TAFA Market Focus: MarketPlace: Handwork of India

 

TAFA is having its first public event during the AQS Quilt Show in Paducah.  We are excited to introduce TAFA to the public at large and are hoping to raise funds for our new website.   We have a silent auction and raffle, both available to online participants and a member exhibit and vendors.   These are ways in which you can donate to support our efforts.  This blog will feature the works and vendors during the time leading up to our show.  You can see all of the TAFA Market posts in one place by clicking on this link. 

Today's TAFA Market focus zooms in on:

MarketPlace: Handwork of India

Visit MarketPlace on TAFA

MarketPlace: Handwork of India. Fair Trade Fashion

I still remember the first conversation I had with Pushpika Freitas, the visionary director behind MarketPlace's success.  We were at a fair trade conference out East somewhere.  Maryland?  Over 20 years ago, we were young, bright eyed and bushy tailed, full of dreams of how our ideas could make an impact somewhere, somehow.  For Pushpika, those dreams centered on job creation in one of the largest slums of Mumbai, then called Bombai.  Fast forward all those years and we are seasoned, less idealistic, but still at it, each working doggedly to make a change.

MarketPlace: Handwork of India's clothing is 100% cotton, dyed or block printed by hand and then accented with embroidery.

Pushpika's initial efforts focused on making quilts in India and selling them in the U.S.  She soon realized that in order to really create jobs for a greater number of people, apparel offered more opportunities and a larger audience.  MarketPlace, based in Evanston. Illinois (just north of Chicago) is the marketing arm of SHARE, based in Mumbai, India, produces the fabric and garments for sale.  You can read the story of how MarketPlace developed on this page.  The 1980's was a time where many non-profits, non-governmental organizations, churches and individuals, began to shape the fair trade movement, looking at how handicraft production and agricultural products could empower communities around the world.  MarketPlace was one of the pioneers in this movement and has developed a model which can be replicated by other groups.  Although MarketPlace has continued to make some items for the home (throws, pillows), its signature lines are the dresses, pants, and tops that any MarketPlace addict immediately recognizes from a mile away.  Participating in TAFA's Market actually makes sense for MarketPlace and completes a full circle from quilts and back to the quilt audience.

MarketPlace: Handwork of India works with women in Mumbai as well as other communities in India.  Some men are also employed.  They also make a special effort to find special jobs for the handicapped.

Now that the fair trade movement has some decades under its belt, the question of impact and success is raised.  How does one measure whether a project has really made a difference in a specific community.  Pushpika and I visited this question once and I remember her expressing how difficult it is to deal with the issue in terms of monetary rewards.  There are cultural and societal barriers that want to keep poor women in their place.  A husband may feel threatened by a woman making more than him.  Women have been provided with services that they might not otherwise access, such as loans for health care and home repairs.  Pushpika said that the real measure will be seen in the next generation, in the children who are growing up with more opportunities, better sanitation, access to health care, and with mothers who are an integral part of something they can be proud of.

Visit MarketPlace: Handwork of India's website.

Working with apparel involves many challenges.  MarketPlace sells through its mail order catalog and website, introducing two new lines every year, Spring and Fall.  That means getting samples ready on time for photo shoots, producing the fabric (all hand printed, batiked or dyed), getting the garments made, and so on.  There are always hurdles along the way.  Yet, year after year, they have stuck to it.

MarketPlace made a conscious decision not to be trendy, per se.  They have a distinctive look that has evolved over time.  But, for those of us who love the MarketPlace clothing, there are also old favorites that will always be made, only in different colors and fabrics.

MarketPlace clothing is extremely comfortable and lasts a long time.  They have also always kept the larger woman within their circle, offering sizes up to triple X.  I'm a big Viking and love how my MarketPlace clothing fits me.  Many of my things are getting threadbare after years of good service and I am looking forward to picking up some new pieces next week.

Reversible coats and jackets by MarketPlace: Handwork of India.

This apparel business has natural casualties in terms of unsold products.  For some reason or another, beautiful garments like the ones in this post, remain unsold, taking up space.  So, the good news for all you who will be coming to our TAFA Market is that you will get to buy the past season garments for half off!!!  That is an incredible deal and we hope that Katherine, MarketPlace's staff person who will be here in Paducah will drive back home with an empty car.

