The Awe of Advent

Being an artsy person, the holidays roll around and I just start getting all Martha-Stewart-inspired to have things perfect. The perfect decor. The perfect food. The perfect bakes. The perfect wardrobe. The perfect gifts. Heck! The perfect wrapping on those gifts. 

Everywhere we look we see photo-shopped images of sheer holiday perfection, leading us to believe we can pull off what a high-quality camera lens, a few product designers and dozens of little minions in the background do to make that moment happen. In reality, its a set up for disappointment if you ask me. I have been there too many times, too many years. 

There's traveling to be had, families to eat, drink and be merry with. You feel the urge to get in touch with all those friends, via parties, greeting cards or gift giving. As the weeks and days count down for Christmas, we honestly don't know how to squeeze in another place to be and another social engagement. 

I yearn so much for a genuine experience, rich with tradition and sincerity. I find it fulfilling teaching many fun classes where I get to see memories being made, and laughs and smiles on all the faces. Just this season, I believe we have made over 50 twiggy reindeer in classes! I am a part of secret keeping, making special gifts appear under the tree and fun surprises I can share with all of you. It is very rewarding, but I find myself running up until the very hour of Christmas and feeling breathless as I try to put together the "perfect" holiday for my family. 

Sitting in church, stressed by this tug in my heart, I listened as we sang the sixth and seventh verses of "O Come O Come Emmanuel" 

O come, O Bright and Morning Star,
and bring us comfort from afar!
Dispel the shadows of the night
and turn our darkness into light. 

O come, O King of nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind.
Bid all our sad divisions cease
and be yourself our King of Peace.  

I began to think about all the things that dwell in my heart at this time of year... of winter, solstice, Christmas, family, traditions and faith. It was like I looked up at the night sky and these brilliant and dazzling stars suddenly started to form a constellation, connecting their solitary beauty into a story. 

So much of my world revolves around seasons as a farmer, and when you are one with the land, you try to seek out the lessons it holds for you. Though we are sad to see the bounty of fall go, winter is our time for rest and reflection. It is really a welcomed season in its own serenity and solitude. Welcoming us into winter, is the beauty of Advent. It really illuminates the dark winter days ahead. It gives us the joyfulness of celebration, and the wonderful traditions we know and love. It opens our hearts to the winter months ahead. 

When I realized this, I began to see how Christmas is really the beginning of a time to nurture our hearts and souls and the ones we love around us. It's not over December 25th. The glow lasts through the winter months til the Earth begins to thaw and grow again with Spring. It's a way of life for us, and somewhere along the way we've lost that perspective a bit. 

This year, I've already felt the joy of carrying the awe of Advent forward into the dark winter months. I'm hoping it means more time in my studio, with other creative souls and to dream a little bit. So while the Earth is quiet and restful, my soul shall be too. Merry Christmas! May the awe of Advent be yours to cherish. 

Love,

Natasha 

Getting creative...

I had this conversation with a customer and it made me reflect. Yes, it is hard to find the time to create. Especially for me, Spring, Summer and Fall are times of creating life on the farm. It means early mornings, long days and late nights. My hands get rough and my back aches. In-spite of this,  it offers moments of beauty in so many ways. Dewy plants. Mothers nuzzling newborn lambs. Rich colors getting plucked from dark soil. 

These moments feed my soul in a different way. They go in a reservoir where inspiration draws from for the colors that get painted across my art. Moments get tucked away and become stories such as these I tell to you.  

Yet the need to create is always there. So I must find the time. 

Many times, I can only find the time when I instill upon myself a deadline. These make me push aside all other priorities and put my art first. It's really hard to do! Really, really hard to do. So many things vie for attention. However strong the pull, I know that unless I put art first, it will not get done. 

As I started to create, something wonderful happened. I felt a calmness and yet a surge of energy pass through my system. I found myself thinking less about everything else and focusing on how the fibers felt in my hands. How the colors blended. How rhythmic the rolling was. 

Creating

swept

me

away.

It took me out of the moment, out of the stresses and transformed me. 

I was expecting to be stressed by the anticipation of having to create for an upcoming deadline, and instead I found just the opposite effect. We so often cannot find creativity on our own. We need a little nudge. For me it was a deadline. For someone else, it might be coming to a class here at Esther's Place. Others, it might be a knitting group, like our lovely Friday ladies that come to work on projects. In any shape or form, motivation to seek after creativity sometimes comes from outside yourself. 

