Posts in the design category

In a wonderful traditional Chinese folktale, an old woman weaves the most exquisite tapestry, encompassing streams, fish, animals and flowers. It is a gorgeous piece of work, which takes her three years to complete. One day, as her three sons are arguing about who should inherit it, a gust of wind carries it out the window and off into the eastern sky. Creating something beautiful from balls of coloured wool is an almost magical experience for kids. I remember the first time I tried weaving - many years ago - and the experience has stayed with me ever since. While...

There's a wonderful story from Sydney about a man who has sunk into despair and alcoholism. He was wounded in the First World War, but his problems had begun in Balmain well before then, and by the Depression years his life was virtually over. But one day, after hearing a powerful sermon, he finds a piece of chalk in his pocket, bends down to the footpath and scribbles the word Eternity on the concrete. The odd thing was that the man was almost illiterate, but the word came out in a beautiful copperplate script. For the next 35-odd years Arthur...

[gallery] Linda and I own a small workshop based in India in the beautiful hill station of Macleodganj, home to His Holiness the Dalia Lama. Currently we employ 7 Tibetan women who sew for us. The workshop is something that we are working hard to get off the ground. After having a lot of personal contact with the women we feel a great responsibility and affinity towards them all. Most are mothers, like us, who are supporting their family with the skills they have at their disposal- their hands. We pay the women a weekly wage, not by piece, so...