I don’t know why it took me so long to get into Instagram but now that I am, it has opened up this entire world of creativity, collectors and artists.  I get such a kick when I find a ribbon without documentation and now know enough to take a stab at the epoque and ribbon maker. It has been a wonderful journey of discovery – and yet there is so much that I don’t know and I can’t wait to learn and grow. Isn’t that what makes life interesting?

I discovered this weeks Les Petits Bonheurs muse, Brenda Colling, on a particularly dreamy textile voyage on instagram, her incredible range and diversity of antique textiles is truly inspiring. I couldn’t help feeling a kinship with Brenda, someone who cherishes craftmanship, design & colour.

I think for people like Brenda and I – it is not just the warp and weft that draws us in but the whispers of stories woven into these threads, stories of a tribe, be it the tenturiers of Burkina Faso or passementiers of Saint Etienne. The essence of these people is to be found amongst the fibers and by holding them in our hands, we can be a part of it – even for just a moment.

Brenda is not simply a collector and dealer of antique textiles, she is an accomplished artist who creates beautiful paper sculptural work and I am so happy that she allowed us a glimpse into her world, her creativity and collection.

Enjoy!

 “Whether the tradition is 50 or 500 years ago, these textiles have stories to tell, silently woven, appliquéd or embroidered into the fibers.”

“To begin my history, I will start with my grandmother, pictured below, with some samples of her work.

She was an expert needlewoman (English smocking), and my mentor.  Every year, right after Christmas she would begin making smocked dresses for her granddaughters. There were many of us.  It would take the year to complete them.  She would sit in her rocking chair sewing, and I would sit in another rocking chair, watching and absorbing her techniques. I have cherished these pieces, as they represent the beginnings of my collection. Dowry textiles still existed when I was a child.  My mother had a trunk full of handmade quilts when she married. We used them daily, until they disintegrated.  Later, when I  Ieft home, she bought handmade Mennonite quilts for my use.

Acquiring vintage textiles was a random activity when I began.  Friends would give me their old lace collections. Others would scour their attics for textiles untouched in decades.   From there, becoming a textile artist was a natural development.  There was an abundance of scrap material, and clothing that could be cut and recycled into art.”

“Pictured below is one of my favourite sources for fabric.  It is the Garage Antique Market in New York City, which closed a few months ago.  Many of the vendors can now be found at an outdoor market nearby.  As you noticed, my collecting interests are diverse.  The indigos from Burkina Faso are a perennial favourite.  There is a worldwide passion for indigo, that never abates.  African indigos are a sizable part of my holdings. I would love to share more pictures, but they would take up a lot of space.  Occasionally, there is a piece that I don’t want to part with, such as the Dida weavings.  The tradition has disappeared, and the pieces are quite rare.”

“Occasionally, there is a piece that I don’t want to part with, such as the Dida weavings.  The tradition has disappeared, and the pieces are quite rare.”

“The first magnificent textiles I saw were Ching Dynasty robes on exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum. They were truly breathtaking for their opulence of embroidery and colours.  Below is a garment I purchased much later.  Though not an imperial piece, it does have exquisite gold couching, in the dragons, buddhist symbols and ideograms. My interests have evolved since then.  The textiles and adornment from Africa inspire me most.”

This wonderful fabric “is Adire from Nigeria.  The design is created using a cassava resist paste.  This tradition still exists, though it is diminishing.”

“African textiles continue to be my main interest today.  The vitality of design never ceases to inspire me.”

Pictured here is an antique Hausa robe.

“It is made of hand woven cotton strips.  They are sewn together, by hand.  The embroidery is done in wild silk.”

Above is my piece exhibited in a doll show.   Antique African fabrics and beads are combined in this doll headdress.

 

Above – Photograph of Brenda Colling, wrapped in one of her designs.

 

“Pictured above is a corner of my studio.  Some of my treasures are stored in these baskets. I have a live/work studio.  The front room is where i work and store materials. But the whole apartment is full on occasion:  if I am doing 30’ draperies for example. I am happiest when I am working on a project.  This could anywhere in my home where there light and space are suitable.”

 This is the bodice detail of an indigo dress from Palestine.  A favorite of Brenda Colling

“I have many collections:  African indigo, aso oke, strip weaving, kuba, Miao. There are many pieces that I am willing to share.  Many can be seen on my blog, brendacolling.wordpress.com or website,  www.brendacolling.com

Every piece that I acquire is something that I love and cherish. When I go out sourcing, it is with an open mind.  One never knows what will be out there.