So in reflection, I am learning more about myself and my art. But one thing I do know and have always known. Creativity was something planted in me by the Creator of every good and perfect thing. It makes me feel like I'm fulfilling a little purpose in my life, which in turns, brightens my corner of world just a little bit more. 

A New Year, A New Nest... Part Three of Three

Last but certainly not least in my series is our brand new classroom remodeling! For years I have looked longingly through the pages of the Where Women Create magazine. How I have yearned to have a space that was organized, chic, beautiful, light and practical in which to create. Not just for myself but for others. I wanted a place I could be proud of! 

Well my wish came true this January. I took a week off work to tackle this project, and to get my wisdom teeth out. The way I figured it, I would not think about the impending doom if I had a good project to keep my mind off it! (Don't you just love my logic!?!) I was counting on spending my swollen-like-a-chipmunk-healing-time sorting, organizing and creating the SUPER CLASSROOM! So in preparation, I began to disassemble,. and some friends came to help paint the base coat. 

Thankfully, my surgery went well and I wasn't in enough pain to keep me away from the project. I was a little loopy from Advil but that probably helped dull the pain of unpacking ten years of fiber art UFO's (unfinished objects), collections of fiber and fabric, class supplies and more. It was like a bomb went off in here. By the time I surfaced from beneath the piles, we were finally making progress in creating bins of labeled supplies. It was actually happening. 

Enter my creative husband and his dreamy storage unit, and this room was finally starting to shape up! He designed several nice features: put our door on sliders to save a ton of room, gave me a slim closet for table storage and easy access, and ample shelves just the size I needed them. Now I had a real workable unit where both students and I could access supplies quickly and easily. It's saved so much time and effort and looks very classy. I feel like I finally have the art studio I've always dreamt of. 

The second phase of this project was to paint the focal wall. A friend had offered to teach me the lazure painting technique. I wanted to have a wall that was full of soft, welcoming color and this was a perfect way to achieve that. The technique uses layers of color, giving you a watercolor effect. She and I used Golden Acrylic Medium mixed with an equal amount of water and a dab of acrylic paint added. This, being very much liquid, is brushed on quickly with one brush and brushed again with a dry brush. Layer after layer is added to give you depth and movement of the colors. We used about 8 layers I believe. It took a whole day to add the layers. There is some glitter added to the last layer. 

The effect is stunning, mesmerizing, dreamy and enchanting. I'm so glad we did this! It's such a magical room now, where creativity seeps into our souls and beauty is crafted from the heart. It's a room that is happy and cheery, bright and spacious. People want to come and sit and be. 

Thank you to all who helped make it possible! I feel like our nesting is almost complete for this year. What a better place the world can be if we just beautify the nest around us. If we make it warm and spacious and welcoming to others. I hope to leave you with that thought as we embark on the next chapter of 2017. 

A New Year, a New Nest: Part One of Three

Home Is Where Your Heart Sings

A self portrait of a little artist bird in her artist studio, this has many reflections of my life in it. We all have that place where our heart sings. Our home can be the place where love flourishes and creativity grows. Many of us have home studios. The chaos of life collides with the clutter of our surroundings and in the midst of it all, we still strive to create.

In my dreams, I would have a little studio like this. Rooms where art can be born. Rooms that are sunny and cheery and look out on the beautiful countryside. Rooms that house a vast expanse of materials ready for my beckoning, right at my fingertips. Rooms that provide a quiet escape of solitude and sanctuary. Rooms that allow our minds to fly into the vast realm of the imagination and bring those dreams to fruition. Rooms that recognize no limits.

I will still hold on to the hope of carving this out, in the midst of my surroundings. It might not be perfect, it might not look like my visions, but I will persist still. The Creator has put this desire into our hearts, to be creative like He is. I will find my drive and passion in the places I create. Even if this place is “just home”. Home is where my heart sings….. and the place where my dreams come to life.