I am so pleased to have MarketPlace as a TAFA Member and that they are making this effort to be a part of our show next week.  Not only because of our long history as friends and peers, but because I really believe in what they are doing and because I can stand behind the product and say, "This is great.  I wear it, love it, and want more."  

I worked for MarketPlace for a stint many years back.  We had this idea of trying to help local efforts in Chicago with product design and marketing.  The challenges there were very different from the ones Pushpika has dealt with in India.  But, that is a long story and a subject for another post.  Meanwhile, we each move forward and hope that our efforts make this world a better place, one that has a foundation of beauty and mutual respect.

TAFA Market Focus: MarketPlace: Handwork of India

TAFA Market Focus: Plumfish Creations

Plumfish Creations:  Recycled Silk Remnants Made Beautiful!

TAFA is having its first public event during the AQS Quilt Show in Paducah.  We are excited to introduce TAFA to the public at large and are hoping to raise funds for our new website.   We have a silent auction and raffle, both available to online participants and a member exhibit and vendors.   These are ways in which you can donate to support our efforts.  This blog will feature the works and vendors during the time leading up to our show.  You can see all of the TAFA Market posts in one place by clicking on this link. 

Today's TAFA Market focus zooms in on:

Plumfish Creations

Visit Plumfish Creations on TAFA

An Australian Love of Silk and Color:  Plumfish Creations

Rosemary Boyd wins the prize for being the TAFA member living the furthest away who will be in our show.  On the other side of the world from me, her silk accessories are almost other worldly!  I see them as a flight into fantasy, a dream world, where bold color and texture transforms the wearer into a piece of walking art!

Plumfish Creations makes silk into a garden of life!

Rosemary describes herself as rather reserved, "The accessories I make are sometimes said to be flamboyant and lively - an expression of a part of me, that is otherwise hidden beneath a conservative quiet exterior."  Her work manifests the passion that is inside, that came manifest itself in anyone who wears her work.  Want to be a wall flower, fading into the background?  Then Plumfish Creations is not for you.  Want to create a little stir in the air, have people take a second look, have an icebreaker at a party where you don't know anyone?  Plumfish Creations will open those doors. 

Lift up your spirits with Plumfish Creations!

Like so many other TAFA members, Rosemary's interest in fiber arts came through her grandmother.  Now that I have been doing this for awhile, learning about each member as they join TAFA, over and over I see tribute being paid to mothers and grandmothers who patiently taught their daughters how to work the needle.  Traditional stitches have morphed into contemporary interpretations, often leaving the original references behind.  I cannot stress how important it is for kids to experiment with art, to let their imaginations flow, and to develop those fine motor skills that someday may actually lead to a career in art.

Wrap yourself in the creations of Rosemary Boyd!

Rosemary's Etsy shop is loaded with beautiful pieces, so if you are not coming to Paducah for our TAFA Market during the Quilt Show, you can purchase her work there.

TAFA Market Focus: Plumfish Creations

TAFA Market Focus: Jwrobel

TAFA is having its first public event during the AQS Quilt Show in Paducah.  We are excited to introduce TAFA to the public at large and are hoping to raise funds for our new website.   We have a silent auction and raffle, both available to online participants and an exhibit and vendors.   These are ways in which you can donate to support our efforts.  This blog will feature the works and vendors in the next two weeks.  You can see all of the TAFA Market posts in one place by clicking on this link. 

Today's TAFA Market focus zooms in on:

Jwrobel

Visit Jwrobel's Member Profile on TAFA

Organic and Sustainable Baby Accessories by JWrobel

I always thought I would have my own kids, fantasizing about dressing them up with little outfits from around the world or beautiful handmade, natural clothing like this fun green cap.  Probably a good thing it didn't happen as the grown-up kids would probably have ended up in therapy for all my other eccentricities.  Although, I must say: My dogs do like me!

Those who do have a baby or a little one in their lives need to take a look at Jwrobel's beautiful baby clothing and accessories.  Carefully knitted, using sustainable materials like organic, hand dyed wools, alpaca, and silk, the results are soft and luxurious.

Baby Pixie Hat by Jwrobel

Jwrobel, or Jess Wrobel, will have several baby items and adult accessories in our TAFA Market.  She said grandmas are some of her best customers and we all know that there will be plenty of you coming to Paducah who have little ones on the way or recently arrived.  This is your chance to score big points with your child or grandchild!

