Pipli Applique from Orissa - Glimpses from the Monsoon Collective

Hi everyone!!
Here's my second post on what I witnessed during my visit to National Institute of Fashion Technology for the hundred hands exhibition.
I thought of posting this before the thrill of the visit to the Monsoon Collective wears off and the memories fade. And trust me, you're going to love this - just as I did.

Pipli is a small town in the state of Orissa and is famous for..yeah, I know you've read the title of this post..

The artist who was exhibiting his Pipli work was Mr. Purna Chandra Ghosh. I think I spent the maximum time with him. He was very patient and willing to answer many of my questions.The wall hangings are appliqued on canvas cloth. Apart from those he also had cushion covers and bedspreads.

Let me show you a couple of pics

Wall hangings on canvas

A slightly hazy pic of a tribal tree

He sensed my excitement and pulled out the replica of a piece which he said won him the National award. I couldn't get a full shot of it, but here is one part of it.

Then we moved on to bedspreads..

A bird with different types of fabrics

The other bird on top of the same bedspread

And then came out a double bedspread which was a result of five month effort. So awestruck was I, he just couldn't help grinning. Here is a part of the spread. The entire sheet is filled of similar squares. He had made a pair and one of them was sold the previous day.

Can't imagine the effort that would've gone into it!!

Here's a close up of one of the squares

At the end of it, I came off from the stall giving him "Boni" (first business for the day). 

 

My tree of life cushion covers

Those who do applique would understand that this is a single piece cut and then appliqued. A wrong cut, the whole piece has to be discarded.

A yum closeup!!

Well, that's the eye candy for today!!!

I hope you enjoyed just as I did. Have you tried applique? I must admit I am miserable with it. But I should try again.

Love,luck and sunshine,

Deepa