Day 160-168- Embroiderer's Room & The Making Of

Brrrrrrr, what a cold, cold night it is here. 

This morning  I was taking pictures of the Embroiderer's Room to the music of a surprising thunderstorm. I braved the rain and went to work late only to find out that many were stranded in various flash floods all over Singapore.  But now, I am safely home, all bundled up in my batik blanket, listening to the crickets and frogs while uploading my 1st motion picture and feeling pleasantly chilly.I hope the music I picked for this post put you in the same mood too.

May I begin this post by showing you the one picture that was my inspiration for this room. It is the photograph of an ari embroiderer in his corner. The caption reads " An ari embroiderer at work; the reed mat, hookah and kangri (a wicker container for smouldering coals) near him are ubiquitous elements  of the local material culture." This picture guided me every step of the way in the making of this room and decided for me what must be built.

The Making Of....

Ubiquitous Elements

These are the first things I created for this room. Right after I made the wooden box of cards for Ira, I decided to make a bigger version (1" wide by 5/8" high) as a toolbox for my embroiderer. Due to its larger size. I am able to have carved sides all round.  The smaller ones are metal boxes which I painted. 

That same night, I made what must appear to some of you to be my favourite subject matter, THE Hookah. Unlike the rest, this one I really love. Standing tall and proud at 2 1/8" high and spanning 1 1/2" from the tip of the pipe to the base, I place it right in front of the room for my easy viewing. I made this one in no time.

On the other hand, it was a week later before I was satisfied with the distressing of  the spinning wheels. You might have read about it in my last post and then read about how I then spent the rest of last  last Friday making the embroidered dancing shoes. As you can tell from their name, I made these shoes for this room. And then I built the shelves for them.

These shelves were made with ice cream sticks and beads. I cannot cut the stick  any shorter for each holds exactly 6 pairs, end to end. I made the front wavy so that the tip of each shoe could be placed in between two half moons. As you can see, there was a lot of chiselling. I put the shelves against this wooden bench for comparison  as I painted the sticks to simulate its colour. 

I thought the half moons and  the beads completed the Indian look and when they were placed against the wall with fake log supports and the tool boxes snuggly tucked underneath,  I dare say they looked like they had been on those walls forever.

But nothing prepared me for this sight when I put the shoes on the shelves.  I hope you don't think me gloating but I actually clapped and gave it a standing ovation! Never mind that I could not be sitting while arranging the shoes.  Much as I love THE Hookah, I think these shoes are what give the Embroiderer's room that certain je ne sais quoi.  By now, my small Afghan rug and the "reed" mat are already on the floor.

Time for tea but not before I invented this portable  charcoal stove. There is no originality in the concept of course,  as we Chinese have been using portable charcoal stove for eon but this one boasts certain unique features like er.....Never mind the features, I  bet you haven't seen one like this!?

The kettle is a plastic piece that I distressed. I even broke the handle (unintentionally) to make it look 10 years older. The metal cups of chai and masala tea are the only artisan's work that I have used in this whole setting. They were made by Cindy who gave them to me as an anniversary present. I also aged the fancy tray and made a rug pillow which I didn't use in the end.

Here is a box of  ari needles also known as awls also known as "tambour" hooks, without which our embroiderer would not have been able to make the dancing shoes. These tools are homemade lovingly with beads and the prickly part of thumb tacks broken with a cutter. Don't try that without eye protection please! All the above I did during last last weekend

2 days later, we did a rousing performance at the concert hall of  The Esplanade, kind of like the Carnegie Hall (ya right) equivalent of Singapore. Although there was no standing ovation for our performance,  the audience did get on their feet to dance to a 90's disco medley performed by Ms Rahima Rahim, a rock singer turned grandma and Ann Hussein, a talentime winner turned singing coach. Truly legendary!

This is the last ubiquitous element, the kangri, really a  portable heater. I don't think I have ever been more enchanted by a gadget. A wicker basket made to carry clay pots of smouldering coals, one keeps warm by slipping a kangri underneath the pheran (long loose gown) he or she wears. Kangri are dowry items in Kashmir. I give this invention 5 stars for its simplicity, economy, effectiveness, portability and beauty. I hope you notice that all my portable gadgets have smouldering coals in them, including THE Hookah.

We are almost there, save for the following  finishing touches which I completed last night.

I replaced the rug pillow with this 2 that I made from sample fabric, picked because they looked like dyed bamboo. I used foam for the inside which I strongly recommend for its dentability. You will see later how the pillows sink in nicely where they are supposed to. I also added a milk jug with a cork coaster for cover.

I put tools like 3 pairs of  scissors, some knives and a spindle inside the tool box. There is also a piece of unfinished embroidery on the table.

Finally, here is the pièce de résistance, the before picture, of course. It took me about 3-4 hours to complete making this hurricane lamp work because it involved soldering loose wires but I am pleasantly surprised by how it turned out. 

And so, ladies and gentlemen,  with that, we conclude The Making of "The Embroidery Room".  But don't leave yet!

May I  now present, for the first time and never before shown,  my 1st motion picture. It is dedicated to my very talented friend, Rosanna, who will enjoy her own debut at SIMP this weekend. I hope you will enjoy the movie.