Below is an embroidered, batik Miao apron.  Another beauty in Brendas collection.

This past weekend we were invited to lunch in my friend Joannas house, I double, triple checked – “are you sure you don’t prefer that we leave the kids at home with a babysitter?”, surtout pas – Joanna insisted the more the merrier. I hadn’t seen Joanna since this past summer when she showed me around the old cave / garage adjoining her home, that she was planning on transforming into her studio and showroom.

It was a ruin, albeit a very beautiful 13th Century ruin with great bones but if you had handed this space to me I wouldn’t have known where to begin.

On Saturday, we stepped through the door of her new studio and it took our breath away.

Such beauty, everywhere.

Incredible high vaulted ceilings, Joannas beautiful hand printed textiles offsetting the rugged stone walls – my heart swelled up with admiration. It is one thing to be creative and quite another to have such incredible vision and see it through to make this type of a space.

I am just so excited for Joanna and all the making that will happen here. It’s the kind of place you just need to sit in for 5 minutes and feel energised.

Her art and creative spirit is in everything

Joanna has created all of the textiles used in the space including these wonderful black on linen, hand printed textiles that you see above on the cushions and upholstery.

Les Petits Bonheurs series is back for 2015 and appropriately this weeks artist, Christine Kelly of ‘Gentlework‘, is someone who I discovered thanks to Johanna Flanagan of The Pale Rook who I interviewed in November. What a wonderful gift it has been to meet so many wonderful makers, you are truly inspiring me.

I completly lost track of time the morning I stumbled into Christines blog, each image more beautiful than the next. Her handstitched treasures whisper to you, they soothe and comfort.

One image in particular touched me deeply, a photograph of antique jewel boxes inside which, Christine has hand stitched words of hope, “let go”; “have hope”, “courage dear heart”. She describes making “a collection of tiny tokens, to be called upon in times of need, slipped into a pocket, closing fingers around them, a comfort“.

I feel Christines work on a very personal level, it moves and nourishes me and right now, with events of recent days her work and stitched words have taken on a special importance.

I am so grateful to Christine for opening up her creative process and home here for Les Petits Bonheurs and know that you will enjoy discovering her work.

“I’ve always loved vintage textiles and I suppose I’ve been collecting for about 20 years or so. I use them because I prefer them to ‘new’ fabrics. I like the fact that they have a narrative, they are often soft or faded from years of washing and handling or there may be a stain, a mend or a tear which hints at their former use. The use of these materials in my work, especially in more personal pieces, means that their story and my story become intertwined.”

“I can get very attached to little scraps of fabric, even little plain pieces that may not seem very precious. I can’t remember the first piece of vintage textile that I fell in love with, and I get new favourites all the time, but one piece in particular is a small piece of broderie anglaise lace picked up at a Paris flea market, it’s old and hand worked with tiny pintucks along the bottom. It’s humble and stained and nothing special, but it has a little mend on it and it’s those tiny stitches that melt my heart….thinking how much it must have meant to someone for them to mend it with such care. I’ve used it in a piece of work, but it’s one I’m going to keep…”

“I pick up vintage pieces from all sorts of places, but mainly local antique fairs, some of the stall holders know me now! I don’t buy online much as I like to see and handle things.

When I buy vintage materials I don’t buy expensive or precious items, or anything too perfect. I’m often more attracted to something that’s a bit tatty or worn, also that way I don’t feel bad about cutting them up and re-using them.”

“My work is characterised by it’s subtle colour palette and that’s what I’m drawn to when looking for materials to use. I like the gentle variations in tone that vintage linens and lace provide and exploit this in my work by patching together differing shades. I also like to use old mending threads to embroider with rather than modern embroidery silks as I prefer their soft and subtle colours. I especially look for interesting edges or details on textiles or bits of embroidery and lace with motifs that I can cut out and use for appliqué. I don’t set out to look for materials with a particular project in mind, rather I like things to just find me….”

“In my workroom I’m surrounded by the materials I use and new acquisitions are kept out on display for some time before they are used, to be considered and to provoke thought. Seeing materials side by side often inspires me and happy accidents can happen through a combination of untidiness and serendipity.”

