wanderingquilter

Friday I spent taking a photography course.  My friend Sarah (how has since moved to Dubai) recommended it to me – she took Salim’s class and it really got her started taking more than snapshots.  Since I love taking photos, and want to know how to use my camera and take great photos by choice instead of by accident, I enrolled.

Salim Al-Harthi only decided two years ago that he wanted to take great photos.  He made the usual beginner’s mistake of thinking that the equipment makes the photo.  His attention to detail and artistic eye have quickly made him an award winner.  You can see some of his work on http://www.salimphoto.com.  He is also a very good teacher.

We started out by taking a good look at our cameras…. my little Finepix S5100 was by far the least sophisticated one there, without even the choice of a detachable lens.  It does have the option to control aperture, shutter speed and ISO (when I figured out where the buttons were), so on we forged.

The first thing Salim told us was that good photos are made, not taken. By understanding what goes into taking a photo, and how your choices impact each other, good can turn into great.  We learned about aperture settings and shutter speed, and were then set loose to take some shots and experiment.  Here are two of mine, showing the difference between a low f-stop (wide aperture)and  a high f-stop (narrow aperture) .  Notice what happens to the background.Back to the drawing board, we learned about ISO ( film speed in the old film-camera days), white balance, RAW versus JPEG files, exposure value and bracketing.

After lunch, we got into the art of photography – and how thinking of the composition of your photo means you take a lot fewer shots and have a lot more to show for your time at the end of the day. Sometimes you find a unique subject – other times you use an unusual angle to make the ordinary unique.  Outside once more, we tried to put our artistic eyes to work and bring in some “masterpieces”. These are a few of mine.

And here is one of the four he picked as the “winners”.

The key is practice – and I was busy today with my camera – no longer set on “Auto”.  I’ve included a few older photos in the slide show…. a few I’ve lucked into getting in spite of letting the camera chose the settings……. and only a bit of cropping and tweaking… no major editing. I hope to get a better camera one day, but there is still lots to learn on the one I have… lots of photos to take… maybe even one or two worth framing???

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Wow is all I can say!  I am constantly amazed at the new heights the quilters and other textile artist here attain.  This is the best group I know for pushing themselves and others to new limits. The colours, techniques, artistry and precision exhibited in the quilts, bags, embroideries and weaving makes this a show not to miss.

I had a wonderful morning, looking at the quilts, and visiting with my good friends here.  I’m looking forward to seeing them again tomorrow.

The show opened Wednesday night.  I would not have wanted to be one of the judges this year.  They really had to know their art… both technically and artistically, and judging from the comments on my forms, they do. Congratulations to all the winners…… a job very well done.

Here are just a few of the quilts..

Shyamala with “Mabrook Kuwait” – Best of Show, Two Judges Choice awards, First Place in Machine Embroidery

Sharon  (my fabric shopping buddy) – 1st place in applique – Paramjeet – another incredible feat of colour, texture, balance and free-motion thread painting.Just look at these birds…… not done by computer.Precision piecing and unerring colour choice in Becky’s Scrappy Stars.Maryam’s Bread Sellers of Sana’a.Najeeba’s “Walk in the Rain” just look at the colours here.Here am I with my applique quilt, which won a Highly Commended.

I could go on and show every one of the 145 entries….. but here are just a few..I’ll just let you sample some of the other treasures that are displayed.  Today is the last day.  Take down is tomorrow morning, and then there is a luncheon and lecture from Tracy Pereira on quilting design.

Ladies – a job well done.    How on earth will you top it next year?

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Last week, we went for a three day holiday to Salalah.  We rented a car, and set out with our trusty “Oman Offroad” book.  Trust me to have forgotten the GPS.

High on our list of priorities was the Tawi Atyr sinkhole.  The mountains in Dhofar are limestone, and it is thought that this sinkhole was the result of a giant cave ceiling falling in.  In the walls, there are examples of stalactites and stalagmites, commonly found inside caves.  it is the 48th deepest in the world….. 140 m across in NE – SW direction and 100 m in NW – SE direction. In lower half it narrows down to 60 m across. Depth of sinkhole is 211 m – like 60 floor high building.After a bit of fumbling around – Oman is very good at putting up signs for places, but sometimes one is missed and you have to guess, we found our destination.  There was another vehicle in the parking lot.  An Omani man  named Mohamed came out, and started to lead us down to the viewpoint.  Wow, we thought, it’s great to have a guide here. Not much to see, as the place is overgrown with bushes.  He then led us off into the cliffs, and very carefully guided us down into the sinkhole, stopping to make sure we were ok with the climb, and resting inside the cave (really just an overhand).  We finally made it to a metal structure that had one time been a viewing point.  We were still a long way from the bottom, but from there, one could throw a stone and hear the water splash.   Apparently, there are freshwater fish living here that are found nowhere else in the world….. they have small eyes and very weak eyesight, and are the only freshwater fish for 600 km.Do you see the Nativity Scene in the stalagmites in the wall of the sinkhole here?

