tidewanderings

join me, India Flint, on a thirteen-week virtual tidewandering,

sailing our armchairs from Scotland Island to an island in Scotland

commencing 22 September 2022 (the equinox) and concluding on the December 2022 solstice.

I will guide you through fashioning a dress from pre-loved clothing, as well as making a practical loose top (a shibusa-felt slip-over) to go over it and a pair of lovely baggy pants to wear under it. We will be making a few soft pocket notebooks, explore shibusa felting, construct a gatherer’s bag, ecoprint cloth and dye thread with leaves and seaweed, rebelstitch, draw, dream, write a little poetry, share intriguing tide-findings and a few yummy recipes.

I will be building the course as we journey through it, adding illustrated stories from the adventures that have been sprouting this year including residencies in Newcastle and Scotland Island (both in New South Wales, Australia) and on Fair Isle (in actual Scotland) and sharing with you the journey cloth that I will be stitching along the way (along with instructions so you can make one too).

The course will feature a new dress, created by Maiwa from my drawings and photos (my granddaughter helped by modelling a micro-toile, which was much more fun than photographing it on me). All being well, the first iteration of the ‘tidewanderer’ dress (in a white or natural linen, with shiny shelly buttons) will be available for purchase from Maiwa early in October, and course participants enjoy their usual 10% discount. There will be a section of the adventure devoted to exploring customisations that may be applied to the dress, which can alternatively be interpreted in the refashioned garment (that is taught on the course) if you prefer.

Why tidewanderings?

We are all tidewanderers on the shores of our own deep oceans; sometimes needing to navigate vast unknown waters, at others simply strolling happily by gentle sunny seas, though always with a weather eye out for a safe haven.

However beyond the metaphor I also believe wholeheartedly in the physical practice of tidewandering, which can be accomplished almost anywhere outdoors, no waters required. It’s the appellation I use for a gentle exploring of the whirld/world, walking at breathing pace, noticing small things as well as the bigger picture, feeling the zephyr breeze on your cheeks as well as taking in the fragrances that are drifting on it. It’s the joy at finding a brightly coloured feather, a perfectly burnished piece of glass, a rusted iron washer or a fragment of cloth that might be salvaged and washed and added to your work; or the simple satisfaction of floating a petal on a puddle.

This course will nurture your inner three-year old, your rebelstitcher, your (maybe-not-so-) secret poet and your pleasure in playing with potions, whether dye, ink, watercolour or tea.

Will you sail with me?

Enrolment can be made in Australian currency, or by choosing the US equivalent which (as I understand it) permits payments via PayPal, including the possibility for incremental payments.

* Please bear in mind that your government may require Teachable to add GST or VAT (or Mehrwertsteuer) at your country’s rate, which is then remitted by Teachable directly to the jurisdictions concerned.

the School of Nomad Arts, where the spirit may wander when the body can not