“My favourite place to be is at my desk in my workroom, surrounded by all the things that inspire me and looking out onto trees, fields, sky and birds. I’m at my happiest when quietly hand stitching, listening to the radio or gentle music. In the past I worked predominantly with machine embroidery but now, stitching by hand has taken over. I find hand stitching more tactile and immediate, it also fits well with the vintage materials I use which have often been handled and hand stitched themselves over many hours, many years ago. The other thing about stitching by hand is that it can be very calming and meditative. I find stitching a great comfort in times of stress and some of the work I’ve made has been in direct response to difficult times in my life.”

Do you have an absolute favourite material that you love working with?

 “I love using vintage buttons, especially really tiny mother of pearl ones that are quite hard to come by, but some of my favourite items to use have been some vintage bone buttons and some beautiful buff coloured heavy French linen, which is lovely to stitch into.”

What is your background and how did you find your way as a textile artist?

 “I don’t have a formal education in textiles, I’ve taught myself and learned along the way over the years. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t making things. I used to regret not having studied art or textiles, feeling that it put me at a disadvantage, but I don’t anymore. A lot of my work is very personal and draws on my experience of life and I don’t think I’d be making the work I do now without having been on a personal and creative journey.”

“I’d always shoehorned my creativity around work but in 2005, myself and my husband took a ‘year out’ from full time work to concentrate on our creative selves, after the sale of a home and a business and a long period of stress. It was during this year, and having this time to devote to my art that marked a turning point in the work I was making, when lots of different elements came together, my ideas and experience, the vintage fabrics and ephemera I’d been collecting for so long and all of the creative skills I’d learned over the years. We rented a house in a rural location, the first time I’d experienced living in the countryside, something which was to have a profound effect on my work and my creative process. The house was called Trevethoe House and inspired a piece of work of the same name.”

Who inspires you?

“Like most creative people, inspiration comes from everything and everywhere. The influence of nature is something that permeates a lot of my work. I live just next to woods and fields where I walk my dog each day and it’s often when I’m out walking that ideas come to me.”

“There is also a connection for me between the peace and calm of experiencing nature and the contemplative aspect of slow hand stitching, the two seem to go hand in hand and this is reflected in my work. Inspiration often comes from the vintage textiles I find (a little detail may spark off an idea of where I want a piece of work to go) but mostly my work stems from personal experiences and my inner landscape, thoughts and emotional states. You asked whether I get creative block, and the answer is I don’t really. Quite the opposite, in terms of ideas I have a backlog of things I’m longing to make. Of course, sometimes, it’s harder to work at something than at other times, if you don’t feel so great or things aren’t really flowing or working out as you had planned them in your head. At times like this I try to just go with it and if all else fails, have a break, do something else and come back to it.”

Is there anything that you can not imagine parting with?

“There are lots of things that are special to me but they are just things at the end of the day. I would struggle to part with some of my work, though. Stitching a piece of work by hand over many hours results in a real connection to the piece you are working on, often making a piece very difficult or impossible to part with (or to put a price on). Also, much of my work is inspired by my feelings and experiences, like a journal really, they contain a part of me, so it would be very hard to let them go.”

I find your work so moving, especially the hope tokens in antique boxes and the fabric tokens where you have woven beautiful comforting words on inside. I understand that you create these not for sale but as personal talismans – could you talk about these pieces and their meaning for you?

“The use of stitched text plays quite a big role in my work. I keep a little notebook of words, phrases and quotes that are meaningful to me. I’m interested in the power of words, to comfort and inspire and remind us of things which are important. This is something I’ve explored in the form of portable little fabric tokens to act as reminders and tiny boxed stitcheries that can be kept in a pocket and looked at in times of need. I’ve made these pieces for myself over time in response to various emotional states, the act of making them is reassuring in itself and then you have them as a keepsake. I’d been reluctant to share personal items like this on my blog in the past, but when I did, particularly in the case of the fabric tokens, the response was overwhelming. I think people really connected with them, after all we all have difficult feelings to deal with from time to time, I just tend to deal with mine through stitch.”

How do you sell your work?

“I sell my work mainly at fairs, exhibitions and at workshops I teach and occasionally to people who contact me directly. Generally, I prefer not to work to commission, which people find unusual. I have tried in the past but I find it stressful and it makes me feel constrained, and this takes some of the enjoyment out of creating and means I can’t really put my heart into it. My work means so much to me that I wouldn’t be happy to sell a piece that didn’t have my heart and soul in it.”

Please visit her wonderful blog here  to view more of her work.

This weeks muse, Johanna Flanagan of The Pale Rook is a very special textile artist whose work I discovered via Mister Finch. He shared a delicious photograph of one of Johannas unique doll creations.

