1st of April was a big day for beaders all over the world: the Battle of The Beadsmith '14 started. Shame on me, it is already time to create something new, and I still haven't told you everything about my last year's entry either (not to mention other stuff I managed to design AND finish during the past months). First thing first, here and now I would like to show you some sketches which later evolved into Serendib.
The notebook is a simple A5 I picked up at the local convenience store in Anuradhapura. It was made specifically for Sri Lankan children learning to read and write: the hard cover shows the Sinhala, English and the Tamil alphabet. Tamil is a minority in Sri Lanka, they make up about 11-12 percent of the entire populatin. The civil war between the two ethnic groups ended just five years ago, in 2009, after getting rid of the separatist group LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam). After the long-lasting massacre spotted with suicidal attacks, the government realised, that the best way to bring closer Sinhalese and Tamil people is to get to know each other's culture. Not only the Sinhala language is teached in the minority schools, but Tamil is also mandatory for every child in the country. The reality is unfortunately a bit stuck up after this nice thought, but it is a good beginning at least.
It still seems so unrealistic, how easily the idea came and changed to the final stage. Sure, I had to simplify it because of the pressing time-limit, but everything, the colours, the shapes, the materials came to me without stress and frustration.
Unfortunately, this year's BOTB is quiete different...
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