THIS IS A FTSF BLOG HOP CHALLENGE!
That's Finish The Sentence Friday. Every week my Blog group provides an incomplete sentence as a prompt. This week it's "I get so frustrated when..."
And here is my contribution.
I get so frustrated when…. I can’t find good free
photos with a Creative Commons License that can be used for my Blog!
My head buzzes with ideas; I don’t think I have yet
experienced the famous “writer’s block”.
My problem is not producing ideas, it’s getting everything done and
still getting enough sleep for my aged body!
It’s very difficult to find really good illustrations
for the contents I write about, so I spend hours searching the web for the
right photos.
I would like to ask my photography friends to be as
generous as possible with their photos and to create a CC BY SA License so that
we writers can use them in our posts!
My most recent frustration is related to Andean
textiles. There are lots of wonderful photos on the web, but very few can be
legally used! It’s such a shame, they are so beautiful! You can see for
yourself by reading the following post.
ANDEAN TEXTILES, A BEAUTIFUL ART OF SPANISH AMERICA
The term “Andean culture” is used to refer to the peoples
who dwelt and still live in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Northern Argentine and
Northern Chile.
Historians generally agree that the earliest artistic
productions from this vast area are relatively recent, dating more or less from
the first years of our Christian era. By the year 500 AD, they were producing
interesting architecture, ceramics and textiles.
Around 500 AD, the great empire of Tiahuanaco began to
develop its influence on the highlands around Lake Titicaca and also along the
coastal regions. The origins of most of the more spectacular artistic
productions are to be found in the development of this vast empire. However,
for reasons that are not clear, Tiahuanaco began to disintegrate around the
900s, leaving behind only the traditions of its culture.
The inheritors of these traditions were the Inca, who
began their lightening rise to power around the 1100s. In the span of a few
generations, the Inca Empire turned itself into a dynasty ruling not only the
Andean area, but far more besides.
The best examples of Andean weaving came out of the
Inca period. And they were definitely superb masters of this art.
MAP OF THE INCAN EMPRIRE
Source: Manco Capac, CC BY SA 3.0. Wikimedia Commons.
INCAN WEAVING
The looms.
The looms were extremely simple, and were basically of
three types:
- The backstrap loom, in which one end was tied to a tree or pole and the other end was tied to a belt that went round the body of the weaver. The weaver usually sat on the ground to weave. (Also called waist loom)
- The horizontal loom, in which used wooden supports at each end that were driven into the ground. The weaver usually knelt in front of the loom.
- The vertical loom in which the top end of the loom hung from a support driven into the wall, and was kept tense by means of weights that hung from the bottom end. The weaver usually worked standing up in front of the loom.
THE BACK STRAP LOOM
Source: n/a, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons
The materials
The wool for weaving was (and still is!) obtained from
the camelids. The Llama the Alpaca, the Guanaco and the Vicuña each provided
wools of different textures and thickness. Many textile designs take advantage
of the natural colors of these fibers. The Vicuña is by far the finest, in some
cases it can almost gossamer.
The “long threads” called warp threads, were usually
made of strong cotton, of the type that grows in the coastal areas of this
region.
The Dyes.
The Andean people are masters in the production of
colors, which they achieved by using elements from their natural habitat. Incredibly,
the ancient weavers fully understood the importance of adding a mordant to
their coloring process. They used minerals such as silicates and oxides for
this purpose. They also produced
variations of a specific color by adding other natural substances and minerals to their mix. These techniques are still used today,
although artificial dyes have also been added recently.
The patterns
The designs and patterns are a mixture of elements
inspired by nature and also formal symbolic elements that are probably of a religious
origin. (The priesthood was very powerful in the Incan culture).
The figures included in the textiles can represent
animals such as dogs, llamas and birds, or flowers, or scenery such as the
mountains and the rivers that run in deep valleys. There are also scenes from
every day life, such as a corn field with the rows of corn plants separated by
the fallow ground in between.
There are various web pages that show these beauties,
but unfortunately most of the photos are copyrighted.
ILLUSTRATIONS AND PHOTOS
A LOVELY EXAMPLE OF ANDEAN WEAVING
Source: n/a, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons
INCAN TEXTILES ON SALE
Source :McKay Savage, CC BY SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
FREQUENTLY USED PATTERS
QUECHUA PEOPLE WEARING TRADITIONAL TEXTILES
Source: Micah MacAllen, CC BY SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OF THEM ALL!
