Traveling is not just about visiting the new places and knowing new cultures but also to meet new people and learn new things from them. My journeys have exposed me to some interesting artists and their artworks. Another such artwork, which perhaps I would never become familiar with if not travelling, was Macrame. As far as I remember, my first conscious encounter with the term macrame was at New Lucky Cafe of Rishikesh where a Nepali guy, named Kapil, used to give macrame lessons. For some unknown reasons I had assumed that macrame was the name for some very sophisticated technique based fine paintings. Although I had developed a good friendship with Kapil, I never showed any interest to know about the art he was master of. But it was only because of that familiarity with the term Macrame that when I came in contact with an another Macrame artist, named Clemence, at Pushkar of Rajasthan, I inescapably developed an interest to know about the art which I had missed at Rishikesh.
During my month long summer stay at Pushkar, Clemence was the only another long term off season guest at the Shankar Palace/ Ramues cafe. Clemence, a young lady of french nationality, was living in a room on the other side of the small roofless central ground of Shankar Palace. While sometimes she used to work with the paper and pencil at entrance of her room, some other times she used to click the photos of some bracelets, necklaces with the leaves and barks of floras of the Shankar palace as background objects.
From the daily conversations during the late evening gatherings, which were joined not only by the guests and the owners of guest house but also by some new friends of Pushkar, at the central roofless ground of the Shankar Palace, I came to know more about Clemence. She was a traveler and macrame artist. Although she used to speak less, either because of habit or limited English vocabulary, she patiently elaborated about the Macrame and her journey with that art. Interestingly the word Macrame is most probably of Arabic or Turkish origin. Macrame is a textile art of linking the threads exclusively by the knotting techniques. It was the first time that I became familiar with the difference between otherwise inter-related terms like Knotting, weaving and knitting. Although the cords and the ways of linking them by knotting techniques are the only essential elements to label a craft as Macrame artwork, the inclusion of some more objects, like stones, could take the creations to different levels of creative expressions. In Clemence’s work, perhaps I was more captivated by the stones and fossils than the threads and the knotting techniques.
Clemence learnt that art from Colombia while travelling and staying in South America for 3 years. There she used to craft and sell the products on streets. Over the course of her journey that art turned as her main profession and she also started selling the macrame jewellery in some markets of France. The moment I met her, she also had her online shop by the name of Tierrachakana at http://www.etsy.com . The influence of her time in Latin America was still visible as most of the raw material like stones and threads were from Latin American countries. While most of the stones were from Mexico, the waxed polyester cords, special for macrame jewelry, were from Brazil. However, during her time in India, she had got many of the stones from Jaipur Market.
Despite of having a great opportunity of taking my macrame experience to next level by learning some basics of that art from Clemence, my experience got stuck with just a conceptual understanding of that textile art. During my first ever visit for Pushakar valley, I was more involved in knowing the place and some of its unique cultures and so could not think towards taking any practical lessons from her. I believe that the experience which got initiated with Kapil and Clemence would go to next level and someday I would learn and be able to create some thing on my own.
The latest updates of Clemence’s work can be found on her facebook page Tierrachakana
She also has her online shop at https://www.etsy.com/in-en/shop/tierrachakana
This is a great story and adventure, my good friend.
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Thank you my friend… I am back from my journey.. now going to focus on new posts and reading the blogs which I follow. I am excited to see your posts which I have missed during my time in Himalayas. 🙂
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How beautiful! Traveling has given you so many beautiful experiences. It’s an inspiration to me. I haven’t done macrame since I was in high school, but it was one of my favorite art classes then. 🙂
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Dear friend Laurie. It was the first time I came to know so much about macrame. I hope I will learn someday and design something. If you remember something from your high school, try it again.. 🙂 thank you for reading this post and for your words
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Interesting art. I have never heard about macrame.. the necklaces and bracelets are really beautiful .. Thanks for giving the contact of Clemence.
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I agree.. the jewellery was really beautiful. 🙂 you can see the Clemence’s macrame jewellery on her online shop and contact her.
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Beautiful art. I love your way of writing.
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Thank you so much 🙂
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It was a very interesting article. Keep doing the hard work !
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Thank you my friend.. and keep following travel parable for more travel updates.
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Traveling is knowing.. Traveling is learning.. Beautiful artwork. Keep exploring
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Thanks sudhanshu.. keep following and giving feedback on my work
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Very interesting artwork.. you are lucky to explore and experience new things.. really a happy traveller.. love
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Thank you so much ,:)
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Such an interesting post, what a journey you have been on. I can’t wait to read more xxx
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Thank you victoria. Thanks for reading and for comment on this post.. keep following for more 🙂
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amazing ideas!
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🙂
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Great ideas!!!
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😊😊
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Oh wow, that sounds really, really interesting! I will visit her shop and look on google to find more about this art, It is something i can do for sure! Thanks for the post.
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Thank you Diana. Thanks for your time to read this post and for your comment..
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Wonderful.. Sure to meet this lady in my upcoming visit to pushkar.. Thanks for bringing this to me.. 🙂
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Thank you my friend.. I am not sure if she is in Pushkar anymore because she is also a traveler. But you may contact her by the links I shared
🙂
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Travelling is the very best thing about getting new friends .very talented people out there we have an only chance that is travelling.
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Yes my friend… Traveling is knowing 😊
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Great post.. The idea of working while travelling is an idea of freedom
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I think same 😊😊
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I would have been most interested in those stones, too – they’re wonderful. Macrame became very popular in the US in the 1960’s, along with the hippie movement towards more earthy, handmade things.
