crafters + makers.

People who make stuff, whether they call it art, craft, folk art, outsider art or something else entirely.

Craft: Why Breaks Are Okay, And So is Re-Entry

| Betsy

Funny how life loves to throw you curveballs. Even more funny (in the ironic sense, unfortunately not the “ha ha” sense), when craft saves you once, and then saves your ass again.

And speaking of craft saving your ass, I bought Kathleen Vercillo’s new book this morning, Crochet Saved My Life: The Mental and Physical Health Benefits of Crochet, which I will be reviewing and sharing more about here soon.

If you look over here, you will see in the slideshow, a photo of the piece above when I was just beginning it. Several years ago. The photo in the slideshow was all “Woohoo! New piece! Yeah!” and then I started it, effed up some of the stitches (after showing it to Mr. X Stitch and Lauren O’Farrell in London in 2011, I knew most of it needed to be redone. Subsequently, the photo you see above is of a piece that has been redone, several times. Pieces of the aida cloth up towards the top of the piece are (in some cases) down to their last literal threads.

Fast forward to earlier this spring, during a talk in a class on Creative Dissent at the Corcoran, when I was talking about my own work. I mentioned that the series linked above is something I’ve been working on off and on since 2004. One of the students said the equivalent of “Dude, that’s a really long time.” To which I responded, honestly and without hesitation, “Yes.” If anything, this series has taught me how not only our lives ebb and flow, but our creative endeavors, do, too. And, sometimes, these two intersect in a cluster*ck of inaction, uncertainty, doubt, frustration, and, frankly, wanting to just effin’ quit. Not life, necessarily, but all its flourishes aside from sleep/work.

And if you’re like me, you end up eating little but toast and hiding all your work in boxes and watching really bad tv reruns. And then one day, your fingers start to itch and you wonder, “what ever happened to that piece I was working on?” And after the excavation of 4 other boxes, in the 5th box, you find what you were looking for. And the intersection between life and creativity bubbles up in your brain and you start stitching. And you realize that there are reasons for these creative breaks, and you understand why at some museums you see that 1 piece by 1 artist took 9 years. Because we are made to ebb and flow, we are made to create. However, sometimes things get so shite that you end up in Toastville using your boxes full of creative projects as a makeshift cat beds so the cat can look out windows. (Truth!)

So, again, I realize that while these breaks perfectly natural, it is imperative for them to be “breaks” and not a “full-stop quit.” I also realize that sometimes those “breaks” honestly feel like a “full-stop quit,” especially when you get to Toastville (or your equivalent of Toastville)! And that’s okay. We’re allowed to burn out, stop, take a break, go learn new things or just zone out for a bit. However, we need to also give ourselves permission to fall in love again. To realize why we began to stitch/paint/insert-creative-endeavor-here in the first place.

We need the break in order to refuel and recharge and remember why we’re here, what we love, why we make, and who we are. However, we need to give ourselves permission to take one in the first place. So, while you hopefully don’t make it all the way to Toastville, hopefully you will allow yourself to stop when you feel like it. And when you look back at that project that took 7 years when it should have taken 1 month, remember that break with pride, serenity, and joy.

I was there the day that the students were knitting (in some cases learning to knit!) to make this “Student Debt Blanket.” You can see them (they were awesome!) in the video below, along with their blanket:

Creative Protest: Studet Debt Blanket 1 from FoodFight on Vimeo.

“We Warrior Women”

| Betsy

First there was the Yahoo! News article that got my attention with the title, ‘We Women Warriors’: Bringing Needlepoint to a Gunfight. This text followed:

At the outset of the new documentary We Women Warriors, which opens this week in Los Angeles as part of 2012’s DocuWeeks Festival, a group of women in Colombia is seen spooling twine. The activity takes their minds off the ongoing violence of civil wars that have been a part of daily life in the country since the 1960s. Also, the resulting fabric can be sold to help finance their efforts to reclaim, through nonviolent means, the land that’s rightfully theirs, to peacefully dismantle police barracks that have overtaken their villages, and to mobilize marches to major cities to demonstrate their plight.

Naturally, I went to the documentary’s website and watched the trailed, which is below:

I was especially struck by the frame below (a still from the trailer, which is preceded by the words, “We call ourselves MUKANVI: Kankuamo Women Victims of Violence.” After the still, “But it is also the craft of carefully spinning out path as native peoples. When it is well made it doesn’t break.”

To find out more about this documentary, check out their website (where you can also sign up for their newsletter) and/or their Facebook page. To find out more about the director, Nicole Karsin, go check out her bio.


