Above: the "bikini" lady and the new lace mandalas we´ve all designed
to be inlayed in the back.
The bird for the pillow.
The front of the pillow. The renda will be behind this piece showing
through to the front. The women are really good at embroidery!
The recipe style color cards for the new color palette.
This past week has been quite productive for Linnea and I on the design front. Last Monday we had our feature design presentation complete with a slideshow of inspirational images, a box full of color cards, new sketchbooks each decorated with a magazine cutout and a design bulletin board that is just starting to be filled with images, photos and fabric swatches. The women were very receptive and began discussing/arguing about ideas throughout the entire presentation. They loved the sketchbooks and each got such a huge kick out of the pictures we had chosen for the front. We gave Nilda- the speediest rendera who is also pretty serious and a bit grim, the craziest looking model with the most ridiculous outfit- she finally cracked a small smile. We also "unveiled" recipe-style color cards we made to suggest some new color combinations. Samples of the thread are shown on the front and the women made small squares of renda to tack to the back of each card. It concluded with us explaining, in broken Portuguese, our sketches for a few new products we hope to focus on: bikinis with renda inlays in the back and pillow covers with embroidery and renda. In the ensuing days post presentation we´ve had loud knocks at the door and various renderas strutting in flaunting their "muito chic" designs with much pride.
The other monumental event this past week was my first capoiera class. I´ve joined a group that meets three times a week in a nearby school. It´s free- all levels, all ages. Our teacher, Jackson, is completely surfer- yoga- zen- Santa Barbara type guy. Every class is a little different- but a large portion of it is drums, singing and the roda- where everyone forms a circle and two people enter the middle to dance/battle. First time I was tapped to go in the circle- mind you my experience is 0 to nil, I was a bit unsure. While my partner was literally doing flying high kicks and spinning on his head I was making sure to duck and threw in a few cartwheels- basically I´m in major need of some more moves. Fortunately, everyone is really supportive and welcoming and makes me feel like I did a good job even though I´m quite sure, at this stage, I´m a disgrace to the sport.
Left to Right: Donna Rita( her model was suppose to be her in her younger
years, she loved that,) Josiane, and Nilda (with the crazy model.)