Jess has been a great asset to TAFA ever since she joined us.  Freely sharing business tips and ideas, I have already learned a lot from her and look forward to continued growth in the future.  All of us have to wear so many hats as we make, design or buy our products, photograph them, get them online and then engage in the often tedious tasks of marketing what we do.  Jess has successfully integrated her products into a sensibility which reflects her commitment to being green and natural.  

Babies are not the only focus at the Jwrobel studio.  Adults have plenty to pick from to accessorize themselves and their homes.  Jess integrates an old world feel, sometimes calling out to Central Asia and the Silk Road and at others harking back to Victorian sensibilities.  She makes beautiful purses, bags, pillows and much more.  A couple examples of what will be at the TAFA Market:

Satin Garden Rose by Jwrobel

Knit Purse by Jwrobel

If you are coming to Paducah, definitely check out our TAFA Market to see Jwrobel's work in person.  Meanwhile, you can check out her shops on Etsy:

TAFA Market Focus: Jwrobel

"Candy", Dog Food Bags Recycled into Wearable Art

"Candy", a Rayela Art Dogfood Bag

Yay!  I finished another dogfood bag!  Some people knit while they watch TV.  I fold hundreds of little pieces of paper and then interlock them together using a technique known as candywrapper folding.  The long strips are then sewn together with dental floss or fake gut.  I started doing this because I was intrigued with prison art that used soft cigarette packs to make purses and I wanted to so something with the big bags of dog food paper that I go through.  It just seems like a terrible waste!  I use the outer layer which has a protective surface.  The middle layer is usually a brown paper which I save for shipping things and then I do toss the inside layer which has a wax coating and had the contact with the dog food.

"Candy", Red Side (Woven purse by Rayela Art)

 "Candy", Purple Side (Woven purse by Rayela Art)

I am pleased with this purse.  If you notice from the photos above, one side is accented with red and the other with purple.  Vintage and salvaged buttons call out to the colored papers.  A magnetic clasp serves as a closure.  I am the only one that I know of who embellishes these purses with buttons and beads.  Pretty clever, eh?

Close-up of the buttons:

The handle is wide at the sides and narrow at the top:

The hardest part to sew together is the bottom.  I sew both from the inside of the purse and the outside to strengthen the purse, but that is not possible at the bottom:

The purse is available for purchase on Etsy:  Buy "Candy"

It's 360 green ones, free shipping anywhere in the world.

Although the purse is functional, treat it with care.  It is wearable art.  You can bet that if you use it, people will grab you and want to talk about it.  So, only take it to places where you want to be grabbed!

While you are in my shop, look at the other treasures that I have for sale.  You might as well take advantage of the free shipping and add more things to your cart!  (Not valid on the heavier items).

Interested in learning more about the technique?  I've posted tips and links to tutorials in my past posts here on this blog.  Click here.

"Candy", Dog Food Bags Recycled into Wearable Art

The TAFA Team's Catalog of Shops: Home Interiors

 Mr. and Mrs. Santa by Susan M. Hinckley

Susan is known for her "Small Works in Wool", beautiful vignettes made of appliqued pieces in her own cartoon images.  She also paints on fabric.  Prints of past work are also available in her Etsy shop.

TAFA: The Textile and Fiber Art List was launched in February, 2010.  As it has grown, now to over 200 members, so have the members who have Etsy shops.  About half of us use Etsy as our retail platform.  We decided to organize as an Etsy Team (a program Etsy has for sellers to organize under themes or locations) and set up a blog where we can talk about what is important to us and where we can show off our shops.  The blog has eight pages of shops, divided into themes and serves as our Team Shops Catalog.  Although many of us sell things that do not fit neatly into those categories, most of us do have a focus.  I am introducing each of those categories here, hoping that this will encourage you to go over there and shop, shop, shop, until you drop!  These eight pages have over 100 shops, filled with wonderful eye candy that will surely delight anyone who appreciates all the many techniques and traditions that are found in the needle and textile arts. 

Today's focus:  Home Interiors

Barrel chair given new life by Vintage Renewal

Home Interiors is the category where you will find our Team Shops that focus on decorative and practical items for the home.  As we are about textile and fiber art related work, the natural things that come to mind are linens, quilts, pillows, baskets, and fiber art for the wall.  We have them all!  Vintage Renewal, who salvaged the chair in the photo above, has our largest pieces: furniture that has been salvaged by Jeanne Connolly.  Her Etsy shop is currently low on the big pieces, but has lots of wonderful pillows to choose from.  You can see past furniture pieces on the sold page of her website, showing a distinctive style and vision.  Rescuing such large pieces and giving them new life is something I applaud with all of my heart!

