Africa

[|flickr photo] from Kalabird (Michaela Hackner) in Kenya

THIS IS THE PHOTO THAT SPARKED MY INTEREST IN THIS AMAZING PLACE. Thanks Michaela for sharing it.

KITENGELA GLASS

In July 2010, I finally made it to Kitengela Glass, just out of Nairobi, in Kenya, and was rewarded with the most inspiring and colourful community. I stayed there for 3 days and never tired of wandering down the winding mosaic paths, because every time I did, I discovered a new treasure hiding behind some bushes!! I watched with awe, the skill of the glass blowers, who carried out their craft with a dance-like grace. I swam in the mosaiced pool, where at dawn and dusk, the baboons gathered, and small hyraxes scurried at all times of the day. It was perched on the edge of a deep ravine, with a suspension bridge swinging in the breeze. I ate in Nani's kitchen, beautiful home-cooking with fresh local produce, surrounded by Nani's beloved dogs and a pet vulture, who begged for food. What an amazing experience it was!!!

Here are my photos on flickr which I have at last got around to editing: []

and here is the website for KITENGELA GLASS: []

Here are a couple my pictures showing the whimsical animals, and adorable kids, who lived in the compound. The second picture is of the stairway which led from the sauna to the swimming pool.

=TEMA Mosaic project in Ghana, West Africa= [] Welcome to the official Tema Mosaic website. The kids who worked on this were high school students from Chemu Senior High in Ghana and from Coronado High School in California. Working together for 4 weeks, these student artists were able to create a public art piece that measured 14 feet high by 24 feet wide! The hand print tiles on either side of the composition are tiles that donors from the US made; lending a 'hand' to our cause and sending a message of goodwill and support across the ocean to our friends in San Diego's Sister City: Tema, Ghana

the artist directing this mosaic mural project was: Kirstin Green (Artist and Designer of Mosaic) //http://greensmosaic.com///

=Laurel True: [] =

Laurel is another US mosaic artist who has done mosaic projects in Africa, including at the Rudolph Steiner School, near Kitengela Glass in Kenya. I took this picture of it when I visited the school in June 2010.

A large public mosaic incorporating tiles and metal art in the CBD of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya in East Africa: My partner Colin, was very co-operative and stood in front of it (for scale). Just after I took the photo, an African street sweeper told me I was not allowed to take a photo of this public building. This is typical of the bureaucracy these former colonial countries have blindly adopted. I also suspect this was his roundabout way of asking for a bribe.