Ever since I have been utterly hypnotised by her exquisite, magical, soulful creatures – truly unlike anything you have ever seen and I really wanted to share her work and story here.

Enjoy discovering the world of The Pale Rook!

Self Portrait

The first piece of textile that made her heart soar….

“The first piece of fabric that I remember being fascinated by was a small, woven indigo bag, no bigger than a coin purse that my aunt gave me to hold one day at an auction house. I couldn’t have been more than four or maybe five years old. I traced the threads with my fingers, trying to follow a single one up and down and over and under the warp. I wasn’t happy just to use it or look at it, I wanted to know how it had become what it was. I held it all the way home in the car and I remember someone laughing at me for staring so hard at that little blue bag. I remember that same fascination with threads and patterns throughout my childhood. I would stare at the swirls and dashes on my duvet cover and matching curtains, working out the pattern repeat. Lace socks and tights were a whole world of twists and tucks and spaces that could hold my attention for hours. I don’t remember being attracted to the colours and patterns as such, it was always the story behind the cloth. I needed to work out how it had been constructed. When I was seven I found a ball of dark red yarn and worked out a way to loop and hook it around my fingers to make chains. It turns out what I was actually doing was crochet, but it took another twenty years for me to realise it. I covered the house and garden in crochet chains until I ran out of yarn, again it wasn’t the end result that I was interested in, I just wanted to keep transforming the yarn into something else.”

On parting with her creations:

“I find it easier to part with my work than a lot of people expect, because I am still more attached to the process of making the work than the work itself. Again, it’s the construction, the creation of something from nothing that fascinates me rather than having something to keep.   I own just a few pieces of my work and all of them were firsts of some kind of another. There are very few things I could not imagine being parted from. I almost always wear a silver ankh necklace that I was given for my nineteenth birthday. I couldn’t imagine ever parting with that. It’s battered and scratched but it’s so precious to me. In fact, most of things I could not let go of are pieces of jewellery that have a connection to someone important to me.   I love my home made quilts, because each one has been made from old clothes and fabrics that have their own story. Apart from these though, I don’t think there is anything I couldn’t part with for the right reason at the right time. That said, I do hold on to fabrics and threads for a very long time, some have been on my shelves for close to twenty years, but there are none that I could never part with, just some that will not be parted with until absolutely the right project comes to mind.”

On her creative process:

“I honestly can’t remember the last time I went out specifically to buy threads or fabrics, they tend to just show up in charity shops or markets or other peoples’ attics. The base of my work is usually very plain cotton, linen and silk. I do buy unused calico and white thread from regular fabric stores but the rest all just turn up in one way or another or have been given to me.   When I do come across fabrics and threads at markets or in charity shops I only buy very specific things. I have a deep aversion to all things synthetic. The texture of polyester and nylon really bothers me, and I find that the colours just don’t have the same quality as natural fibres.   I’m very sensitive to the feel of fabric and yarn on my skin and I just can’t stand sewing unnatural fabrics so I only usually work with natural fibres and dyes. I am particularly drawn to fabrics and trims from the 18th Century and the 1930s, although the 18th Century ones are pretty much impossible to get hold of! Most of my textile supplies are from the 1880s to the 1930s. I think what fascinates me now is what fascinated me as a child – the process of construction, how each thread weaves or wraps around another, and I love to look at the back of the work, where you can see the knots and tucks and all the signs that this was really made by a human being who lived in another time and place.”

“My colour palette tends to come from the colours I can make from plants, nuts and berries – greens, oranges, pinks and browns with the odd sky blue. Very occasionally I get a real hankering for red silk. I don’t know where it comes from or what triggers it, but I swing from natural, muted colours to scarlet every so often.”

“My alpaca fleece comes from my friend’s farm in Sigdal in Norway. She has a flock of around fifty animals, all of them have names and I even have my own little alpaca god daughter called Caroline, she’s black with little white toes. I love knowing where the fleece has come from and that the animals are so well taken care of.”

“The same applies to my dyes. I love to know what part of the forest they came from or what tree they fell off of. Each dye batch is different so the result can be unpredictable. That’s a really important part of my process though as I am so so precise with so much of my work, I need an element of it that I don’t have full control over. My favourite dye is nettle. There are so many beautiful shades of green and nettles from different parts of the forest have different shades. Some are almost blue while others are warm and golden. I love that once I have dipped a doll in the dye bath, the dye takes over some of the design decisions for me.”