The name Tawi Atyr is said to sound like the Arabic for ” well of birds”, and once you are down inside, you can sure understand why.

I was dreading the trip up as we had been clambering around some fairly steep paths on the descent, but except for our poor condition which had us both gasping, the climb wasn’t that difficult.When we reached the parking lot, we discovered that Mohamed and his wife and mother-in-law were just there as tourists themselves, and he had just taken us along on his climb into the hole.  His wife asked if I had a photo of her husband down there – I showed her, and they were all happy.  Oman is full of lovely folks like this – always friendly and wanting t show you the country they are so proud of.

This was just one of the sights we saw that day – stay tuned for more.

Here is a link to a good write-up about the sinkhole.http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanfari/4979518743/

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I have some serious quilting to do today – a baby quilt that needs to be finished by Friday.  But first……

Snoopy and I went down to the beach this morning – first time in a week.  We guessed correctly about wind direction and parked at the right end of the beach.  I’ve discovered just how important this is when you are walking late (at 8 am it’s around 37C now) – even a slight breeze in your face on the return trip makes a big difference. We need to be out for our morning walk earlier, but it’s hard unless I leave David to breakfast on his own.

The sea was quite calm this morning, tide coming in but still enough firm wet sand to walk on.  No paper nautilus shells…. not many shells of any description.  There was a lot of sea weed stranded on the sand, and tons of small crabs….. white ones, larger blue ones, and even a few deep orange claws. Also two dead birds, washed in with the tide.

I did see two wonderful, unusual things on our walk.  We were heading back to the car, head up, enjoying the breeze, but keeping an eye downward to watch for shells, and also sharp things that would do damage to my bare tootsies, when I saw a feather walking in front of me.  Just a small one, but held straight up in the air.  Looking closely, which was hard to do as Snoopy was intent on going backwards to anoint a rock he had missed, I discovered that it was being carried by some sort of small, black bug. Not sure what he planned to do with it, but he was scurrying off somewhere with his trophy.

It was getting hot, and the water on my feet felt so good…. and Snoopy kept going into it to cool off…….. I decided that if he could, so could I.  I didn’t plan to go anywhere but home to my shower anyway, so damp pants didn’t pose much of a problem.  Off went the shoulder bag (for water and shells) and the fanny pack (mobile, dog treats and poo bags) and in I walked. I only went in as far as my waist, as that’s the length of the leash, and Snoopy does NOT swim… he believes that a dogs’ paws were meant to be on the ground… at least two at a time.

Just as I reached my limit, about 30 yards away there was a school of small (maybe 8″ long) fish, leaping out of the water like dolphins.  They probably carried on like this, making small leaps, for about40 meters, the last one executed by one lone fish.  It would have made a dandy photo, but of course my phone was safely on shore.  Just at water level, the angle was incredible too.

We’re back home, clean and dry, as you may well have guessed, and it’s time to get at that quilt.  I spent yesterday rethinking the colours and am ready to tally ho and get it done.

Wish me luck.

We just returned from a quick trip to Salalah.  It’s still hot there, by their standards, as the monsoons don’t arrive until June.  Only three nights – but a good time to relax a little, and see a bit more of this beautiful country.  We knew as soon as we arrived that three days wouldn’t be nearly enough, and we will HAVE to return.

Amazing how, when you arrive in a new place in the dark, you lose all sense of direction – at least I usually do.  I did know we were headed towards the sea though……. and that’s all that mattered.  As Salalah Airport is very small, it took no time at all to collect our things and climb on the bus.