And speaking of these women’s strength, I found apt quote that agrees that all things bold need not be loud.

Though little dangers they may fear,
When greater dangers men environ
Then women show a front of iron;
And gentle in their manner, they
Do bold things in a quiet way.
-Thomas Dunn English,
Betty Zane, Stanza 1



Why Easy Isn’t Always Right…

| Betsy

Age-old proof that knocking something (or someone) down is always easier than building something (or someone) up. And that every time, making something will always beat the socks off of destroying anything.

If you need more proof, check out this post by Joel Runyon… Who almost ignored the stranger talking to him about his computer. He didn’t. And soon discovered he was talking to Russell Kirsch.

From the post:

“I’ve been against Macintosh company lately. They’re trying to get everyone to use iPads and when people use iPads they end up just using technology to consume things instead of making things. With a computer you can make things. You can code, you can make things and create things that have never before existed and do things that have never been done before.”

“That’s the problem with a lot of people”, he continued, “they don’t try to do stuff that’s never been done before, so they never do anything, but if they try to do it, they find out there’s lots of things they can do that have never been done before.”


The Possibilities of Futuristic Textiles/Creativity (and Healing, too?)

| Betsy

What I love most about working with textiles is that sometimes I get asked to do some pretty amazing things. The other week I was asked to hold a day workshop at V2_ in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, later on this year, where they are working on some amazingly incredible and inspiring things, some of them you can see in the videos below. To check out all other videos from V2, go check out their comprehensive and vast video archive over here:

Ultimaker Masterclass (2011) from V2_ on Vimeo.

Wearable Urban Routine-Xiaowen Zhu (2011) from V2_ on Vimeo.

Momentum by Xandra van der Eijk (2011) from V2_ on Vimeo.

 

I’ve kicked around some ideas of what I’d like to do, but am not sure exactly what yet. My first idea out of the box deals with making a garment (first thought: a vest) that uses conductive threads to simulate the wearer being given a hug. While it would specifically aid those who isolate themselves due to PTSD and/or other disorders, it would also be pretty darn cool. In a perfect world, there would be a way to use the conductive threads in such a way that one person somewhere with a computer could effectively “hug” the other wearing the vest knitted with conductive thread.

And ever so brilliant upon hearing this idea, Mr. X Stitch, suggested that I make a vest using conductive threads and heat sensors that show where someone has given you a hug.

Early days yet, but I’m thinking there will be something going on that relates to hugs, knitting and conductivity in late November. After all, seeing that hugs and knitting are two of my very favorite things, I can think of nothing more fun to work with!

And speaking of mental health and craft, there is a lovely post here over at Resurgence about the connection between the two.

Craftivism, Angela Davis and Craft as Therapy

| Betsy

This lovely image was sent to me by a lovely Swedish woman named Julia who is working on a film about craftivism and DIY. If you have any projects you’d like to share with her, or have ideas on who she could contact in Europe, you can contact her here.

I love this image of Angela Davis that she sent because not only is it beautiful, but it also speaks to the many different ways that people see craftivism. In a word, it’s a celebration. A crafty one, if you will.

Lately I’ve been tooling around with the idea of craftivism for the self, a sort of activism for the self, wherein one can right themselves with creativity and work through various problems, crises, episodes, occasions, etc. etc. I’ve mentioned it over on Twitter a several times and there has been quite popular response to more exploration of healing yourself through craft. (If activism is bettering a cause that you care about, why can’t it not be about yourself? Because in order to best help those -issues and people- that you care about you have to be your best self, no?)

I’ve even wondered about what to call such a thing. Cinnamon suggested perhaps CraftEsteem on Twitter yesterday, which I thought was quite lovely? And I had an idea that I’ve talked with Carrie about regarding depression and solitary confinement in prisons, which is still in a thinky think stage. Maybe you have some good ideas on this, or are interested in hearing more, or just dig the idea that one can do a piece of work featuring Angela Davis and include it in the realm of “craftivism.”

No matter which, I’m glad you’re along with the ride with me after I’ve popped out, cleared my head, and decided about where I want to move forward. Because there are so many people championing craftivism (to name a few with craftivism in the name: Craftivist Collective, Wellington Craftivist Collective, Project Craftivism, Craftivist! AMAZING!) these days (which is mindblowingly awesome) that I needed to take some time out to think about how I can best help this little -ism move forward in the world on the Good Ship Craftivism and I’m thinking that delving more into the therapeutic, psychological, mental health side of things is where I need to go next.

Perhaps you’ll see it fit to join me and/or tell like-minded others?

Love,
Betsy