Many of our members make a concerted effort at recycling, reclaiming old fabric, incorporating vintage fabrics into new pieces and using non-toxic dyes in their work.  We can make a difference on our environment by the choices we make in what materials we use.  One of our members, Fabrique Fantastique, makes vintage her ecological contribution:

 Fabrique Fantastique is the mecca of vintage quilts and scarves.

Jan Marriott, owner of this vintage paradise, has pages and pages in her Etsy shop filled with quilts, scarves, fabric and even some cultural textiles. 

Then, we have Team Members who make contemporary quilts and throws:

 Peppermint Pinwheel's Nine Patch Quilt

My Sweet Prairie also has quilt patterns available.

We have another category in our Catalog of Shops for Art Quilts.  The traditional quilts, even if contemporary in design, are functional.  I always think of them as the closest thing you can get to a hug when you need to snuggle on a cold, cold day.

Other Team members make objects that give character to a home: vessels, fabrics and other objects.  You can be sure that you will not find another lamp like this one!

Fairytale Incorporated's fabric lamp:

Style with Distinction!

Then, Papaver Vert, always has a wonderful selection of felted containers, vessels, objects, and accessories.  Patty uses wonderful colors, bringing life to these wonderful home accents:

Felted Vessels by Papaver Vert

One of our newest members, Susan Shinnick, is kind of a Renaissance woman!  She is so talented and does so many different things that it was hard to know where to put her.  But, she does have a focus on the home and with such beautiful results!

 

 Susan Shinnick hand dyes and prints fabric, then makes them into napkins, placemats, runners, clothing, and other accessories.

Our Team members have so much talent and creativity!  You really need to go into their shops and explore as they all have a huge variety of offerings.  To finish this introduction of our Home Interiors category, I thought this trivet by Yellow Violet was so appropriate as we are only 23 days away from Christmas!   Yikes!  Panic attack or what?

 Yellow Violet specializes in fabric coiled baskets.  

She also sews and has lots of great gifts for guys.

Click here to visit our Home Interiors section in our TAFA Team Catalog of Shops.

And, while you are there, click on the other tabs to see our other Team member shops.  We aim to be the best in textiles and fiber art on Etsy!

The TAFA Team's Catalog of Shops: Home Interiors

Five great gifts from Rayela Art!

For your Goth niece.

For your sister.

For the teenager.

For the your brother.

For the one who has everything.

All cool.

All made by me.

Buy it.

 

Five great gifts from Rayela Art!

The TAFA Team's Catalog of Shops: Jewelry and Accessories

Freeform hats and bags by Rensfibreart

TAFA: The Textile and Fiber Art List was launched in February, 2010.  As it has grown, now over 200 members, so have the members who have Etsy shops.  About half of us use Etsy as our retail platform.  We decided to organize as an Etsy Team (a program Etsy has for sellers to organize under themes or locations) and set up a blog where we can talk about what is important to us and where we can show off our shops.  The blog has eight pages of shops, divided into themes and serves as our Team Catalog.  Although many of us sell things that do not fit neatly into those categories, most of us do have a focus.  I am introducing each of those categories here, hoping that this will encourage you to go over there and shop, shop, shop, until you drop!  These eight pages have over 100 shops, filled with wonderful eye candy that will surely delight anyone who appreciates all the many techniques and traditions that are found in the needle and textile arts. 

Today's focus:  Jewelry and Apparel

Vintage Miao textile incorporated into a bag, by dazzlinglanna

Picking images for this post is not an easy task as there are so many beautiful pieces in our Jewelry and Accessories page.  This is one of the places where you can really see how people are exploring techniques and interpreting them into their own designs.  You will find functional items like scarves, bags, purses, hats, cuffs, gloves, necklaces and bracelets.  Our members are felting, dyeing, painting on silk, reclaiming old textiles and fabrics, knitting, beading, weaving and of course, sewing.

Hagar of Gilgulim recycles old ties into beautiful jewelry.

