AFRICAN COLOR WILD AND FREE

Ahh color . I have always loved it, and thought I was pretty liberated in using it; until I went to live in Africa that is...

African wax prints

In Africa there are no color rules, no color police; every color goes with every other color.  If you like it, it goes !

There is a newer housing development in our town and everyone calls it Smarties.

 Purple, pink, orange, lime green, you name it and there is a house painted that color.

Home owners association? What's that?

 Bo-Kaap Cape Town

I recently come across this great explanation for the source of the African color palette.

(see link below)

I call the first palette our desert palette. 

We are all comfortable with this palette I think.

The African color palette derives from two sources. The first is traditional and utilizes earth pigments and natural dyes. This palette is full of ochres, browns, rusts, burgundies, blacks and the whites of raw, untreated cotton cloth and other natural fibers. This is what I call the “natural” African color set.

When synthetic dyes were introduced to Africa a new range of colors appeared. The cloth dyers had not much experience with dyes, so they used each one on its own and at full strength. The result was a set of brilliant, strong reds, rich full blues, emerald greens, and golden yellows, colors never before seen. These form the “dyed” African color set.

quilt/http://www.denacrain.com/blog/tutorials/african-quilt/ 

Now that's the wild and free palette !

Sometimes I have to caution our artisans, that Westerners are not as liberated in color use as Africans, and selling wild color combinations is often hard to do.

Myself ? 

I have to say, that how I think about color, and what colors "go together" has greatly expanded since living in Namibia, but I still have a very long ways to go before being truly FREE .

Fashion

and more fashion

Christie Brown fashion design

hand painted candles  

Even in Nature African colors can be intense

• http://theroadforks.com/photography/lilac_breasted_roller_weekly_photo

Hildegard's house

Hildegard, we are so proud of you for saving your money and using it to build . Some of you remember earlier posts showing her tin shack, and house getting started. Now it's almost finished !http://workofourhands.blogspot.com/2007/09/making-difference.html

Tastes like chicken !

Image via Wikipedia

I was thinking, now why are the ladies not coming to work? They  are just back from Christmas holidays, and they know I'm anxious for them to get a lot finished before I go state side next month. Then I remembered...It's mopane worm season !    Free food,  just for the picking, and it tastes just like  chicken, ...........well................the one I ate didn't really taste like much at all. But I'll bet with some butter and garlic I could create escargot ala Africa !

Lucia

Meet Lucia , one  of our  ceramic bead artisans.  Lucia is an orphan, yet persisted in completing her grade 12 a few years ago. Quite an accomplishment in Namibia where after grade 10 many students do not pass the exams to continue school.  Because Lucia could not pay her exam fees, she still does not have her grade 12 certificate. This has hindered her from quite a few opportunities so far, but she just learned that orphans can get a waver on the no pay, no certificate, rule.

Lucia is very smart, and I hope to see her running the ceramic bead operation in a few years time.

How to have beautiful posture and grace

Image via WikipediaI never see African women with bad posture, and I think it's because they learn to carry things on their heads from a young age. Click on the link below for some beautiful photos of African women and the amazing things they carry on their heads!

http://artpropelled.blogspot.com/2010/11/20-chickens-and-kitchen-sink.html

TYPICAL DAY in our African "HOME"

We sometimes get comments that our home is large for "just two people". HUH? Lon and I live in the main house with our Namibian grown up daughter , then two people live in the flat.  We often have visitors in the guest room, and then there are the daytime people, as seen in the photo. I took the pictures all on one day, around 9 am. Somedays it doesn't seem large enough :)

FINALLY BACK IN BUSINESS

THANK YOU soccer team !!!! for moving the kiln !!!! That baby weights over 600 lb !  After a lot of time and frustration I had to give up the idea of hooking the kiln up in my garage. Now it's new home is our shipping container turned into a shop. After 10 months or more of waiting, the ladies can resume work. Africa really teaches patience.

Jenny's new house

I just love this girl. She makes very nice jewelry,  is such a hard worker, and always positive. Yesterday she took us to her new house. She was literally jumping up and down for joy over this improvement in her circumstances. Then she was told her son's school fees are being paid by our Austrian volunteer, and she was over the moon.

Okahandja Herero Parade

Here's one of the few yearly events in our little Namibian town of Okahandja. The Herero parade to visit the graves of fallen chiefs and heroes. I took these pictures on the way to church this morning. The women's clothes are thanks to Victorian era missionaries. :) The hats represent cow horns.

Culture shock

 I was in the USA too long, I adjusted to "return to USA culture shock", and now I have to punch through the adjustment of returning to Africa .  I forgot how very very long it takes to accomplish anything. I am trying hard to get the ceramic bead project back up and running, but hitting road blocks at every turn. It's so frustrating, but the only thing that actually works, is not giving up. Even though it's incredibly slow, and seems impossible, I just have to just keep moving forward bit by bit. Going around, or pushing through the road blocks.

Youth Center & Ceramic Studio

It's been such a long time of struggle. Of betrayal, of waiting, of cancer...

but hope is renewed !

What a great husband!

When African Weaver birds go courting, they first have to prove themselves by building a nest their sweet hearts approve of. There is always a lot of bird bickering going on, because he wants to build in peace, and THEN have her inspect, while she, wants to check out, and comment, on every step !

We watched one poor guy build all these nests before he got approval. Now that's persistence!

Bead class

We have a special "bead room" at the back of my house here in Okahandja. Thursdays are bead class day.

Jo Jo teaching a new bead stitch

Jo Jo our new German volunteer teaching Stella in Stella's home.

Making a Difference

Development work is hard and discouraging at times, so imagine our joy and surprise to find out how Hildeguard has been spending her bead money ! Here you can see her "before" tin house and below her new brick house in progress.

As we say in America " You Go Girl!"