As each group in the Amazon Ecology sponsored Artisan Facilitator workshop finished its first round, the members placed their crafts in a line on a table.
Each facilitator trainee in turn then picked up and pointed out one aspect of one bird that they thought was very well made. Comments were very specific like, "this beak has a shape that looks just like the one in the photo of the real bird." They then picked up another one to mention one way that craft could be improved. Frequently, these comments recommended using finer pieces of chambira to better capture the fine details of a head, wing or tail.
Yully and I also provided our comments regarding the consistency of the birds made by the members of each group. Three of the four groups had made their first bird well enough to move on to a new species.
The group that made the aracari had been more challenged to match their woven birds to the real ones and each other. I was happy they agreed to try again and have their practice facilitators pay more attention to progressing more in synch with each other.
I took a few examples of the finished birds to the nearby woods and water and had fun photographing them in natural settings. Hummingbird on an orange...cardinal on a leaf....heron on a stump by the river.
Marvelous spatule-tail hummingbird ornament on orange
Cardinal ornament woven with chambira palm fiber on leaf
Yully from CACE discusses finer points of bird ornaments with artisans
When Elle came into our booth, she immediately spotted our yellow Papilio butterfly ornament. I asked her about her attraction to this craft and learned an emotional backstory which she generously consented to let me share.
I felt joy and some pride that I played a role in allowing the Alternatives to Violence Project to work its magic for energizing our internal light that attracts people to each other.