Source n/a, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons
These are some of the few graphics I was able to find!
SPANISH VERSION
(This Blog is bilingual)
En este
post retomo el tema de los textiles de la llamada Cultura Andina, pero antes de
iniciar el tópico, manifiesto también mi frustración por las dificultades encontradas
para ubicar bellas fotos que se presten para ilustrar las riquezas de las artes
pre-Hispánicas y que al mismo tiempo sean del Dominio Público o tengan una
licencia de Creative Commons, para así
evitar infringir las leyes de los derechos de autor.
Le pido
también a mis amistades internautas actuales y futuras que sean generosos al
momento de archivar sus fotografías y que no se olviden de sus amigos
escritores que pueden usar sus fotos y darles publicidad, siempre que la
licencia así lo permita! (La inscripción en Creative Commons es gratuita!)
Con
relación al tema de los textiles de las zonas Andinas, en la web hay bellísimas
fotos, pero no las puedo usar por las restricciones antes mencionadas. Las
pocas que encontré muestran claramente la extraordinaria belleza de estas
creaciones.
LOS
TEXTILES ANDINOS, BELLO ARTE DE LA AMERICA HISPANA.
El
término “cultura Andina” se usa para denotar
a los pueblos que habitaron y que todavía habitan en Ecuador, Perú, Bolivia, Chile Norteño y Argentina
Norteña.
Los
historiadores generalmente concuerdan en que las creaciones artísticas más
tempranas de esta vasta área son relativamente recientes, con un inicio en el
tiempo que coincide aproximadamente con los albores de nuestra era cristiana.
Ya para el 500 AD estaban produciendo interesantes obras en arquitectura,
cerámica y textiles.
A partir
del 500 AD, el gran imperio de Tiahuanaco comenzó a desarrollar su zona de
influencia en las alturas que rodean el extremo sur del Lago Titicaca,
extendiéndose luego a las zonas costeras. Las raíces de futuras producciones
artísticas maestras se encuentran inmersas en el desarrollo de esta gran
cultura. Sin embargo, por razones que no están claras, Tiahuanaco comenzó a
decaer a partir del 900 Ad, para finalmente desintegrarse, dejando tras sí solo
las tradiciones de su cultura.
Los
herederos de estas tradiciones fueron los Inca, quienes comenzaron su meteórica
conquista del poder alrededor del 1100 AD. En el intervalo de sólo unas pocas
generaciones, el Imperio Inca se transformó en un imperio dinástico que dominó
no sólo la zona Andina, sino que se extendió bastante más allá.
Los
mejores ejemplos de los textiles Andinos provienen del período Incásico. No hay
duda que fueron excelsos maestros en estas artes.
TEJEDURÍA
INCÁSICA.
Los Telares.
Los
modelo9s de telar son muy simples. Se distinguen tres tipos, a saber:
- El telar de cintura
- El telar horizontal
- El telar vertical
Los materiales.
La lana
se obtiene de los camélidos Andinos, esto es: llama, alpaca, guanaco y vicuña.
Los hilos de urdimbre son generalmente de algodón, un producto de la zona
costera.
Las tinturas.
Los
pueblos Andinos son maestros de los procesos de teñido, para lo cual utilizan
elementos naturales de su hábitat. Ya desde épocas remotas entendían el uso de
mordientes. Para tales efectos usaban minerales tales como silicatos y óxidos.
También creaban variaciones sobre los colores iniciales al agregar otros
elementos naturales a sus mezclas. Estas técnicas todavía están en uso, aunque
en la actualidad han agregado el uso de hilados industriales para sus tejidos.
Los dibujos y diseños.
Son una
mezcla de elementos inspirados por la naturaleza que los rodea y de símbolos
rituales formales provenientes de las prácticas religiosas. (Los sacerdotes
ostentaban mucho poder en la cultura Incásica).
Las
figuras usadas en los tejidos pueden representar animales tales como perros,
llamas o pájaros; también flores o elementos geográficos como las montañas o
los ríos que corren en las profundas quebradas. También se incluyen escenas de
la vida diaria, como por ejemplo un sembradío de maíz, con las hileras de
plantas separadas por los pasillos intermedios entre hileras.
Hay
varias páginas en Internet que muestran estas bellezas, pero lamentablemente
están todas afectas a los derechos de autor.
Las fotos
incluidas en este post, son algunas de las pocas que encontré.