TAFA is an international organization, exemplified by our members on this page.  Hagar is Israeli, Jutamas of Dazzling Lanna lives in Thailand, Rosemary of Plumfish Creations and Renate are both in Australia, Morgen of Inkyspider  is Canadian, Marina hails from Puerto Rico, Inese is in Latvia, Dolapo of Urban Knit is in the United Kingdom, Lilou works with weavers in Cambodia and so on.  Of course, quite a few are based here in the United States.  The diversity of our members, both in the techniques they are exploring and their cultural influences makes for a fascinating collection of colors, textures, and designs.

 Lilou, a fair trade group working with weavers in Cambodia.

The big challenge for all of us is that nobody really "needs" anything we are selling.  And, in this awful economy, buyers have been tightening their belts and holding on to their money.  Yet, is not beauty something that our spirits crave?  An accessory from one of our shops will certainly cost a lot more than a bauble that is sold at Walmart.  But, the right scarf, hat or necklace can not only finish off an outfit and make it complete, but also makes a statement of support for the worldwide handmade community.  It ties us to our historical roots represented by the techniques we promote through our work.  

 

 Wraps by Inese, our TAFA member in Latvia

 

Click here to visit our Jewelry and Accessories Page in our TAFA Team Catalog of Shops.

And, while you are there, click on the other tabs to see our other Team member shops.  We aim to be the best in textiles and fiber art on Etsy!

All TAFA Team members are also members of TAFA: The Textile and Fiber Art List.

Interested in membership?  Click here for more information.

The TAFA Team's Catalog of Shops: Jewelry and Accessories

Maria and Claudette: traditional and contemporary weavers share a platform on TAFA

TAFA member, Whitney Taylor, (Little Mango Imports)

works with Mayan weavers in Guatemala.

Whitney with Sovesteña in Panajachel

Maria lives in a village in Guatemala.  She weaves brightly colored fabrics which will make their way to the American and European markets.  She also works on traditional huipiles, the blouses worn by women in her village, when she has time.  Maria has been to the capital a couple of times and visits relatives in nearby towns, but mostly stays in her village and likes it that way.  She knows how to read and write, has four small children, loves to laugh, and dreams of having a new fence built around her garden so the chickens will stay out of it.

Claudette also weaves.  Her work often depicts contrasts between light and dark, using urban themes that reflect her life in Paris.  She zooms in on a car's headlight, a hand on a door, high heels on the sidewalk...  sometimes there might be splashes of red, alluding to blood or violence.  Her work is not "pretty" and it will take that special collector who will want to buy it.  Claudette has exhibited internationally and traveled around the world .  She has no children, sometimes she drinks too much, and she definitely wishes she could stop thinking all the time.

 "Big Green Barn" by TAFA member Laura Foster Nicholson

Maria and Claudette are fictional, just made up characters in my mind, but symbolic of the range of women represented by TAFA's membership.  TAFA: The Textile and Fiber Art List is a project I started earlier this year.   Launched in February, the membership has grown to 115 working artists and fiber related businesses.  TAFA's main mission, to provide its members with access to larger markets, has at its core an intentional agenda of bringing Maria and Claudette together, sharing the same platform and audience.  These two women have little in common aside from the materials they use to execute their craft.  Their personal interests, how they spend their time, and the goals they have for their lives reflect not only the physical distance that separates them, but the cultural expectations their peers have of them.  They do, however, share a form of sign language.  If they stood side by side with their looms, they could speak to each other and learn from each other through their threads, the movements of their hands, and the final products.  A language only weavers would understand.

Both also share in the need for a market that will support their work.  Maria might be represented by someone like Whitney Taylor (first photo), or by TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles who work with weavers in Laos and Thailand.

Traditionally, the two weavers, Maria and Claudette, and those who represent them, would have looked for their markets in very different places.  Maria does not have computer skills nor access to galleries.  Her weaving would be described as a craft and would not qualify for most competitions.  Claudette would have to put a portfolio together, have professional photos taken and either look for high end customers on her own or have a gallery represent her in doing so.  Their markets and the words used to define who they are and what they do have been as separate as their physical worlds.

 "Koch Snowflake Fractal"  
Univeral Language Series 

by TAFA member Donna Loraine Contractor 

I've worked with handmade crafts from around the world for over twenty years.  Even now, I struggle with what words to use when I describe a product.  Is it art? Craft?  Handicraft?  Folk Art?  Traditional? Contemporary?  We are struggling with these terms on TAFA as well.  The middle column has a list of labels titled "Themes and Places".  Intended as an index, key words describe the mix found in TAFA's membership.  We decided to use  "Member Made" as a way to describe a member who makes their own work.  "Cultural Textile" describes members who are representing a group.  The challenge lies in keeping the list short enough to make it usable for those who visit the site and yet inclusive enough to cover the different kinds of work represented on TAFA.

