L’amour est un poisson rebelle

Que nul ne peut apprivoiser.

My latest drawings had to do with fish. Further sketching and fish turned into a mermaid who fell in love with a diver down in Mare Balticum. A complex relationship. Is she going up to live with him? Or is he coming down?

A perfect print for a canvas shopping tote.

About crafts

I always try to write about how I get inspired and about the intimate dialogue established between the crafter and the materials. A couple of days ago I came across this paper on Crafts and Technology by Dr. Katie Bunnell, Reader in Design Research, Falmouth College of Art, UK, where she presents an interesting definition of craft supported by the psychological notion of flow (the reason why knitting or any other craft activity is so relaxing and fulfilling).

"For this paper I would like to define craft as an essentially human and humanising process. To craft something involves human interaction with technology whether it’s a pen, hammer, or computer software and hardware. In the experience of a maker it involves a high level of autonomous control over a holistic process of designing through making. Crafting something, involves what Mihály Csíkszentmihályi calls ‘flow’ activity, an activity that engages an individual to the extent that they lose track of time and have a strong sense of fulfilment and achievement through this process of engagement. Csíkszentmihályi claims that it is ‘flow’ that enables people to be happy, fulfilled and successful in their lives, as opposed to material gain or even ‘intelligence’. Craft is then both process and product. And as professional makers both processes and their products are embedded in a continuous internal dialogue between maker and technology while being both consciously and subconsciously influenced by the external forces of the cultures of craft, design and beyond. Craft also exists as flow activity on a human level in the generation of objects and social systems that are understood to be beyond the realms of professional craft practice and belong in the territory of ‘amateurism’ or folk art."

If you are interested in reading this paper I found on the World Crafts Council International website (which to my pleasure I discovered its international President is a former college teacher of mine), you can download it here.

I think we are all trying to understand the current craft movement and how it will evolve. I'm particularly interested in people developing their creative side and see how many of them are making a living out of their crafts. Isn't like a dream come true to be your own boss and to have a job that ensures being in that flow mood for a good part of your working day? Is it possible to lose the joyful feeling of crafting if you turn it into your official job?

I can't believe it's been almost two years since I started making these felt balls. I've never decided what to do with them. A necklace, a pillow sham, a bag. For now, they will stay in that box.

Siboney

As we are heading for the autumn/winter season, I'm getting prepared for it creating new designs for facing the cold temperatures in our poorly heated buildings. In fact, we lack that northern hemisphere culture of central heating, double windows and well-insulated living spaces. Though we seldom have freezing temperatures during winter, it's cold enough to make you shiver everyday as you try to warm your house only with an electric or kerosene heater. Of course there are places and houses that have central heating but that's not the most common and it's way too expensive. I even remember once talking to some Swedish diplomatic women and hearing them say that they have felt colder here in Chile than in Sweden. It's not just a thing of temperature, it's a matter of how good you prepare for the cold weather.

So, until the day I can make a bodysuit out of an electric blanket and plug it in every corner of the house, the old and dear hot-water bottle comes in handy for the season. And now that evenings are getting colder it's especially pleasant to work with wool and felt.

This new two-directional floral pattern was felted on wool while the back cover was knitted (row 1: *knit 2 st, purl 1 st* / row 2: *purl 2 st, knit 1 st*) and then felted by washing it in hot water and tumble dry afterwards. The back opening is trimmed with cotton bias binding, hang loop made of felted knitted braid and cotton bias piping for contour trim. Why so many finishing details? Because of the felted pattern. It was so complex and time-consuming that it deserved an equally detailed work. When designing this pattern I thoroughly considered felt qualities so I tried to stick to wide strokes in order to avoid losing detail when felting the motif. Note to self: don't use strokes less than 3 mm wide. I'm calling this new pattern Siboney, just as this song I listened to infinitely while felting.

The beautiful camisole with a crocheted top was made by my mother as a gift and she was kind enough to unwrap the package just for the shooting. Gracias.

Garden Plan

The illustration just above these lines (found while looking through some old books) inspired me to create this new pattern. It's about a garden plan/diagram showing some convenient layout for planting trees and others. I thought I'd end up with a striped pattern, something similar to the original illustration, but as I started I got increasingly amused arranging my own vegetables and trees so the outcome is more packed. And there are some words in Spanish for my favourite fruits and vegetables (apple tree, pear tree, carrot, beetroot, lettuce) and favourite garden flower (hollyhock). Manzano, peral, zanahoria, betarraga, lechuga, malva.

What about the colourways? From above [Eggplant + Ether Blue] and [Cinnamon Pink + Eggplant]. Are these going to be printed? Don't know yet.

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I wanted to thank MStetson Design and the SCOOP for their nice posts on my work. It's so encouraging! Thanks!

I heart PG

I'm always making felt samples just for trying new tools or materials. Most of them are made on small pieces of wool but today's was more complex than usual so I decided to make a shot along with other things I heart.