More about
similar topics in a future post. Más sobre temas similares en un próximo post.
LANGUAGE
TIPS FOR ENGLISH
Words that
go together! * Get the message - * Go overseas - * Come on
time - * Go fishing – * Close a deal
LANGUAGE TIPS FOR SPANISH.
Expresiones de uso frecuente: * Lágrimas de cocodrilo - *
Llevar la voz cantante - * Más vale tarde que nunca
How is your
level of comprehension? ¿Cómo
está su nivel de comprensión?
© 2012 joanveronica
(Joan Robertson)
I will be
very happy to receive your comments! Just click the word “comments” lower down.
This is something that can frustrate me at times, too. I have a lot of inspiration with photos for my blogs with my family, but still there are times when I am looking for something specific, but still have trouble finding it. I also don't seem to run out of ideas, but still need to keep my energy levels up to keep up. Really can relate to your frustrations Joan and thank you a ton as always for linking up with us!! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Janine, this was certainly quick! So happy to receive your visit and comment! You are lucky in your family photos, but mine are all from the web! It takes some doing, I can tell you! Still, I will persevere! See you around soon!
DeleteThanks for linking up with #FTSF this week! I love the pictures that I have seen on your blog, so you're doing great at finding some good ones. I have not used too many pictures yet on my blog, but the number has been creeping up! Hope to see you again next week.
ReplyDeleteHi Dawn so nice to receive your visit and comment! I'm glad you like the photos, but they take eons to find! I have some ideas about ways to contact web owners, but I still have to work on this idea a bit more. We'll see how it works! See you soon!
DeleteWonderful! Oh and besides Wikimedia, check Flickr Commons. They have a lot of great photos you can use for free and I've even listed some of my photos as CC over there. :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome post!
Hi Cyndi, so happy to have you visit, I know your project consumes most of your would-be online time. Thanks for the tip about Flickr. I have used them, but always throughh Creative Commons, and the Flickr page invariabley says they can't find it, they don't go in for searches. I have found them when looking through Google, but it takes an age! But I will persevere! Thanks again for your support and have a good day!
DeleteJoan - I just post two sites on FB yesterday where you can get generic photos. Freestockimages.com and of course, Microsoft images both have much to offer. Yet, there are times I go to Wikipedia.commons and use according to license requirements. Hope that helps. As far as the actual blog is concerned, those are some amazing patterns. I'd be completely lost attempting to do something like that. And, you call the loom simple? I'd hate to see a complicated one! lol Great job!
ReplyDeleteHi Rich, many thanks for the visit and the comment. And especially for the tips on pages with photos. I will look them up this weekend! Most of my photos are from Wikipedia, I usually start there, search everywhere else (almost) and end up back at Wikipedia! About the loom, it is the simplest of the lot, they do most of the work with their fingers! It is really incredible, I've watched videos, and it's difficult to even catch the movements. Those are really first class crafts persons! So, see you around!
DeleteWhen I see something I like but am not sure if I can use it, I'll write the blog and ask if I can use it with a link back to them. Most people are thrilled to have some free advertising.
ReplyDeletehttp://joycelansky.blogspot.com
Hi Joyce, so happy to have you visit and to leave this tip for me! I've tried this, but I never thought of the link back, that's a good idea, thank you! See you!
DeleteThis is a great post! I know that anything on Wikimedia Commons can be used free and clear... I use them sometimes, but I still put the source underneath if I do. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm visiting today from Thursday's Favorite Things.
Hi there, many thanks for your visit and the comment! And yes, I use Wikimedia Commons too, but they don't have a great variety of photos for these topics. That's a severe handicap, so I'm contacting blogs that sell this kind of craft, for permission. I've had some positive answers, so I'm happier now!
DeleteVery educational! Found your post on Thursday Favorite Things! I would love to have you share this on The Creative HomeAcre Hop today :)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theselfsufficienthomeacre.com/2013/02/the-creative-homeacre-hop-4.html
Hi Lisa Lynn, so nice to have you visit my blog! And happier still that you likle the contents! I will check out your Blog Hop at once! Have a good day!
DeleteThanks so much for sharing this on The Creative HomeAcre! I can't wait to see what you share next time at...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theselfsufficienthomeacre.com/2013/02/the-creative-homeacre-hop-5.html
Hi Lisa. so happy to receive your comment, and thank YOU for the invite! See you!
Delete