Art.

I LOVE art. Anything artsy, creative, colorful, or messy. Being in Africa has made me realize that more and more. There is this inner peace that comes from creating something, there is a joy in seeing the fruits of your hands, and there is a freedom in being able to express yourself through whatever media you choose.

Last weekend, the last day on the way back from the Volta region was my favorite day. It was all about art. We experienced traditional African art and were able to each try our hands (and feet) at it.

We first visited a Kente cloth-making village, where we watched in awe in between the colorful threads used to weave Kente cloth. It literally takes hours to weave a strip of Kente cloth--I had no idea. It is a lot more complicated than you'd imagine, too. We tried pushing the pedals with our feet and stringing the threads through the loom with the pins...watching me do it must have been an interesting sight to see--to say the least.

Our next stop was Batik (pronounced Buh-teak) making and tie and dye--both of which I love. Mrs. Klingberg (my 12th grade AP art teacher)---you would have loved watching the Batikers! In 12th grade, we had a Batik unit in art class, but only used melted crayon wax to make our designs. Here, they heated a black kettle, filled with wax and imported pigments, over a mountain of glowing coals. Each step was beautiful and rhythmic.

We tried our hands at Batiking, as we dipped a wooden dowel (carved with designs) into the pool of wax. After dipping it, we pressed it onto an off-white sheet of cloth. After the wax cools on the fabric, the Batik makers stain it with dye, where the dye resists the wax to form the pattern. It was beautiful, but definitely hard work. The coals made the room a bit steamy to work in, but the Batikers continued with their art ever so melodiously nonetheless.

Our last stop was to Cedi's Beads. As we entered the workshop area, glass bottles lined the cement wall, as if perfectly positioned for the sun to beam through them to get that "stained glass look" you see in movies. Cedi, the owner, explained that the artisans broke the bottles into pieces and ground them to make the beads--how interesting! I think that is so neat. The sea salt blue, jade green, and blood red bottles would soon be beads.

Cedi toured us through each step of the bead making process--taking us to the oven, the polishing spot, etc. After making our purchases, I looked up to read a sign that said, "Bead all that you can bead." Love it.