"Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark. 
In effect, the people who change our lives the most begin to 
sing to us while we are still in darkness. If we listen to 
their song, we will see the dawning of a new part of ourselves."

Rabindranth Tagore

Existential Intelligence is the sensitivity and capacity to engage questions about human existence – how we got here, whether we have a purpose, and whether there is meaning in Life. Existential intelligence embraces the exploration of aesthetics, philosophy, religion and values like beauty, truth, and goodness. A strong existential intelligence allows human beings to see their place in the big picture, be it in the classroom, community, world, or universe.

First proposed by Howard Gardner, existential intelligence is one of nine theorized intelligences and is considered to be amoral – that is, it and the other eight categories of human intelligence can be used either constructively or destructively.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Colorful Soy Wax

Last weekend, Lisa Kerpoe and I co-taught our first Colorful Soy Wax workshop. About two years ago I got the notion that biodegradable soy wax could probably be mixed with fiber reactive dyes to make crayons that would make it possible to "draw" on fabric - after which the fabric could be washed to remove dye and wax simultaneously.

It took two years to figure out the formula and while I was working on it, Lisa, one of my studio colleagues, helped me brainstorm. We started to play with stamping and stenciling a hot dye/wax mixture. At first the results were so unpredictable we never knew what to expect, but we finally limited variables and developed a working model with some reliability.

The workshop was great fun. Watching the class experiment with the crayons and also the hot wax was satisfying and exciting. Stay tuned for a workshop coming to a venue near you - including the international Surface Design Association conference in Minneapolis in 2011.

The photos show some of what happened in the workshop - the crayons, the stencils, and hot wax applications. Thanks to everyone who participated in the Beta Mode version of this class!








and by the way, you can order the proprietary wax mixture and instructions on my website. complexcloth.com
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