Day: February 20, 2017

Sometimes, the writer is humbled and silenced, sometimes an image just fills the heart up like a warm bathtub, and it overflows. This photograph was taken by Kelly Campbell, an organizer of Maria’s trip to Kolkata.

As it happens, I saw it when I turned on my repaired computer, and was both surprised and relieved to see everything working, and everything in its proper place. I thought it was no accident that I saw this the moment I got my creative nerve center back, and also my real heart just took a skip and a hop.

This is the essence of Maria, really, she has such a huge heart and loving spirit, she is so happy to be there and to be helping these remarkable young women live their lives, they are at risk. They are the first members of the Kolkata Potholders Association,  and they seem to fit so well together.

They loved Maria and she loved them, writers can bungle the words but photos do not lie. They are already making some neat potholders together.

This photo made me happy, and washed away the remaining shadows of my brief funk, I suppose I never love being left behind. I am so happy to love this woman, and to have her love me. I can’t possibly deserve such good fortune, but I am happy to accept and embrace it.

She is an amazing woman, doing an amazing thing. Heart heart is brave and strong. Her radiance is a force of nature. Soon I will have her back.

I am also happy to get my computer back, with all of my words intact. My external hard drive with all of my photos is damaged and stayed behind for more work, hopefully my photos can be saved. If not, I will take more.

Sometimes, even when you do everything you are supposed to do, it doesn’t always work.

I think this is the picture of the year as far as I am concerned, even though I did not take it. This work, these women, their art have entered Maria’s heart, I hope there will be room for me and the farm, because this is so much heart here. Maria has enough.

I am very happy to share it with you, and grateful for seeing it. This is what Maria hoped for, worked for. This group is going to make some amazing art.

Sometimes the heart just overflows, and it’s the words that pour down the drain.

I could look at this photo all day, Maria says that after the class, the first Graduating Potholder Class In Kolkata,  the students all pleaded for a selfie, they insisted on it, so she agreed. You can follow Maria’s trip to India on her blog.

Hannah Gandell took this photo of Maria’s first potholder lesson in India, the girls working on old foot pedal machines were deeply into it. The idea now is for them to make these potholders and ship them to America, so Maria can sell them here and send the money back to help women earn a living.

Maria is making potholder history, she loves to each and is passionate about helping these girls learn how to make free form art. Potholders for sale at The Open Houses, I think, and all year on our blogs. Dahn Gandell has already pledged $400 to buy the first batch of potholders and ship them here.

Make no mistake about it, this will cement Maria’s connection with India and these women, she will be back next year. She says I should come. I don’t want to step in her show, but I think I’d like to go. I’m beginning the search for a good farm sitter.

I was wavering about whether I could go or should go, but when I hear Maria’s excitement and see the photo possibilities, then I know I should go.

The primary reason Maria went to India was to teach women how to make potholders, so they could learn to earn a living and avoid the difficulties many women face trying to earn a living in India. Yesterday, she got to do that in a village outside of Kolkata.

The girls took their class, and then asked Maria to wait a bit (they wanted to surprise her) and these are the first  potholders made in the Gee’s Bend free-form Maria style in India. They are coming here to be sold in America, and very inexpensively, from what I gather.

They came out to surprise her with their first potholders, the first of many they will be sending to the farm for sale here. This is where the best market is for the potholders. Maria’s dream has come to be.

The money they earn will be sent back to them. You can read more about this in the wonderful writing Maria is doing on her blog.

This photograph blew me away, it says so much about India, Maria’s art, and the wonderful fusion that is taking place between the two. The trip is such a triumph, so wonderful to follow. And these humble potholders are going to make a difference, Maria will need to go back to India every years.

The sale of these potholders could make an enormous difference to these women. Many struggle to feed their children and families. Small amounts go far there, and Maria’s potholders are getting a thrilling new chapter. I love this photo.

An exciting day for Maria in India, she taught a group of women how to make potholders, and they are sending hundreds of potholders back to her here so she can sell them on her blog and at our Open Houses. This means she has to go back every year, it seems, how great.

Last night, she went to a crisis center in Kolkata’s Red Light District, where prostitution is legal and the sex trafficking of children is a danger.  The district is laced with hidden tunnels and rooms where children are taken for sex.

The group she is traveling with has opened a 24-hour crisis center where the children can come and be safe, work on education projects, and learn alternative trades. Maria says the children are thrilled to be there.

In parts of India, there is a great danger of children being stolen off of the streets, more than 100,000 children there go missing every year.

The children of India have touched Maria’s heart, for sure, and the girls she is teaching are excited to learn  how to make potholders and sell them in America. More on Maria’s blog. This is an amazing photograph to get. Makes me want to be there.