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I love such artworks because they allow to travel and work at the same time. Although, it may not be easy, but they bring some sense of freedom. I am trying to develop some new skills. Lets see where I reach. Thanks for your feedback 🙂
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Thanks! I feel like I learned a bunch about macrame too now☺️ Connecting with new people is also one of my favorite things about travel. So many amazing humanbeings out there!
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I agree with your words. Travelling allows to know , understand and accept alternative ideas. Macrame was new for me as well. I was thinking how had I avoided this artwork before. Now I am thinking to learn this artwork. Thank you for reading this post.
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Beautiful artwork.. really creative .
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It is beautiful indeed ☺️☺️ thanks for your comment
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Those necklaces are so gorgeous, I never knew about macrame, thanks for educating me.
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It was new for me too. I hope to learn this artwork in my free time. Thanks for your words. 🙂 Keep following for more updates.
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Interesting artwork…
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Thank you 🙂
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The title of the post made me interested to go in the details of this post. Macrame is an entirely new thing for me. It is beaybeaut indeed. Stones and cords are complementary for each other.. stones make the products really attractive. Thank you for this post
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Thank you for your words.
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This a a beautiful piece of writing bro.
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Thank you Prakash bhai
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Very creative, the fusion of thread on stones are beautiful.
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Indeed. Thank you for your words
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The “macrame” is the word for me. You have written a blog very beautiful. Those stone macrame are really amazing and your photography skills too. 🙂
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Thanks Asking Minds. That was a nice experience. I hope to learn this art in my free time.
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seems healing 🙂
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Beautiful artwork
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😀
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Thank you 👍👍
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I’d never heard of the word “Macrame” before, so I’m glad you’ve explained it so well to me and included all these photographs. It’s absolutely beautiful jewellery.
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Such a beautiful and unique art form. I love when travel leads to these kinds of cultural discoveries and you meet amazing people with such special talents!
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You’re such a creative artist! You’re doing it amazing! Love it all!
Keep it up! And I hope you have lots of success 🙂
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I remember when I was in middle school, we did a kind of introduction to macrame.. but wow, this is so far off from what I see on your photos! Such a beautiful art, combined with different mediums.. thank you so much for sharing.
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Your work is beautiful. Clearly you are very talented and have a passion for what you do!
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Beautiful artwork! This is the first time I hear about Macrame. As you said, traveling is especially about learning new things from people you meet during your journey.
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Meeting people and getting to know local artcrafts are two enriching way to enhance every travel experience.
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I have seen these workshops around Pushkar and Dharamshala. Glad that you shared more information about them.
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I love this post since it deals with one of the most inspiring aspects of travelling: Meeting new, unusual, inspiring people. It’s wonderful that you share this encounter with us and introduce us to her artwork
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Interesting, you learned a lot on stones. I wonder if they are the same with stones like crystals. Nonetheless, these are really great work of art and crafts.
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Wow. Amazing art. I wish I could meet Clemence. Most of the inspirational characters I meet do not speak much… I doubt it is coincidence…
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Macrame is such a beautiful art form, I have learnt something new today! It is amazing that your travelling has allowed you to be exposed to and learn such interesting skills.
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I love creating different artworks myself so I can really relate to your article! Great job with Macrame!
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Oh my all her pieces are beautiful and unique. Im sure she can sell a lot of these to tourists. But i know real artists just wants to experess themselves through their arts thats they are beautiful. Great story
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Well, that’s new for me. I have seen some similar jewelry in South American markets, but usually with seeds embedded in the cords. And none of them seemed as complicated and detailled as these ones.
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I enjoyed reading this post. Interesting art, I never heard about this art… macrame. Thanks for sharing this amazing stuff.
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Wow what a great post as traveling also means meeting interesting people around the world. It is very good of you that you introduced Clemence and her beautiful hobby of creating macrame necklaces. I love her creations and anything handmade is more valuable to me than machine made things. Keep sharing such stories more.
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Very interesting- Ive never heard of this macrame before! Im not nearly artsy enough for this kind of stuff haha
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This seems like a great adventure! Seems like traveling has given you so many beautiful experiences. This article was inspiring, thank you for sharing
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Waow! these are incredible! I just started last summer making bracelets but I don’t know how to use stones and other stuff to make my bracelets better. It’s a good way to make some money while you’re traveling. And also sometimes it’s like meditation. Good work!
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You are going to next Macrame artist I know. 👌👌👌. It certainly is like a meditation. Thank you my friend.
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fascinating artefacts of india. Love how you showcased local art
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Thanks Sinjana. Keep following for my upcoming posts.
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This is a very unique post I have seen and I just love it. You are right. Traveling is about meeting fantastic people too and we have been fortunate to meet amazing artists along the way! Happy to meet the Macrame artist through this post! Super creative. Loved all the pieces of artwork here and wish to get some too.
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Thanks Navita. You can find more of her work on her online shop. I always want to meet more people and know their ideas about life. Thank you for your words and views.
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Beautiful work, gorgeous pieces, what a find! Traveling leads you on paths you never sometimes can imagine!
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Thanks Smita Chandra
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Very interesting post. I’ve heard of the term macrame before but I had no idea that it referred to handmade artifacts. Thanks for sharing and it’s so sweet of you to showcase Clemence’s beautiful work!
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Thanks Maria. I hope one day I will write a post on my own handmade artifacts .. 😀 . Keep following for more updates..
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I’ve never heard of Macrame before but these accessories look beautiful. And yes I agree with what you said. To me most of my memorable travels are not because of the place itself but because of the people I met and the things I’ve learned from them.
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Yes.. we travel and experience not only the places but people also.
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