It´s Happening!

The workshop is on the roll despite some unfavourable weather. This morning as I was about to leave, it started raining and storming quite heavily, which meant that several workshop participants that wanted to travel from further away weren't able to make it today. The dirt roads here get quite muddy when it rains, which makes a 25km drive on a motorcycle an impossible journey (three people come from a different community than the one nearby). However, rain is always welcome here and people have been waiting for rain for several weeks already. Verena and I did a loop with her pickup truck through the community nearby just before 9am and collected Eurides. Felipe wasn't ready yet and showed up later (he has an injured foot because he stepped on a vicious palmtree thorn) and an eager Osvaldo had made the 2km trek already by bike despite a bad back. So, I started with three people today and welcomed one more in the afternoon. 

 

Eurides, Felipe, and Osvaldo drawing

Today we worked on smaller plates to get a feel for all the tools and the technique. The four men caught on really fast, but realized that it's difficult working with small details which they are used to from their pen drawings. I had tried to explain that at the beginning, but some things one learns by doing. 

 

 Eurides starting to carve the plate

Verena organized a stew for lunch which we had initially planned on cooking outside, but weren't able to do so due to the rain and wet wood. We skipped siesta and worked till 7pm. Unbelievable! The excitement was so great they really really wanted to pull a first testprint today already to see how the plates, which they carved all day turned out. Most are satisfied, but want to edit their plates a bit more tomorrow. 

 

Joaquín and Eurides proofing their plates

All four were super interested, super eager, super dedicated, and super easy going, so it was a lot of fun for me to teach them. The next two days are holidays, so we'll get a few more people who were working today and some want to bring their wives, too, although drawing seems to be more of a men's thing here. I had initially planned on handing out printed materials, which Verena discouraged me to use since she didn't think the artists would look up written instructions because they learn mostly by observing very closely. However, Felipe and Joaquín asked me today if I had a 'recipe' on how to do everything so they could look it up later. Felipe has worked in a bakery at some point, and there they had a recipe for making bread and he wants a recipe for how to make a woodcut. I'll get that ready before the end of the week. 

 Eurides' first woodcut