I'm Tejasweeni S Iyer of TsOjoDeDios and its an honor to be here as my page has been on FB for just about 2 months now !
I love to spend my time with my children Nithya(7 yrs.) and Rohan (2 yrs.), my husband and by weaving Ojo's.
I have always been inclined towards art for many years now. Then 1 fine day , last Feb, I got to know about this workshop being conducted by Jay Mohler. So I googled him and this art and I just got carried away for a moment and decided to learn it to know it. I never thought I would get sooo involved with this art the way I am now :) It made me relax and I had loads of fun weaving various patterns in a zillion colors... WOW... I LOVED IT !!!
So what are Ojo's?
The complete word is Ojos-de-Dios prounced as *oh-ho's-day-DEE-ohs* .Ojo de Dios is a Spanish phrase that literally means "eye of God," though some also refer to it as "God's eye." The Ojo de Dios features four, eight ,12 or more sides, which are symmetrical (though for a change they can be asymmetrical too ). The sides of the object are made of wood, typically thin and flexible reeds. Yarn is then wrapped around the edges and sides to create an eye-catching pattern. In the exact middle of the Ojo de Dios is a rectangular piece covered in a contrasting color. These are typically 12 inches long, though some modern day examples are much smaller or larger, some measuring two feet or longer.
The Huichol call their God's eyes Sikuli, which means "the power to see and understand things unknown." When a child is born, the central eye is woven by the father, then one eye is added for every year of the child's life until the child reaches the age of five. Original Huichol Crosses are extremely rare to come by. There are many that are being made for the tourist market, but they do not carry the same traditional and spiritual significance.
No 2 Ojo's can be same, so everyone who weaves them or buys them has a unique piece to posses. These can be custom weaved too varying from the size ( big/small), no of sides ( 4/6/8/12....) and of course to the colors used ( according to the decor in your home/ your fav colors ). So see every piece is different and it just cannot be replicated :)
As my 2nd child was very young I could not manage weaving many Ojo's. But this new years I made a resolution to myself to get back into weaving Ojo's. Thats when I thought that I wanted to share this wonderful and colourful art with more and more people around ! This art is a lot more weaved in Russia, Mexico, China and Brazil. I want INDIA to be in the list soon and believe me we are getting there :)
My very 1st 8 sided Ojo is my page TsOjoDeDios profile picture :)
I held my 1st workshop on Jan 28th-29th and the 2nd one last weekend thats 3rd-4th March :) These 2 workshops have been wonderful. I have met some amazing people and it will be awesome to keep in touch with them :)
I put up a stall at my daughter's Montessori school recently and made beautiful pendants for the girls who visited the carnival :) They all loved it :) I also custom make them as girly birthday favors :)
I also wanted to be adventurous and make something new, so I made Ojo Coasters. Started by gifting them to friends and now custom make them too.
So here I am, weaving Ojo's and enjoying meeting wonderful people :) I sure have a long way to go :) So come join me in celebrating my milestones by visiting my FB page and spreading love !
I am so looking forward to meeting more and more wonderful people through my workshops :) Thank you everyone on my page TsOjoDeDios for LIKE'ing my page and encouraging me. I would definitely love to thank my husband, my in-laws ,my dear sister in law and my parents for pitching in to support me and take care of the kids while I took my workshops ... THANK YOU :) Without them I would not have been here today :) PS: I hope you all enjoyed learning about this colourful art form. Do visit Tejasweeni and show your love
-Swathi
