indigo workshop
Image by Our Ampersand Photography
I've always been oblivious to my successes, in fact I am rather self-deprecating. At least I am not afflicted with false humility because I really am not aware of my talents - if I have any. I wouldn't say I am expert at anything, which is probably where this "the glass is half empty" anxiety comes from. Before I publish anything on this platform, I run through a dialogue trying to decide if it is even worth taking up internet space. Sometimes I delete entire posts. Other times I unpublish a story before it has even been christened by another reader. In fact, there are about 14 unpublished posts saved on this platform at this very moment. The view I have of myself is often paralyzing. When will those self-deprecating thoughts subside?
After The Blue Hour post I did featuring shibori indigo dyed scarves, I was met with so much positive encouragement. Friends, family, and strangers asked me how I learned how to do it and if I would consider teaching a workshop. Shocked, I agreed to host a workshop - all the while I was thinking that no one was going to attend.
One of the co-hostesses, Melanie, arranged for it to be held at the epically picturesque Crabtree Farms in Chattanooga. Early Saturday morning I took the short-trek to the farm with 3 indigo vats gently sloshing in the back of my car. Transporting the vats was unbearably stressful. I drove uncommonly slow for me and took various U-turns due to worry. A tiny pavilion housing 3 ash colored picnic tables was the gathering spot. Fig trees grew to one side of the pavilion to add privacy, baby goats mingled and cried for attention a stones throw to the right, and a row of eggplants basked in the run to the left.
The night before I planted myself on the living room floor to pull together little dye kits for the attendees. Cotton or silk scarves wrapped in paper and bound up with indigo dyed string - I was rather proud of myself. All the dishes, tools, and props were accumulated strategically in the wee hours of the morning. Luckily, treats and eats for the guests were not heavy on my mind as food blog Wit + Aroma agreed to lend their services.
Tables were outfitted with flowers and tools
Dye kits for the guests
Image by Our Ampersand Photography
The Eats courtesy of Wit + Aroma
Teaching + Instructing + Demonstrating
Image by Our Ampersand Photography
Image by Our Ampersand Photography
Image by Our Ampersand Photography
The quaint Crabtree Farms
Image by Our Ampersand Photography
Let the Crafting + Creating Begin
Image by Our Ampersand Photography
Image by Our Ampersand Photography
Image by Our Ampersand Photography
Thank you to Melanie Mayo, Wit + Aroma, Our Ampersand Photography, and Home & Hill Magazine. Thank you to all who attended. I have been touched by your kind emails that I've received in the days after the workshop and thank you for the dose of unbridled creativity - it was igniting for me as well.
I never would have guessed that I would successfully host a workshop, I am not the public speaker or the attention seeker. Maybe it was one of those poetic occasions because it wasn't about me - it was the embodiment of the slow lifestyle I aim for. It was the archetype for leading an intentional life; full of quiet nuances and delicate details.
