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journal of sculptor's residency

from: Carving Studio and Sculpture Center, US

sent: Thursday, July 28, 2005 8:00 PM
to: www. africancolours.net
subject: Irene Wanjiru's journal

friday 15 july, '05

I arrived in Vermont from Kenya safely and was accorded a warm welcome...

We (Carol, the Director and her family - David and Serena) later went for dinner prior to my being shown around the Studio where I will be working. "Oh my God, all these marble? I can't wait to start working on it", I muse. Then I got to meet my host Keiko from Japan, who I will be staying with. She is a nice person and also loves flowers. On the first night, I slept like a log perhaps owing to the long flight.

saturday 16 july,

I woke up to a hearty breakfast; we also talked and got to know each other. We ( Keiko, Carol and Serena) later went to the farmer's market. I saw many people there and even spoke Swahili (a common lingua franca in Kenya and East Africa) to someone from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). We had lunch at a restaurant, and then I got back to the studio. I was eager to carve marble but I didn't. I thought instead, I should work with a softer stone. I settled on limestone and begun chiseling the outline of a couple.

sunday 17 july,

I attended the Solarfest, where, I met many people who have been to Kenya before, including a woman who speaks Swahili more eloquently than me. I later worked on the marble, as I realized it was not as hard as I'd expected. I managed to curve out four faces on the piece of stone. I notice that there are many people in the studio. In the evening, I visited Carol at her house for dinner. I met two boys from Peru who are also here to learn more about art. They stay with Keiko and speak Spanish only; am also picking up some of the spoken words.

monday 18 july,

Everyone was so amazed at how fast I was working. The on-going classes offer an opportunity to talk to many artists. I also notice not only are young people creating art, but also some older folks as well.

tuesday 19 july/wednesday 20 july,

I start working on another piece of white marble to experiment and find out how hard it is. I manage to create a rabbit, an addition to two other sculptures I have begun chipping off the stone. I encountered the work of another artist/instructor Jim Z. Later this evening, I displayed the three pieces and my colleagues were happy to make an acquaintance with my work - the limestone couple, the grey marble faces and the white rabbit. 

                                                                                                                                           friday 22 july,

As I begin on a new piece off limestone, am inspired to carve out the face of a monkey. Kevin calls and invites me to dinner on Saturday.  At the BBQ today, among those present, I met Carlos who went to Peru as teacher for the two boys.

saturday 23 july,

I did not work much before going to Kevin's place in Castleton.  The landscape along the way, is so beautiful (more so) the mountains; roads are in good condition. I met Kevin's wife and son - very nice people.

They took me to Middlebury - a town  which a river runs through before it spills into a waterfall, amid a gorge of marble walls. We went shopping - for art and crafts before heading back for dinner - chicken.

sunday 24 july,

Today I visited Lake Dunmore with Carol Dave and Serena, we 'camped' at a nice house close to the lake. We swam and I bumped into people who had been to Africa. They talked about Zimbabwean art as we enjoyed a nice dinner.

monday 25 july,

I get to make and interact with new friends during our classes, with both the young and elderly opening up to art. I'm determined to take on the challenge of a stone slab - I have not as yet, worked on such a big piece....