Kunming in Southwest China is capitol of Yunnan Province and home to numerous minority groups. From Kunming we travelled to the the 'Stone Forest' a scenic area of geological interest. the region was a vast expanse of sea. Over time, the earth's movements gradually caused a retreat of the waters and the rise of the limestone landscape. Due to constant erosion by the elements, the area finally developed into the present-day Stone Forest.
The minorities sell their handicrafts and act as guides to the area.
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Our original purpose travelling to Kunming was to visit a drawloom institute located in the area. However when on the plane headed there, the Chinese official guide told the group that our plans had been changed to give us more time in Xian. Therefore the visit to the the Draw Loom Institute would not happen.
We found it was important to be flexible and go with the flow. We did stop at markets and were able to buy fine examples of cross stitch and indigo dyed shibori on cotton. Indigo dyeing is popular in this area, but we didn't find out if the clothing worn by these peasants was hand dyed with indigo or just a commercial product. |
Notice the imagery includes stars, flowers,
and little dogs. This square has 7 stitches per centimetre. Fabric is commercial black cotton with white cotton thread for the cross stitch. 38 cm square |
This cross-stitch is worked on black commercial fabric with white thread. The piece has an amazing 10 stitches per centimeter, the finest I have seen. 36 cm square |
