Do and in doing Become. -Sartre |
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit -Aristotle |
| Dijanne in the middle with a group of Sudanese Students |
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| About us... The partnership that is Creative Arts Safaris grew out of the creative interests of Fiona Wright and the professional experience of Kanhiya Lal [Parveen to his mates]. Our travel agency, built on Parveen's 20 years of experience in the business- Indian Adventure Tours and Travel opened in New Delhi in 2004 and our Textile Tours-Indian Adventures' Tactile Textile Tours followed soon after. Fiona and Parveen love to explore new places , looking for those interesting and special spots. Now, that is another hard day in the office for us -researching our latest inspiring location- what a day job! Our team use words like passion and enthusiasm, interest and sharing often, this is our common thread that links us to our work individually and to our teaching and sharing role within the Creative Arts Safaris Tours. It is an outlook on life all of us have individually chosen to follow and a view we like to share with our fellow travellers and students. Fiona Wright is an artist who was based in Gresford, rural NSW, Australia and now calls Pushkar, India home. From here and whilst on the road she pursues a Fine Arts practice; the medium in use is generally textile. Fiona’s work is exhibited nationally and internationally; she has worked in textiles most of her life and spent a long stint as a Steiner/Waldorf teacher, she maintains a busy teaching schedule in the textiles and arts fields. Fiona and Parveen share a home in Pushkar, India, an interest in good food and cooking and now have a hotel www.our-pukka-place.com and cooking school in the future - one of the joys of their business is checking out good hotels, interesting venues and doing the tasting research necessary to find good dining experiences for their customers! Oh as well as research into textiles and other Creative Arts.... CV of Fiona Wright www.fionawright.com http://ofdaydreamsandmemories.blogspot.com/ Kanhiya Lal [Parveen Nayak to his mates] hails from the Shekawati area of Rajasthan and now lives in Pushkar. He has spent much of the last twenty years working in the tourism industry of North-western India, sharing his knowledge of this exciting area with some of India’s many visitors. He now operates Our Pukka Place Hotel in Pushkar and Creative Arts Safaris. In his spare time Parveen has a passion for good food and cooking, especially the regional specialties of Rajasthan. www.our-pukka-place.com Our Team Dijanne Cevaal A life in pursuit of textiles, travel and adventure, with the odd dose of good food and enjoying the ambiance of place sums up my passions- ohh and books. I am a practising textile artist, enthralled by the possibilities of textile, the history of textile and its cultural imperatives- to understand the maker, know what their hands know and delight in the visual dance of colour, line and texture. I teach creative textile courses embracing many facets of textile practice and am much inspired by the textile culture of third world countries. Once textiles inspired the great caravan routes that traversed the known lands, silk spoke of richness and wealth, courts employed artisans to create fine embroideries in threads of gold and silk, and Indian printed fabrics were forbidden in the courts of Europe under threat of death. This rich and exotic history still exists- largely shunned by the "industrialised" west which has seen the maker separated from their creation. It is my aim to revere the practises that still exist, to make textile a rich experience in daily life. CV of Dijanne Cevaal www.picturetrail.com/dcevaal http://origidij.blogspot.com Magie Relph and Bob Irwin Magie is a UK-based patchwork artist, quilt maker and teacher. When she first set foot in an African market in 1984 she was immediately bitten by the “textile bug”. She continued to work and travel through Africa as an overland expedition cook, piecing together scraps of fabrics bought from local tailors as she went. In 1989 she married Bob in Nairobi and in 1991 they settled in the UK. Bob is a Canadian who started dreaming about Africa when he was only ten. He eventually got there as an overland expedition leader in the 80s, which is how he met Magie. After four long trans-Africa trips and many shorter safaris, they retired from “the road”, Bob to become a writer and technical author and Magie to pursue her passion for textiles and design. For Magie, what began as a hobby has evolved into a small fair trade business – The African Fabric Shop. Magie and Bob travel regularly in Africa, constantly discovering, researching and buying African fabrics and beads. They have written numerous articles about African textiles and traditions and they’ve been told in no uncertain terms to write a book. They will! Describing her involvement in Africa, Magie says, “I just want to buy fabrics I like from people I like in a place that I love – Africa.” www.africanfabric.co.uk Jane Richens For 25 years I have been involved in the visual arts and design areas as a practitioner and then as I got into things I became involved in the running of arts organisations and teaching. It has been a great opportunity to work with students developing projects and indulging in some of my interests of ephemera (found things, visual texture, bits and pieces to be used as a basis for collage), ‘multiples’, visual reproduction technologies (from hand printing to digital forms), handmade artist’s books, sustainability and the environment. A lot of this took place in arts and design departments at the Uni of Western Sydney, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore and at the College of Fine Arts, Uni of NSW. I now live on my rainforested farm Tabbil Forest at Bingleburra in rural New South Wales where I hold workshops and events and can continue to explore art processes and materials. As for my art, I use an eclectic mix of media. I like to get excited by an idea, or perhaps something I have found and work them together, in the past this has lead to series working with photography, photocopying and preprinted objects all collaged and drawn or painted on and then reworked and recopied with some ending up at billboard size. A recent body of work draws on my passions for the rainforests ecosystem and uses felt, wire and timber to create organic plant sculptures. CV of Jane Richens Our Friends We are very lucky to work with and call friend some extraordinary people.... if you are planning a trip to their part of the world [and not coming with us!] please contact them, they are sure to be able to help make your trip memorable. Mohamed Boudine Based in Erfoud not far from the start of the Sahara, his favourite place, Mohamed is an travel operator who can organise 4 wheel drive adventures, cook up a great dinner over an open fire, entertain you with many local stories and just generally make your visit to Eastern Morocco a very memorable experience. To contact Mohamed email mohamed@creative-arts-safaris.com. He is happy to help with any questions or travel plans in Morocco. Hicham Gazahli Born and bred in Fez, Hicham is completing his PhD in Literature, the focus is the depiction of Fez in Literature through the ages. Working his way through University he acts as a local guide in his spare time. If you are visiting Fez, exploring it with Hicham will greatly add to your appreciation of this fine city. To contact Hicham email hicham@creative-arts-safaris.com. Trinh Van Khanh [Khanh to his mates] hails from a peaceful village south of Hanoi. His family grow rice and produce fine rice noodles and plenty of fresh vegetables on the family farm. Khanh studied Business and Tourism in Hanoi where he now makes his home. He has a keen interest in language, having taught himself English and French. Khanh's passion is his home country and he likes nothing better than being able to share an insight into its culture through forays into village life, he is a keen hiker and cycler and can arrange interesting off-the-beaten track adventures throughout Vietnam. One such trip is called "Highlights of North, Central and South Vietnam'- a 14 day tour of Vietnamese highlights. Creative Arts Safaris are pleased to have his local knowledge and enthusiasm as part of our team. To contact Khanh email khanh@creative-arts-safaris.com He is happy to help with any questions or travel arrangements in Vietnam. |
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