Craft retreat 2005
- finished tormas
Twenty-one tormas of various sizes were made during the craft retreat in July 2005 with Ngala Nor’dzin and Ngala ’ö-Dzin. They ranged in size from about 6 cm high to 16 cm tall. One large torma was also made to install in the garden at Aro Khalding Tsang. As well as these, Richard, Ngala Nor’dzin and Ngala ’ö-Dzin’s younger son, also made 111 tiny tormas because he had had an idea of what he would like to become of these miniture clay offerings. After completing them, Richard carefully wrapped the tiny tormas and took them with him on the climb across the Welsh mountain Cadair Idris.
Whilst walking through woodland, across streams and over shale; whilst traversing a steep and difficult ascent or scrabbling down a grassy bank; whilst negotiating the path around boulders or through boggy ground, and all under the bright clear blue sky of a perfect summer’s day, one might find one of these tiny tormas, if you looked closely and carefully enough. They might be in front or behind, to the sides, above or below the part of the path you were walking. They were carefully placed and slightly hidden, but not completely concealed, so that the observant eye would be able to notice them. Richard left the 111 tormas at intervals across the long and arduous crossing of Cadair Idris and the visits to the three lakes. Each time we spotted one of these tiny tormas we felt a sense of delight and appreciation. Placed on a branch, in a tree, by a stone, or in the crack of a rock, they manifested as an offering to the elements, to the mountain, and to the walkers who stretched themselves to complete the hike across Cadair Idris that day.