First impressions mean a lot, they say.  Our first impression was “Wow!” .  Clean, bright, stately and very efficient. As soon as we had dropped our luggage off at our room (opening onto the lawn on the sea-side), we headed out to explore.  Dinners are served at a restaurant right on the beach. There were lights shining on the waves, so even in the dark we could see them rolling in. After one of the tastiest airplane meals I’ve ever had, we weren’t really hungry, but soon we were enjoying a cold beer and watching 3 foot breakers roll onto the shore.  The sound of the waves did a lot to welcome us to relax and enjoy our stay.

Wednesday morning – sunny and warm.  Here is the view from the restaurant.  Lovely pools, a 9-hole golf course and driving range, miles and miles of white sand… what more could you want?The little grounds keeper was shaking each tree before he raked the grass.  It was quite cute.David had a bit of work to do (even on a day off, yes!), so I took myself on a long beach walk.  It seemed funny not to have Snoopy with me.  I couldn’t believe all the crabs there are – the beach almost looks like a moonscape with all the towers.  Here are a few of them, and a crab I met at water’s edge.

The different colours of sand made quite interesting patterns as the waves ebbed and flowed.  There was a tiny bird eating something in the water…. as each wave came in, he turned and ran ahead of it, changing direction and following the water as it receded.

I also met a crowd of gulls that were searching for food. One caught a crab, and after playing with it a bit, let it go.

We didn’t spend a lot of time at the hotel – breakfast, dinner and bed mostly, although Thursday evening we took a dip in the pool and checked out the Splash Bar.  It was crowded enough that I don’t think I’d want to be here in peak season.

Still, I want to return, and I will definitely stay at the Crowne Plaza.  And they didn’t pay me to say that!

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Last Monday I went with Yuri and Margarita to the Grand Mosque. I’ve been four times before… and each time I come away with a sense of wonder and awe. Yesterday was no exception.

The first order of business was correctly outfitting ourselves for the visit. For ladies, this means covering ankles, wrists and hair. I was thrilled to bits when this time, I did NOT have to rearrange and rewrap my shayla.. it stayed in place for the whole tour. If I get a photo from Yuri, I can show you, although I’m not sure what it looked like, I just know it stayed on.
When we arrived at the Ladies pray hall, we lucked into a tour going on in English, and hovered to listen. We discovered that the ladies hall can accommodate 750. Not that many, but women mostly pray at home. It’s just the men that are required to pray in the mosque whenever possible. The ladies always pray behind the men, even when they are in a separate building… I guess that’s because men are so distractible. They listen to the imam through a speaker system.
We quickly followed the tour to the main prayer hall, and were in for a treat as the tour guide invited us to join the group. Sitting on the blue runner which protects the carpet from non-Muslims, he proceeded to tell us some incredible facts about the mosque. Firstly, it is because they always do a ritual purification before entering the prayer hall that we stay on the protective runner – otherwise, we would have to wash like they do.
Now, about the mosque. This hall can hold 8000 worshippers. The carpet is now the second largest continuously woven carpet in the world – surpassed by the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. It took 600 women in Iran 4 years to make it. It was brought to Muscat in 58 (I think) pieces and joined together right there on the floor it now covers. It is 60 by 70 meters, weighs 21 tonnes, and used 28 natural colours. Each 6.5 cm contains 40 knots. It is Incredible!

The 35 chandeliers came from Germany, including the main one which is one of the largest in the world. It is 14 meters high and 8 meters wide, and weighs 8 tons. Made of Swarovski crystal and gold-plated metal, it contains 1122 bulbs. They use a special crane to change the bulbs. Inside the chandelier, there is a walkway, and two men change the bulbs from the inside. Can you imagine having a job like that?

The dome rises 50 meters above the floor, and is comprised of stained glass panels held in a marble framework. The four pillars within the prayer hall house the air conditioning vents.The stained glass windows are from France, the teak for the ceiling is from Burma, and the marble is Italian. The mosaic tiles decorating the walls are from Iran – there are more than 7 million pieces of tile.

And the carving on the doors is so perfect, it almost looks like plastic instead of wood.The mosque complex is made of Indian sandstone, and covers 40,000 square meters.  The five minarets represent the five pillars of Islam. The two long hallways on the north and south sides of the complex house a series of niches displaying many different styles of Islamic art.

The whole place is an incredible work of art. The symetry of the highly decorated arches and halls blows my mind. There are so many different patterns in the tile in the courtyard and in the carvings that adorn the walls……. so many quilt patterns just waiting to be developed!

Needless to say, I will go back.

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