Art or Not Art: Yarns by Design

I get so frustrated by people who think all Art is strictly painting or sculpture. Art is the combination of a creative state of mind and the passion behind whatever medium is being used. In my case it is fiber. An example of this is everything involved in designing a yarn. I quite often start with an overall concept or story or inspiration, sometimes based on the genius of another artist. Most recently I've used whatever is the monthly theme for the latest Phatfiber box. The June 2010 box has "A Midsummer Night's Dream" theme. I love fairies and decided to use the fairies from the Shakespeare play as my inspiration. Next I saw this lovely fluffy wool with little nubby bits that reminded me of cobwebs. Cobweb is the name of one of the fairies in the play. What else should I throw into the mix? How about some black mohair for a halo effect and some Aurora Angelina for that irridescent luminous magic that belongs to fairies. The next thing to be added is some white alpaca for that oh-so-soft and luxurious feel. I can just see all of this blended together and spun into a lace weight yarn for an airy cobwebby lacy shawl. How can this not be art?
Next thing is to take some of this Cobweb blend of fibers and add some lustrous light blue silk and some of my pale blue meriboo (a combination of merino wool and bamboo) fibers to get the feel of a Luna moth. Voila! The magic of another fairy in the play: Moth! I can see this being spun into a nice sportweight yarn and used for a baby blanket or layette. Again, how can this not be art? It is certainly magical and involves a lot of creative thought processes and a passion for fiber, spinning, and everything else leading to the yarn and eventually a finished garment.

A Time to Spin

Don't I wish. It seems I have less time to spin every day. And my reading time has totally disappeared. (I did manage to work in Dean Koontz's new book Breathless and will probably have to work in King's new Under the Dome. I always find time for their new books.) I've been spending all my time the last couple of weeks sculpting sea creatures out of polymer clay. At first they were an experiment for the Artful Tree I decorated for TCAA's Holiday Tree Auction. They turned out so cute and whimsical that I decided to make a bunch more for my Etsy store and Christmas gifts. I'm also going to try to sculpt a Peekachoo for Melissa's stocking. I guess I should also do a Dalleck for Daniel and something Star Wars or and Orc for Bob. Daniel has informed me that his toy Dalleck will once again grace the top of our Christmas tree this year.

Back to spinning. Ive had an idea for a whole series of yarns and spinning batts: University Colors. I will use my drum carder to make batts in the color combinations of all the major universities. I can either sell them as batts or spin them into yarns for my Etsy shop. (I finally opened my Etsy store last week and have already sold 15 items!) I think all the grandmothers, and mothers, and aunts, and other relatives of all those marvelous college students may enjoy using my yarns to make hats and scarves and other outerwear for their loved ones. I've started out by putting together a list of all schools (and their official colors) in the major university sports conferences. So far I've included the Big 10, the Big 12, and the Ivy League schools, next I need to work on the Southeast conference. I've already carded a batt of blue, orange, and royal blue Angelina that I have named "Florida Alligator". I plan on spinning that one up this Saturday while at market.

Now for places to spin during the time. I love to spin in public. And the public loves to watch me spin. I always enjoy talking with all the different people who stop to watch. I am also always getting asked to bring my wheel to other markets. Of course they all want me to rent a space at their markets. I've decided that for the moment I will probably only sell my yarns in my Etsy shop (KathleensSpin.etsy.com) and at one or two other markets as well as at TCAA. If other groups want me to come out I will offer to do so, but only as a demonstrator and only if I don't have to pay for the booth. We shall see.

I wish it was "time to spin" this morning, but I need to make more sea creatures and a blackberry pie.