WORKING WITH THREADS AND FIBERS
. . .
2012 I first learnt to knot: the art of macramé. It was like a whole new world, one that I understood immediately though. I designed knotted bags with thick textile yarn. Beautiful bags but very heavy, even without any contents. But macramé is addictive. So I continued to knot different items with different materials.
2012 I also remembered how to crochet. Practical things like a small curtain for the small bedroom window in Tselendata. Or a small bathroom mat out of strips of plastic bags. Or bags with textile yarn (they were lighter than knotted bags. But still quite heavy)
Then I discovered the art of felting. By chance. I had seen felting a couple of times at several occasions. And then I had this conversation with a Greek farmer, about the moon and its phases and how it affected his farming and how he always considered the right phase of the moon, at least used to consider it with sheep shearing, but not anymore. “What do you mean, not anymore, why not anymore?” I asked him. And he said that nobody wanted the wool anymore, he just threw it away. I could not believe it. Just throw it away?????
So I got a little bit of raw wool from him that first summer (2012), and washed it and dyed it with onion peels. I fell in love with the material WOOL and next summer (2013) I processed a big bag full of wool. A lot of work! I washed it in the sea, I dried it outside in the sun, I plucked it for hours to get rid of little dirts and straws. I dyed it and plucked it again. I went home with loads of dyed and processed wool but what next? I took it to a wool shop and they showed me how to card it and then how to felt it. It was not a good soft quality wool but I learned how to handle it. I made mobile-cases, tea-cosies, small bags. I learned by doing and I stayed in love with the material. I did some workshops, got more knowledge, tried soft merino wool. Made puppets and bigger bags, tablet sleeves and many many other things. Felted with children, in different places, felted little fruits, felted around stones, felted mandalas and beads. I am still learning new skills and new techniques (like the one I made a turtle shell with). And I am still in love with wool!
In September 2013 I stumbled upon freeform crochet on the internet. Wow! Was that possible with a hook and yarn? Why hadn’t I thought of freeform before? A whole new world opened itself up for me, once again. On the ferry from Greece to Italy I crocheted my very first piece of freeform crochet (a bag, I still have it). At home I got started with a bigger piece: a big shawl or wrap in blues and purples. I just could not stop anymore. In 2014 I took part in a CAL (Crochet A Long) on Facebook of Dada Neon Crochet, a freeform project which you could see as a personal visual diary.
That winter (2014-2015) I crocheted my father’s bicycle and made it a piece of art.
The summer of 2015 I made an umbrella.
The summer of 2016 I crocheted freeform and then felted it: a sleeve for an iron board (in commission)
The year after (2016-2017) I made my Tree of Life, when I attended Art Class of Hawar. Read more about my Tree here.
This year (2018) I am doing a big Seascape Wall Art piece of community art for the new family centre Akwaaba of Inspiratie Inc Read more about this project here
I made many many crochet pieces in addition to those big projects. Bags and baggies, sleeves for mobiles and tablets, necklaces and bracelets, shawls and ponchos…. I opened an Etsy shop. Made many items in commission. Still struggling with pricing my unique Crazy Creations (read more here). Attended small art fairs and festivals (like Haak- en Breipicknick, Kort maar prachtig, Saristra Festival, Markt Wol en zo). Eventually I also got invited to give workshops...
And my yarny wooly adventures continue!