On inspiration…

I find that I am most inspired by the forest – the colours, changes, textures, sounds. I’m always collecting nuts and leaves and twigs and things and they tend to build up to a colour and texture palette that will then appear in a doll.   I am happiest when I’m near trees and water. I never feel alone in a forest, there is always so much life around. I used to be terrified of snakes and then just a few months ago, I was walking along a trail with my greyhound and this huge long black snake crossed the path in front of me, right in front of my feet. She was so languid and beautiful and so much a part of the place that I completely lost my life long fear of snakes. I’m using black silk a lot more in my work now and I think it’s probably because of seeing that snake in the woods.

In the studio:

“My studio wall is covered in bits of fabric, fleece, yarn, twigs, lichen and moss rather than images. I rarely plan a colour or texture palette, they tend to evolve as I sew. The fact that the dolls are characters who develop as they are made is a real motivator to keep working on them until they are finished. Just the slightest change in the shape of a doll’s nose or hands can alter her whole look, which then changes the colours and textures I’m drawn to for the rest of her. One of the things I love about hand sewing is how slow and steady it can be, you have so much time to get to know the piece you’re working on that you can steadily work out where it wants to go.   It’s usually only when a piece of work is finished that I can follow the thread back to what inspired it in the first place.”

On her creative process:

“I tend to become completely engrossed in a piece then there is usually a day or two after it’s finished when I decide that there is no way at all that this one is going to be sold, then very quickly it stops being mine and it comes time for it to move on to somewhere else. I love that once my work goes to it’s new home, it begins a whole new story that has nothing whatsoever to do with me. There is always a moment when I wrap the work in tissue before packing it to send it off to it’s new home where I think about how much work and time and dedication has been put into making it, but by that point it really doesn’t feel like it belongs to me anymore.”

On her favourite places…

“My favourite place in the house is usually the staircase. I tend to plonk myself down on the stairs when I need to think. I’ve always been a fan of in-between places that are neither one place or the other. I kind of feel the same way about airports. I also love museums. I work with Glasgow’s museums as a costume designer and textile tutor. All of my work with the museums has to connect with something within their collections, the costumes are maybe a recreation of an outfit in a painting or a replica of a piece in the collection, once I even had the unbelievable privilege of working directly from five thousand year old Egyptian artefacts from the British Museum! I felt like Indiana Jones, although I had a massive security guard with me the whole time, just in case. I teach museum visitors the techniques that have been used to create some of the textile pieces within the collections – embroidery, sewing, toy making, and it is incredibly rewarding. The visitors don’t just view at a piece in the collection – they leave the museum knowing how to make it themselves. It gives them a direct connection to the piece and the people who made it. Every time I go to work at the museums I have to pinch myself. I suppose a museum is an in-between place too.”

“I am incredibly lucky to have a dedicated work room. It’s tiny but has lots of cupboards and a window looking out on to the garden. In the past my work space has sometimes been nothing more than a box, a note book, or a chair or a corner. As long as it is kept specifically and solely for the purpose of making your work, then I think it can do the job just as well as anywhere else. I prefer to work in small places with lots of shelves and drawers to keep things in. I don’t think my desk has ever been tidy, it’s buried in about 10 centimetres of fabric, thread, fleece and who knows what else. I have to keep other artist’s work to a minimum on my walls as it just takes over my thinking and without knowing it I end up absorbing it and copying it, but I do have a couple of pieces of work that have been given to me and a few antique postcards. There are stacks of seashells and jars of acorns and all sorts of bits that I’ve picked up. It’s hard to tell if my desk looks the way it does because of the work I make on it or if its’ the other way around.   Sometimes I’ll see a bit of something sitting on top of a piece of something else and decide that it needs to become a bird or a doll or a fish.  ”

“I am very fussy about the music I play in my little studio, I love listening to movie soundtracks, my two favourites are Labyrinth and Twin Peaks. Kate Bush, David Bowie, The Cocteau Twins, Anthony and Johnsons all get played regularly too. I get a bit lost in what I’m doing if I don’t have music playing and have a habit of losing track of time, then realising that it’s two hours after I said I’d be somewhere else. If things ever start to feel stale or dull, I listen to some Amanda Palmer or Har Mar Superstar to wake me up a bit.”

