I was walking down a long empty street, both sides lined with storefronts of alternating restaurants – Chinese, Indian, then Chinese again. I walked and walked, seemed like forever. I finally chose an Indian restaurant, went in and ordered some naan and water.
“aerial view” of LineScape #21 in progress ©2013 Ayn Hanna
Next I found myself in a busy marketplace, caught up in the hustle bustle, everyone going fast in all different directions. I was captivated by the variety of small booths, each one a creative jumble of wares as interesting and unique as the sellers.
Antique and vintage textiles, so much history and life. At one booth, full of small hanks of silk and wool threads, sat an inviting woman wearing an apron. I stopped, we talked, I selected a few threads and as I reached for my wallet to pay, I realized I was carrying this huge tote bag over my shoulder – and it was filled with small household appliances!
Yes, there I was out shopping at the market, and I guess I had planned to pay for the vintage fabrics and threads I needed for my art supplies by trading these appliances. I reached into my bag, and there was a coffee maker, a waffle iron, a hair dryer, a couple fabric irons….it went on and on!
I couldn’t believe I had been carrying this big bag of appliances around without realizing it. I offered the woman a hair dryer for the threads I had selected. She didn’t seem too sure about it, but agreed to take it anyway. I was confused too, but handed it to her, put the thread in my bag and left the market headed down the road again with my tote bag full of small appliances….
some of the +100 yards of fabric I’ve recently dyed
Why China?
I’ve recently taught my new CSU student artist intern how to dye fabrics with the low water immersion process. She needed a lot of RED fabric for a large piece she has planned for her Senior Show, and the process they had been using at school to dye the fabrics didn’t yield the deep reds that she needed.
Teaching the low water immersion dyeing process to my artist intern.
So we got out the dyes. She dyed a bunch of RED fabric, and as long as we were doing this, I figured I might as well dye up some yardage for my textile painting palettes. I have a stash of PFD fabric just waiting for such occasions.
freshly ironed Hanna-dyed fabrics
Maybe it’s all the red we’ve been dyeing that I somehow associate with China, I dunno. The bigger question is: Why all the appliances? Might be a reflection of all the ironing that’s needed now, but I think it’s more likely a reaction to wanting more time to make art and less time spent doing other kinds of “daily work”.
What do you learn from your dreams?
What a wonderful vivid dream! I work out lots of stuff in my dreams and can relate to the tendency for my dreams to be a search for more creative time in my life vs dealing with mundane realities.
It strikes me that the color red is powerful and perhaps key to your dream. It is such an energizing color and I believe in the Far East it is associated with good luck and prosperity. What did your student think of the dream?
Hi Gretchen, thanks for the insight about “red” associations in the Far East. As I discussed the dream with my student, we came up with even more meanings that tied the 2 concepts together (more creative time and prosperity), and she thinks this is about my “shifts” in turning that corner of focusing more time and energy on my art, leading to greater prosperity. Thanks for asking! 🙂