---

This is the artist statement from the 2016 Women's Journeys in Fiber Birds piece that I created. I was ecstatic about the theme when we met in January a year ago. Right away I had an idea. With all the great brainstorming about birds, birdhouses, boxes, pets, animals and treasures that floated about that day, I offered this suggestion. Why not call it birds of our imagination and the places they dwell? It encompasses habitat and home, creatures both mythical and realistic, and as many trinkets as our hearts desired. Everyone was thrilled and so began our journey.

The group is about twenty-four women from the greater Chicago-land who love fiber arts and the creative process of working together. We have about six months to create, then our collection goes on out tour. This year, it debuted at the Chicago Botanic Garden's Fine Art of Fiber in November, it is heading off to the Anderson Arts Center in Kenosha, WI January 29th -March 3rd 2017, taking flight to Chevy Chase, MD March 1-12th and then back here for the Chicago Flower and Garden Show March 18-26th. These birds are traveling some distance!

It's so inspiring to see the works of art in person and read the stories on each one. Some make you reflect, some make you laugh, some make you wistful, and all make you think. I'm honored to be a part of this group. 

My idea consisted on a self portrait of myself in my art studio. We all want that space where we can create. So  I created it in the form of minatures! I had a quite the time looking for just the right pieces to fit to scale for my rooms, and when I couldn't find what I was looking for, I just made it! I spun tiny skeins of yarn, and folded tiny bundles of my own dyed and felted fabrics. I tried to make as much true to life as possible, like the discarded threads and fabric bits on the floor while you create, or the vegetables that pile up on my kitchen table after a long day of picking in the gardens. But other things are purely imagined, like having my very own room for sewing and a whole another room for preparation. Then somethings are meaningful, like the star and moon mobile,  made in memory of Gale, a member who passed away last year. It came together and was quite fun and playful. 

This time of the year I get the urge to nest... January gives me time to breathe, organize, create and rest. We all need a pretty place to create. A place where we can feel at peace, where we can let our thoughts fly. It's such a great feeling when we are able to get to that point and savor it. 

So good luck to our nests! Whether we are reorganizing, or creating it from scratch, cheers to carving out your special place. May your January be productive! 

The Creation of.... Autumn Cowl

This cowl is a favorite of mine. Nuno felted and made with habotai silk, it has a touch-me-kind-of texture. I love the way the heavier fabric creates so much more surface dimension. It does take more effort to felt it, but every time I look back, I feel it is worth it. 

This was a seamless piece, meaning I used a resist that the silk was wrapped around. The seams are covered with wool so no sewing is required! You might recall that I originally got into nuno felting because of the no-sew-allure. But alas, it led me to sewing, so the joke's on me I suppose. 

I love trapping sequins in the surface of the nuno felt. Laid on top of the silk and trapped by my top layer of wool, this was a technique I first devised as a method to - gasp! avoid sewing! I first did this on a beautiful holiday poinsettia shawl with tiny red sequins. The sequins are more to decorate the back rather than the front, as they rarely show through the wool. However, with a flip of the scarf, you see the delightful back of it and the surprise of sparkle rewards. I like to have the back look just as appealing, especially on a scarf, because I know that despite all efforts, scarves will flip flop as you wear them, and with a little added effort in the design stage, the back can be beautiful too. You can even wear it reversed for a subtle color with texture and sparkle. It's a nice option to wear it with a print or something busier, when the occasion calls. 

My surface design is full of wonderful autumnal colors, sparkle thread (I love that thread with baby sequins on the thread!), curly Lincoln wool locks, and Angelina sparkles. All those fun additions were trapped by gossamer layers of wool on top, and the result is little bits peeking through. It reminds me of glorious fall days where the sun is warm but bright and makes the morning dew sparkle on every fresh turned leaf. One of my favorite seasons! 

The felting process totally transforms it, breathing life into and merging my fibers together so now these two very different materials are made one. It's truly miraculous, and yet so very simple. Soap. Water. Rhythmic rolling. It's then that I am alone with my thoughts and my art. It's very relaxing and rejuvenating.  When I am done with this process, something beautiful is born, something transformed. 

I will be honest. When I finished this, I did like it but something was not quite right. It didn't lay right on your neck and I didn't want to do what I knew I had to. So like all things, we put it away. For months. All projects do not end in artistic brilliance. I love it when they do! I feel like the heavens open and a host of angels sing the hallelujah chorus and a beam of sunlight shining down. But for the rest of those times that are slightly less glorious, I put on my thinking cap. Truly, not much of my work is done the minute I finish felting. Sometimes there are alterations and more felting to follow. Sometimes there are embellishments, like beads added, or thread painting done to add interest. Sometimes things just sit until I can think up the next path.