On working through creative block:

“The only solution I have for creative block is to keep a space and keep showing up. Even if you end up sitting in your chair screwing up crappy drawings and tearing your hair out, keep showing up. I used to get crippling creative block, which, in my experience is usually the result of two things – focusing too much on what other people are doing and achieving, or worrying too much about other peoples expectations of you. I find that creative block has little to do with a lack of ideas and more to do with too much noise and clutter in your head.   The great thing about craft is that if you’re blocked creatively, you can spend your time learning something practical and technical.   Get online, find a tutorial on youtube or where ever and just show up and do something. Get into the habit of showing up and eventually you’ll realise that you’re doing it for yourself and the ideas that need to come to you will.   It might take weeks, months or even years, but if you continue to set aside time and space for yourself, you tend to find out what you need.

I don’t suffer from creative block so much anymore, but I do sometimes feel like I’m bored with what I’m doing . I find the solution to that is to either do some grunt work – cut out some fabric, mix some dye, card some wool OR to completely step out of your field of interest entirely and do something you’ve never done before. I took up playing the ukulele last year and it was changed my whole life for the better! I used to think it was a little hobby that had nothing to do with my textile work, but it’s become a really important part of how I work now. If sewing is driving me mad, or I’m not sure what direction to take it in next, I just go play my uke for a couple of hours and it all just seems to work itself out.”

On creating and selling online:

“I had a real fear of putting my work online to begin with. The internet can be brutal and I didn’t expect to have such a warm response. The textile artist Mr Finch shared just a few images of my work and suddenly I had thousands of people, literally thousands of people following what I do and contacting me. I could never have reached that number of people just ten years ago when I graduated from Art School.”

“I think the danger for a lot of artists is that the aim of social media is to keep you using their service. The more you use it, the more you’re rewarded with “likes”, a greater “reach” and more “shares” and some people get caught up in achieving that as an end in itself. Some fall into the trap of making work specifically to get a reaction on social media, which can be damaging and reductive. I think there needs to be a balance between being savvy enough to know how to get noticed and to create work that would be precious to you regardless of who gets to see it.”

“When I think about when I graduated, I would have had no idea how to start a shop online or how to reach a worldwide audience.   Websites like Facebook and Etsy have been able to take out the middle man, take out the large commissions and connect artists directly with their buyers.”

“I’ve also met some incredible artists that I would have missed completely if I wasn’t part of an online community, because this time last year I didn’t even know that art dolls were a genre. The big wide world of the internet has given me a way of indulging in my own little world of threads and scraps and twigs and stitches because it’s connected me with people who appreciate what I do.”

Please discover the wonderful world of The Pale Rook on Etsy and read more about Johannas beautiful work on her blog.

I am so so happy to introduce this weeks inspiration for ‘Les Petits Bonheurs’, textile artist, April Rivers Locke.

Just as the summer was winding down, I invited a friend over for a long overdue aperitif in our home, she asked if it would be okay to bring a friend, and this friend was April, by the end of the night I never wanted her to leave Lacoste – ever!

April is someone who is so incredibly generous of spirit and open and honest that it must be impossible not to fall in love with her. I had one of the most fun days in a very long time when I took her and her husband Taylor out treasure hunting for bits of lace and antique treasures. April was searching for black lace and textiles for a new piece she was working on and Taylor was attracted to anything and everything brown – he took home two beautiful old leather bags. Every few metres they would stop and admire different objects – always thinking of a friend back home in the U.S. who would love this as a present. I think it said a lot about them when they bought more presents for friends than they did for themselves. This is a couple that loves and are loved!

April is a textile artist and Taylor a writer and together they also run a beautiful natural cosmetics company called Humble Love.

This is just the most perfect photograph of this beautiful couple (with Louis)

 What was the first piece of history  that made your heart sing?

“The FIRST piece?!?! Oh Goodness, my heart has been singing for longer than I can remember! If I had to dig, go way back and really dig, I would say my heart first sang its love of vintage when I was a little girl, maybe in 1^st grade or so. I would walk home with my best friend, Jeanette, and as soon as we got home we would promptly change into dress up clothes. These ‘dress up clothes’ were vintage slips and nightgowns with their chiffon capes and silky long robes, complete with gloves, hats and shoes.

We became women in those moments, we were whoever we wanted to be in those moments. The silky texture, the fit of the glove, the way you could totally transform yourself with just the tilt of a hat. It was magical. Vintage transformed my imagination, it sculpted my dreams. Since then I have loved the nostalgia you find in collecting vintage. It questions your subconscious. Why do I have a connection to this? Where does it come from? Why did it choose me?”

What do you look for when you are sourcing materials? 