Even worse: how do we describe Maria and Claudette?  Is Maria an artist? Fair traders often refer to people like her as "producers".  Claudette would certainly have a fit if she were labeled a crafter.  The divide that has separated these two has historically come from an ethnocentric position that, I believe, is fundamentally racist, classist, and must change.  Maria might actually have better technical skills than Claudette.  What makes her work less valid in the art world?  One might argue that she lacks imagination in design, that she is simply replicating work that has been done for centuries in her village.  Yet, many contemporary weavers are not weaving powerful, moody work like Claudette's.  They are interested in the materials, patterns, look of the weave itself.  TAFA member Laos Essential Artistry has an interesting video which tries to address this tension between the artist, creativity, and the relationship to the product itself.  In my mind, we stumble in trying to perpetuate this divide:

Why racist and classist? Because if the same work were made by an American, a Parisian, or an Australian, it would be called art and, a key point here, the price would also reflect it.  I believe that we have been passive about giving credit where it is due.  We believe that it's OK for the Marias of the world to live on minimal income generated by their skill while those of us who live in the "developed" world can charge what we consider a fair wage for our work.  Sure, there are many issues that affect the price point of a weaving or textile:  materials used, intricacy of detail, age, the currency exchange rate, creativity, fame, and so on.  But, the same debate that has raged on in the quilting arena also rages here.  Quilters debate what is art or craft all the time.  So, now we have "art quilts" which have their own shows and juried criteria, separate from "traditional quilts".  And, again, definition often makes a big difference in price point.  An Amish quilt may sell for several hundred dollars while an art quilt with the same skill level may enter the market for several thousand dollars.  It's a matter of how we perceive and define our selves, our work and those around us.  But, when it comes to Maria, I believe that most of us think it's OK for her to earn less because she is a peasant, lives in a hut, doesn't have much education and should just be grateful that we are helping her by buying her "stuff".



Fortunately, things are changing for Maria and other like her.  Several global trends in these last twenty years have decreased the supply of cultural crafts.  Industrialization, war, natural disasters and migration have all affected the production of traditional arts world wide.  It used to be easy to get gorgeous, intricate embroideries from any of these villages for almost nothing.  Travelers who became small importers brought these goods to market and appreciation for them grew.  Now it's hard to find the older stuff and we have to pay more for current work.  Less people are also making the traditional work, opting instead to work in factories or as maids or in the hospitality industry for secure pay and possible benefits.  War and natural disaster have disrupted village life around the world.  As less of the vintage textiles have become available, more efforts and recognition has been given to those who have the ability to perpetuate these age-old skills.  We also see more exchanges happening between the Marias and Claudettes, increasing market receptivity by developing products that use the skills, appeal to elite markets and generate a higher ticket price.  Escama Studio in Brazil is one such example.  Low income women crochet clothing and accessories out of pop tabs:

Women like Maria are traveling more, seeing how a Claudette would interact with their work. Novica carries their purses, selling them for a couple hundred dollars each, accompanied with a photo, bio and quote by the artist.  The Santa Fe International Folk Art Market sponsors traditional crafters from around the world every year.  They are called "artists" on their website and literature.  HandEye Magazine offers a glorious exploration of materials, techniques, and overwhelming eye candy from around the world.  They make no distinction between traditional and contemporary.  It's all crazy and all good.  FiberArts Magazine always has a section dedicated to traditional cultural crafts, although their focus is on contemporary textile art and craft.  The trend moves towards inclusion and recognition.  We need this to happen in order to both preserve the knowledge the Marias have and to encourage the vision a Claudette might bring to the medium.  We still have a long way to go, but all of us can help redefine what the platform is that we share with each other.  It starts with exposure, by standing next to each other, and continues with the dialogue that is in our hands, that sign language that we can speak through our craft.  Finally, it matures when all of us can make a decent living through our work, have our basic needs met, and know that life as a working artist can happen here, in Paris or in a village in Guatemala.

 Alia Kate with Fatima

TAFA member, Kantara Crafts, 

works with weavers in Morocco.

Interested in becoming a TAFA member?  TAFA members all have an established web presence.  They are working artists, textile or fiber related businesses, authors, collectors, or gallery owners.  For more information, check out the Membership page on our site.

