent weeks. Apologies. I have been all over the place engaged in activities only loosely related to this enterprise insofar as they were linked to arty things. However, now that I am back, settled at least for the next month or so in scotland, I shall put my mind more to postings. Lucy has been marvellous in airing her thoughts, holding the fort as it were.

story time, June 17, 2009 – 6:05 pm

hannah — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:10:26 +0000

lucy: Not long ago I had the fortune of wandering across the line that divides reality from unreality…. in Brighton!

I tootled off to this sea side town for a weekend or two which turned out to be so wonderfully refreshing……i hadn’t realised that change was so important and little time spend being a bit less unhealthy prooves so healthy to creativity, and is quite liberating.

Anarchy, pacifism & branding, June 11, 2009 – 8:19 am

hannah — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:09:33 +0000

lucy: It really has been a while since I indulged myself in ponderings, but yesterday I had a sudden realisation. I’d been struggling with the concept that in order to protect my artwork it had to clearly be mine ie it has to have some form of branding~ them you get onto the difficulties of allowing capitalism to encroch on art- something I find difficult and have tried to block out of my head. I was informed by a businessman friend that wearers of designer clothes, in adition to having the knowledge themselves, wanted everyone who saw them to know they are wearing designer clothes.