down on the farm day 3

well, day 3 on the farm we really got down to business. which doesn't mean we didn't still have lots of wonderful food and great 1-on-1 conversations during breaks.

i think on this day the purpose of the forum all was becoming a little more clear in our heads.
patric brenac from rocheforte, france was the first presenter of the day. he is the owner of the franch natural dye company "coleurs de plantes". he came from a scientific, more technical background but it was clear that some common themes were beginning to appear. that you start with an idea based on your values. that you look to the history of the place you are in and the materials you want to use/produce. that through trial and error you discover what works best. that you hold onto your dream.
after break, jennifer green (a young grad from nscad) talked about the history of flax growing in the region. and as an experiment, and to understand (hands on) what she was researching, she grew, proccessed and wove her own flax.
in the afternoon, david goldsmith, a fashion designer from parsons school of design in new york who is now living and studying in sweden, talked about what he has coined "slow fashion" (comparable to the slow food movement). fashion that includes local fibres, local processing, designs that are contemporary but with historic resonance.

the rest of the afternoon was spent in discussion groups. what do we want to do? what are the obstacles and how do we overcome them? although most of the discussion was centred around plant fibre, brenda and i got more and more excited about applying the same strategies to a re-vitalization of the wool/processing (spinning/knitting/weaving industry in newfoundland. lots to think about...