Recently, I was reading an article in which a maker was asked, “Who inspires you?”.
It seems like a simple little question – but it kept rolling around in my head – so I started making a NEW list for myself.
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I say “NEW” because I created a list of women who I aspired to be like, many years ago when I first realized I loved costume, textiles & the fibre arts.
When I look back at my original list, it’s really pretty surprising to find that quite a few of the same amazing women still hold my fascination after more than 25 years!
You can probably list off top media celebrities in a few seconds, famous dead artists are easy to think of too but how many women can you think of who not only create beautiful things AND have a fascinating work & lifestyle philosophy that their body of work rests upon ?
Yeah, not many right? So –
Everybody likes a good list so I thought you might like to see mine….
I’m not giving it to you all at once since that would be no fun & you really should take the time to explore these uniquely creative women one at a time! Just so you know – there’s no ranking on my list, in fact they jostle & shift places depending on what holds my interest at the time.
Today, I’d like to introduce you to one of the newer entrants on my list
– Claudy Jongstra.
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Claudy is a Dutch artist who works primarily in felt. What drew me to her was that she has such an amazing point-of-view about making & working with natural fibres.
I have dreams of growing, dyeing & processing my own fibres (plant & one day animal,too!) then using those to make fabulous handwork creations. She’s already doing this & on an impressive scale.
Even George Lucas looked her up when he needed some “out-of-this-world” fabric for Star Wars costumes. Now, that is just COOL!
Here’s the video that grabbed my attention when I stumbled upon it late one night.
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This one is great because it takes you INSIDE her studio…! Can you imagine having a set up like that?
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I don’t know her personally, but getting to meet her is definitely on my bucket list!
Do you have Handwork Heroines?
Tell me about them, I look forward to adding more to my list& expanding my ideas of what is possible in the Handwork world!
Happy Making !
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Handwork Homeschool 