So I did what I had to do. I cut it. Nooooooooooo you say, as a scream of anguish is let out. Cut!?! What!?! Isn't there some other way? Some other option?

Sooner or later, we all attack things with scissors. and ack, it wasn't that bad after all. Move slow and deliberate. Remember every flaw and mistake is just a design opportunity! (She says shakily with scissors in hand!) I cut that cowl and added a twist and sewed it back together. An expert surgeon making wrong right again. It worked and that cowl was more beautiful than ever. I added a really fun pin made with... guess it.... leather from Shibori Soiree.  I even used some felt to make a "feather" which I really loved, along of course with real feathers. Some dangling charms and crystals and it was complete. The pin is removable for washing, a feature very important to me. I loved that pin and definitely want to play with more of that style and fabric combination.

This piece was shown at the Fine Art of Fiber Fashion Show at the Chicago Botanic Gardens this fall and is in the boutique at Esther's Place. 

So my lesson to you is to do what is best for your art. You might scream a little inside, or It might scream a little at you, but it's not as scary as it seems. The true test of an artist is their ability to take things to edge even when it pushes them. That's when we grow and expand and our world broadens. 

Autumn Cowl with Feathered Brooch
Nuno Felted Accessory

Habotai silk is used in this richly textured nuno felted cowl that makes a lovely accessory for brisk fall days. Dress it up with a chic leather jacket and boots or wear it with your favorite colorful jacket. It's easy to wear and beautiful with dazzling fall colors and sparkle. The feathered brooch accents delightfully and is removable for easy care. What a great seasonal piece for your accessory wardrobe! 
 

Prize Winners!

I wanted to give you an update.... my dress and vest both took ribbons at the MidAtlantic Quilt Festival Wearable Art Competition! The dress, Silver Lining, took first place in the ensemble category, and the vest took an honorable mention in the vest, coat or jacket category. 

Very exciting! And for more news, be watching at the Handweaver's Guild of America Convergence 2016  coming to Milwaukee, WI July 30th-August 6th. These two pieces will be in the fashion show there as well! 

I have had work in their Yardage Exhibit, All Media Exhibit, and Fashion Show, in the past years in Albuquerque, NM, Long Beach, CA and Providence, RI. Their event is every two years. It features a vendor hall, a myriad of classes, lectures and workshops, and great connections to the fiber art pulse in the region. 

We're going to make a weekend of it and go, my husband and I. We're thinking of camping at the breathtaking Kohler-Andrae State Park. It's right on Lake Michigan, with sand dunes, forests and quiet peacefulness. Then we can drive down to Milwaukee to enjoy some night life, food and of course, the show! It's a great get-a-way that's not too far away. And since the last Convergence I attended was Long Beach, I am already anticipating gathering lots of new supplies, ideas and inspiration. Stay tuned! I'll definitely  be sharing that experience with all of you. 

The Mask Project

For nearly three years, I have been a member of a group of a very creative ladies called "Women's Journeys in Fiber" . Started by Jan Gerber in 1998, it has met for the purpose of challenging it's members to explore a subject and create a specific piece in fiber from that process. Over the years, they have had the themes Mantles, Circle, Botanicals, Purses, Robes, Hats, Aprons, Footwear, Shifts, Masks and Umbrellas. 

I like to describe it this way: we take a iconic women's item and art-ify it. We construct these entirely from the ground up. There are meetings held routinely, and we are given a year to each theme; usually about six months to create and six months to exhibit. 

Our pieces are exhibited at three locations; the Chicago Botanic Garden in November, the Anderson Arts Center in Kenosha, WI in January and the Chicago Flower and Garden Show in March. Along with the piece, we also submit an artist statement for the piece. This allows you to see more in depth to the heart of the artist and is a crucial aspect to the viewer. 

It's a wonderful way to submerse yourself in creativity while working as a group with our different backgrounds, beliefs, ideas and inspiration. A challenge, but a joy and always a stretch of one's artistic intellect.