Tag: TUMO

Armenian narrative. 3.

Second week. We are excited by blue made from purple aubergines peel. With the students we discuss designing a collaborative silk (avocado dip) square, complemented by individual stripes of the super-springy wool (pomegranate dip?)

Evening was magical-intensity, swimming in a turquoise-mosaic pool, soaring above the city, with a thunderstorm reigning the sky. TUMO’s summer party was at a house perched atop the Cascades. Hidden, accessed via tiny lanes, in a harried taxi. The Armenian style house, opened onto a terrace, where we ate gazpacho and traditional dishes. The pool enticing-beckoning in the pre-storm swelter. The hostess conjured up towels and the most stylish of black swim cossies (because who brings bathers to a dinner party). Succulent and wooed by the splendour we swam until rain-lashed lightning drove us from the water. We left the party via a tiny iron staircase, into the wet-shiny marble Cascades darkness. That night I dreamt of a wedding 25 years ago, in an ancient Italian villa, swimming, and dining with friends. Yerevan is elegant, charming, and hospitable.

Morning, and to the museum of Martiros Saryan, Armenians favourite artist, and increasingly mine too. Coloured mountains, dancers, flowers; our Yerevan-TUMO colours pay homage to him. I brought a book of his costume sketches, similar to Leon Basque. Rivals?

Flo found Armenian mulberries in a park; intense, smaller than uk ones. Similar to those found in Cévennes, a traditional silk producing region of France. Flo notices more dye in the cityscape than I do, the too-fast-walker. Sonia, in a genius-move, suggested designing the collaborative scarf as a game of consequences; with five mini-sketches passed around the table. Voting concluded, and by evening we had hills around the edges, and an amorphous peace sign inserted into the pattern. Tomorrow brings the flowers.

Days are sliding away from the two weeks that felt so long. Flo and I printed morning homages to the colours, artists and architecture of Armenia. Flo concentrates on the enticing shadows falling through the yellow blinds, I interpret Saryan’s landscape.

The students finished the silk with a snaking iron-aubergine print; a dance of print action captured by Mariam. We steam the silk, revealing just how far the students have progressed this week. The steamer is a low-tech miracle; we are experts in turning basic equipment into a print lab. Still blessing the metal screens and squeegees that we squeezed into our cases from London.

The hot-hot gg took us through the heavily congested city, no seatbelts, driver on the gas. We had a meeting with Hayk Oltaci, president and founder of Woolway. A rambling workshop for naturally dyeing heritage carpets and tapestries. Huge vats of mordanting yarns, and large dusty bowls of local madder root. Dorothy and Flo brought woven blankets made of new wool; the Armenia word for scratchy translates as “bitten by the yarn”. Hayk made us Lemonade, and told us his story. Armenian heritage, born in Istanbul, and recently reloacated his business to Yerevan after living in New York for 30 years.

Last studio day, and exhibition day! We are excited by the students achievements, hoping for a return invite, to this cultured, generous place.

Armenian narrative. 1.

Ceres were invited by TUMO, the Centre for creative technologies, to teach natural dye print in Yerevan, Armenia. The course focused on research and design, and culminated with an exhibition showing the students prototype scarves for the TUMO shop. We spent two weeks in this elegant and vibrant city.

The plane’s descent was into a 4.00 am inkyness. Somnolent velvet-dark warmth, the Arrival’s hall perfumed by bouquets of flowers; greetings Armenian style. Yerevan has trapped itself a heatwave. Ravenous, we find the fridge abundant with berries, peaches, and cherries; already we love our flat mate Doretee. The fruit is juicy and sweet and aromatic.

TUMO is in an ornate 1910 building. The shop/gallery is on the ground floor, the interior has high ceilings, a grand-messed-up vibe, and a terrazzo staircase. Curious original features of Art-deco double fronted tiled fireplaces, hint of cold winters. Our studio was hot-like a furnace, with a promise of air-conditioning soon. Afternoon light made complex shadows on the yellow blinds. Flo and I adeptly create a print studio from the tables and work benches; finding solutions that enable our five students to make and design with natural print pastes.

We took the students sketching at The National Gallery of Armenia; seven floors of marble-clad interior, and a trove of Armenian greats. The students showed us the quintisential Armenian painting by Martiros Saryan. A sublime-coloured depiction of the countryside, complete with dancing villagers, and mountains. Outside the museum it was underworld-hot. In TUMO’s newly air-conned studio’s we colour-fixed the sample stripes. They were disappointing; lacking vibrancy, depth, and variation in colour. Turning sleuths; we discovered a translation error for the mordant, a tiny word difference made a significant colour difference. Our co-conspirator in natural dyes, Dorothee, found balls of purest natural alum, and our colours were revived. We taught the students how to make cut-paper stencil designs, and they printed onto pomegranate/avocado dyed backgrounds. Flo and I started a collection of sample colour stripes for the studio, painterly-impressionist, as the newsprint degraded (we missed our tape from home).