“I seem to always work in shades of creamy whites. I am always looking for lace and embroidered textiles. I love finding pieces with tears or rips, with stains and moth bites – they have the most story, the most character. I look for unusual shapes and unique patterns in lacemaking. Florals are so predominant in lace and I appreciate them very much, but when you find a piece of lace that has a more tribal or masculine feel, that’s a great find.”

Is there anything that you can not imagine parting with?

“There are a few things; some of my grandmothers clothes, some family quilts. I can’t part with my collection of art from my friends and travels. I love seeing the pieces around the house because it reminds me of them and the experiences we’ve had growing and learning together. One time I was rummaging through a shop in Savannah, Ga and found an old sewing box full of all white and cream colored materials! It was like I found a sewing box belonging to one of my past lives. I displayed the content of the sewing box in this old coca cola crate.”

How long do you ‘live’ with your lace pieces before you start working with them?

“I store all the lace that I am ‘actively’ using in an old 2×3 foot cardboard box that is covered in beautiful paper covered with orange and yellow Indian-esque patterns. The box was given to me years and years ago from a dear friend who filled it with birthday gifts. I carry it with me wherever I travel to or wherever I decide to work. The edges are beautifully torn up and one side is peeling back. It is glorious. Inside the box I have wrapped my ribbon lace around old tarot cards that file in a perfect fit of 4 rows across the bottom. I then layered an old ‘Trader Joes’ brown paper bag on top to create a second layer. This layer is piled with folded pieces of lace, like scraps from an old dress or veil and larger pieces of ribbon lace, like chunky crochet pieces.

Sometimes these pieces sit in this box for months being untouched, I just haven’t come across the perfect shape for it to lend its curves too, and sometimes I quickly use up a specific kind really quick! Sometimes I just can’t bare to use up all of one kind of lace I have because I love it so much, so I use it, but very sparingly and you can see it linger from bone to bone. Sometimes I use up all of one kind of lace on a bone because the bone was made for this lace and there is no better way to celebrate its beauty that right here, right now. Some pieces stay with me for years, others get used up faster than I can keep up with. I tend to use the more common pieces more generously, sort of knowing I will be able to attain them again.

This box is everything to me, it is my heart and soul. “

Where do you do your making? 

“Currently I work in a corner of our living room, I have my desk and big red book shelf that holds all I need. My husband shares this space with me, he has his own desk with his books, pens, and computers, he is a writer.”

Photographs of Aprils studio desk as she works on new pieces

“We live in a happy little home but really the whole thing is a working studio. Our kitchen is completely taken over by our business, HumbleLove. We make all natural soaps, sprays and candles and other body products using essential oils and natural vegetable oils. So really our ‘house’ is a studio, in all forms. With two desks in the living room we only have room for two old chairs given to me by my grandparents, a little settee and a coffee table. We don’t have a couch, or a TV or even a dining room table.

We love it this way! We are always creating or working towards a goal.”

Making soap in the kitchen. Image courtesy of Love Savannah

Who inspires you?

“Other artists really inspire me. I love talking with them about how their brains work and why they do things the way they do, it fascinates me. Once you learn about how and why a piece was created you can form such a deeper connection with it. Everyone is always working through something, it’s usually deeper than we think. This helps me develop techniques too; emotions can drive you to figuring out all kinds of new ways to create/convey a feeling. Music is a big part of our lives too, there is always something playing in the back ground.”

Do you ever get creative block, what are your tips on moving through it ?

“Yes, but I have learned the best thing to do is to just keep going. You have to push through and keep moving forward with some part of your piece. If you don’t, you could be stuck in your block forever waiting for that oh-so-perfect next move. I feel like a bit of a perfectionist at times and so this is a good way for me to release my precise expectations and let the piece be what it wants to be. This allows more room for chance to lead the way and beautiful things begin to happen, things I never would have thought of. It’s really important for an artist to be in their studio space every day.

Making studio hours for yourself is a good way to stay on track and keep pushing forward. Even if you simply go to your studio and just sit there, that’s the best thing you can do. It’s only a matter of time before you start moving things around or pick something up and start creating with it. Maybe you just sit there and make a list of things you need to do, or maybe you end up cleaning up your whole space, whatever you do, at least you were productive in your studio.”

Where is your favourite place for sourcing materials?