Maria and Claudette: traditional and contemporary weavers share a platform on TAFA

Doggie Love, a new Rayela Art dogfood paper bag

"Doggie Love" a candywrapper bag made with 
dogfood bags, by Rayela Art.

 This is the third bag or purse I have made upcycling with dogfood bags.  Until recently, I had four dogs, so I have plenty of these bags stored up, ready to transform into "art" (or craft or whatever...).  My love for these dogs has brought a lot of pain recently as one of them bit a utility man (who came into my yard without my permission...) and another has been diagnosed with lymphoma.  

Sheba bit the water man and then she bit the dust.

Sheba lost her life because of that bite and now lies planted under a little tree in my yard.  It's a horrible thing to put a healthy dog down!  She was six and had never bit anyone before.  But, she did have a kill instinct and had attacked two smaller dogs in the past and killed a cat.  99% of the time, she was a great little dog, smart, full of tricks, willing to please, and a funny girl with her own special antics.

Sheba was born in my apartment in Chicago.

Now there is Mitchie, my oldest, who was the gallery dog in Chicago.  Supposedly a boxer/lab mix according to the shelter he came from, we have had ten great years together.

Mitchie as an old dude in Kentucky.

Younger days at Dara Tribal Village.

Mitchie made the Sun Times in Chicago.  

He had a huge following of people 

who would stop in to see him.

These dogs, Sheba, Mitchie, along with Laila and Juba, are spoiled, well loved, and have been through a lot with me over the years.  Yes, I know they are "just" dogs, but, in my world they have a lot more empathy, humor and consideration than many of the people I see around me.  They give me affection and protection in an "iffy" neighborhood.  I'm sorry that the water man got bit.  Fortunately, I have renter's insurance and he will get a nice settlement from them.  But, that doesn't seem to be enough as he drags me through court, making an awful situation even worse.

 "Doggie Love", side view.

I finished "Doggie Love" shortly before the pain started with Sheba and Mitchie, so it is tied in my mind to this difficult time.  This technique is widely known as the "candywrapper technique".  It involves cutting small rectangles of paper and folding them then interlocking them together into long lines.  Those are then sewn to each other.

 "Doggy Love" detail, by Rayela Art.

 I like to incorporate beads and findings into these bags, altering the surface and adding texture.  So far, I am the only one that I know of who does this to these bags.  On this one, I used African coconut discs, Ethiopian copper and soapstone beads.

 

This was the first project where I also incorporated fabric.  I wanted the piece to stand upright, like a vessel, so I made a fabric bottom for it.  Normally, the sides are sewn to each other at the bottom into a traditional purse shape.  There are many other ideas I want to play with to take this technique to new levels.  The folding is time consuming, but a perfect activity when I don't want to think.  I can sit and watch a movie and fold away.  You wouldn't believe how much paper a vessel like this takes!  There are probably eight or nine large dog food bags folded up into this piece, paper that would have otherwise ended up in a land fill.

Yes, my heart is heavy with the loss of my two dogs.  But, Juba and Laila will still be with me, so I will have many more bags to use up in the future!  By the way, Laila is Juba and Sheba's mom.  I found her all torn up in Chicago, pregnant.  

Juba and Laila, daughter and mother.  (??!!!???)

National Geographic had a great article, a couple of years ago, where they examined the relationship between dogs and humans.  Because we have lived so closely together for thousands of years, we have developed a symbiotic relationship.  Dogs will look ahead to where you are pointing, while wolves don't get it.  They just stare at the finger.  If you pet a dog, it lowers both your blood pressure and theirs!  Most dogs can learn 150 words.  Smart ones can learn 300.  I will always have dogs in my life.  But, I don't think I will go for four again.  One thing I learned was that it is really hard to control a pack, especially in an urban environment.  I miss Sheba, still counting out four treats, and I know I will cry when the time comes to say good-bye to Mitchie.  They definitely do not live long enough!  I am grateful for the time we have had, for the inspiration they give me, and for all the good memories I have of them.

Bye-bye, Mitchie and Sheba!

Click here for more posts on the other bags I have made and for information on the candywrapper weaving technique. 

Oh!  You want "Doggie Love"?  It's yours for $360.  20% off if you buy it before I list it on Etsy...

 Mitchie, Juba, Laila, Sheba and me...

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Doggie Love, a new Rayela Art dogfood paper bag