“I love going to antique shops and markets. I live in a part of Texas where there are a ton of great antique shops and there is nothing better than wandering around and stumbling upon someone’s old sewing basket or pile of discarded lace remnants. I also enjoy going online and searching through etsy. I have found wonderful little pieces from people putting together grab bags. This is also another way for me to ‘lose control’ and allow new shapes to leak into my collection. I may buy a grab bag for one or two specific pieces of lace I see but I get the whole thing and most of the time there are pieces included I never would have purchased on their own but now am using all the time or have found a perfect curve to rest on.”

Where are you happiest?

“I am happiest in two places and they are complete opposites of each other. Sometimes I am happiest sitting in my home, at my desk or on the porch working on a project being silent and thoughtful. Other times I am happiest exploring a new part of the world, or just our backyard, with my husband, Taylor. Adventures are the best way for me to rejuvenate my creative soul. Seeing something new, experiencing new feelings, talking about new ideas, it’s all so revitalizing. I love getting out with him, I love the way he thinks and I love the way he makes me think about the world and that is what keeps my art interesting. I keep wanting to show people new ways of looking at things, take the old and discarded and celebrate it, see it in a new way, the unobvious.”

How do you sell your work?

“Right now, I am mostly a free-lance artist for the Savannah College of Art and Design, the university my husband and I graduated from. This opportunity to work with them has opened up many pathways (like meeting you!) and has lead me on a creative journey I never would have dreamed of going. They have pushed me in ways that have made me a more confident and a professional artist. They have helped teach me my self-worth and that I too can make a difference in this world with my art.

Now, with HumbleLove, we do have an etsy shop and we do sell in market place. We attend a farmers market or craft show here or there, we sell at various shops around the states and we sell online. We love working markets because we get to meet and engage with the people. Our packaging only has to do half the work, because we are there to smile and chat with you about how important you are and how much your body deserves to be taken care of! We get to give people an experience and we get to learn from them too. When selling online, you have to explain everything with written word and image. You can’t touch the materials, you can’t ask questions and get immediate answers, and most of all, you can’t engage with the maker and form a bond with their product. Tricky stuff.

On the other hand, the best part of selling online is that you reach people from all over the world, not just the little town you live in. You never know who is going to see your product and pass it along or share your link, you never know where you will end up.”

On their beautiful natural cosmetics company called Humble Love.

“When I am not working on Lacebones or other installations, I am working with my husband at HumbleLove. As I mentioned before we focus on all natural, mostly all organic body products. Taylor and I have always been passionate about health and wellness and he has become an expert on the properties of essential oils and so we were looking for a way to spread the knowledge and passion that we both share. We quickly learned that we craved a natural way to take care of ourselves and so we started making products we needed, like shampoo, deodorant and bug spray. Soap was a great way to get out on the market place because well, everyone needs soap! He started making salves, sprays, perfumes, candles and really, whatever you need, he’s on it! I work mostly on the presentation and packaging of the product even though we both contribute to both sides of the business.”

April working away on making candles for Humble Love in Lacoste, in a beautiful atelier on the SCAD Lacoste campus

What is your favourite corner in your house?

“As much as I love our studio/living room, I really love the wall behind my dresser in our bedroom. I have a collection of vintage women and my old ballet shoes hanging, my grandmothers mirror with some other sweet memories hanging around it. It’s the space that is completely feminine and serene. ”

Do you collect anything other than antique textiles?

“I collect so many things. Vintage fans, vintage books, vintage clothes just to name a few. I love collecting original art and old blue bottles but my favorite thing to collect is handwriting. Whether it is old postcards or letters, even old school books, I am so fascinated with handwriting, especially cursive. I think it is so beautiful and such a true expression of self.”

What is your favorite place to seek inspiration? 

“Nature! A beach, a mountain, a lake, the woods, anywhere outside where I can breathe the fresh air and experience natural pattern making and texture. I love collecting beautiful sticks, leaves and whatever you come across, you never know how they will make it into your work or inspire you later.”

You can check out HumbleLoves facebook page here and buy their wonderful natural products here on ShopScad

Just discovered textile artist, Emily Feldermans antique scissor series.

Sumptious embroidery and antique scissors, what is there not to love and desire?

I find myself drawn again and again to artists who connect with antique objects, who are enchanted by the whispering echos of past lives, and importantly aspire to making them ‘live’ again,

She describes her work as

Vintage scissors have manys stories to tell; I like the idea of using them in new ways and wonder what they were used for before I found them? Stitching? Cutting papers? Utilitarian? Bonsai? They are now part of a complete art piece where their patina, scratches, and history are integrated and unified with my textile work.

Bonsai

Tropical

Boing