Intarsia Concept Offers A Basic Online Product Photography Course

by Tara Agacayak, Intarsia Concept Co-Founder

My partner Figen Cakir and I met through our love of art and craft which is ironic considering that our husbands work together - a fact we didn't learn until months later! With two separate businesses selling handmade, culturally-inspired products from Turkey, we naturally began projects supporting local artisans in our community. Figen runs The Knit Box, featuring natural Turkish yarn, handknits and knitting accessories. I started Citara's Handcrafted Boutique to highlight modern home and fashion products reflecting traditional Turkish techniques and motifs.

In building our online businesses, we conceived of Intarsia Concept (IC) as a venue to share our experience and learn from the experiences of others. IC is for people who want to turn what they love into what they do. For us it is our love of Turkey, art, design and culture. For you it might be rugs, quilts, tapestries ... (fill in the blank here).

One of the things we learned working in a digital environment is that selling products online is vastly different than selling them in person where visitors can see and touch our products. In person they get the full impact of color and texture. Because they are handmade, our customers understand the care that goes into each product because they can see all the detail imprinted by the artist.

But selling online is completely different. In this two-dimensional environment your potential customers are people who click away in an instant if there is nothing to keep their attention. So when we started IC, one of the first things we wanted to do was put together a course teaching basic product photography skills. We're proud to report we have finally done this with Diana Brennan from D.S. Brennan Photography. We hope that this course will not only help independent designers and artists like you take good photographs of your projects and products for the purposes of selling, but more importantly that it will also help you present your work in a way that honors the love and care with which you have created it.

Because it's not just about what you do, it is also about how you communicate that to others. Good photography is one way to broadcast your artistic message. Whether you are selling something or not, a well-photographed image speaks a thousand words.

If you're interested in attending the Basic Product Photography Course to learn how to present your work at its best, registration is now open. The self-paced e-course begins Monday, February 22nd but is only open to the first 50 students who register. As a special thank you to Fiber Focus readers, anyone who registers from this blog will receive a $5 refund with the coupon code {prodphoto10}. In addition, for each registration that comes through this community, member Catherine Salter Bayar will donate $5 to Nest, a nonprofit that gives micro-loans to female artisans.

Tara Agacayak

 Figen Cakir

Note from Rachel:  Catherine has contributed several posts on life in Turkey and her business, Bazaar Bayar.  Click here to see them.

Intarsia Concept Offers A Basic Online Product Photography Course

Vintage Weavings – to Restore or Not? by Catherine Salter Bayar

Vintage Turkish Cicim

Recently I had a great short conversation with another Fiber Focus member who mentioned she had done textile restoration for the US National Park Service. She and I agreed that vintage textiles, if repaired, should never show signs of this new work; the restorer should strive to make sure that her work is as unobtrusive as possible.

I personally love to see signs of usage in older kilims and carpets, as long as they are not in danger of completely unraveling. After all, these weavings were made to be used, not hung in a museum; wear is part of their history. But what should I do, if one of my customers disagrees with me and wants a ‘perfect’ vintage piece?

This was the case with an acquaintance who lives part of the year in our small Turkish town. I will call her G. She is an interesting, compassionate woman from a Northern European country who has been coming here to Selcuk for probably two decades now.

For the past several years, G has often visited our shop to chat when she was in town, and always purchases a piece of our handmade jewelry or a strand of beads before she left Selcuk. But each visit, she’d comment about a small old cicim I had draped over the armchair in which I sat.



“I really love that piece!” G would say, asking me about it. I knew it had been two sides of a Turkish donkey bag, though the longer ends have been unstitched. But this kilim was an interesting weaving combination I had not seen in a cicim before. Both sides use the fairly thickly spun, sturdy dyed wool typical of utilitarian cicims, but this time the weaver used the wool as the warp yarns (thick undyed cotton is more typical), then wove very thin undyed cotton through as weft yarns, creating a thin, slightly irregular ground cloth for the embroidered wool patterns worked on top.




Did the weaver just not have enough wool and opt for cheaper cotton? One end does have weft yards in the same red wool as the warp (below), but this appears to be the end where she started weaving. So maybe she was experimenting to see how this densely woven but quite thin piece would turn out.



That it is rather monochromatic is not common for a cicim either, which to me means this weaver may have had more sophisticated tastes than the usually riotously colored cicims. Or perhaps she did just not have access to more colors than this mellow red, grey, black and indigo wools and natural cotton she used. The shading variations in the ground are caused but more tightly packed sections of cotton weft yarns, an intentional play of texture I think, but we will never know her aim.


There are a few patched sections (below), though the patching is done in wool that looks exactly like the original wool yarn, making me ponder if these odd portions were also intentional and done in the original weaving? And yes, by now the edges are worn, the embroidery is a little asymmetrical and the patterns are not so well planned in spots!


In any case, I told G it was my favorite cicim and not for sale, since to me such a piece is rare and holds a special quirky charm in my eyes. Regardless, each visit she would ask me to sell it to her and each time I would decline.

This spring while I was in the US, G again came to our shop and asked my husband if she could buy the cicim. Since we happened to urgently need money that week, we decided to part with it. Abit and G agreed on a price; she gave him a deposit and took it away with her. Oh well, I thought. At least the cicim was going to someone who seemed to love it as much as I did.


But a week later, she came back to our shop and told Abit it was not worth the price they had agreed upon. She’d taken it to one of the local repair shops, and the man there had pointed out every frayed selvage, every worn spot and uneven hem, convincing her that it needed massive costly repairs. Worst of all, “He said it’s mostly cotton!” However, kilims commonly have cotton warps which don’t necessarily lessen their value. I’m positive the repairer was trying to make a big profit from a foreign customer. But she agreed with him that the cicim had to be restored completely and asked us to sell it to her for a fraction of the reasonable price Abit had asked, since it was so ‘damaged’.

As much as we needed the money, I immediately gave her deposit back to reclaim the cicim. I was horrified to think that the piece would undergo unnecessary major “surgery”. Perhaps the restorer would have done a good job on those unraveled selvages, but I was incensed that G had admired the piece for so many years, but then was so easily persuaded to find it lacking. To me, her need to have a ‘perfect’ kilim made her not worthy to have it. I’m afraid I take my kilims and carpets personally; they do become like members of the family to me.

What do you think, fiber artists and textile lovers? Should we have given in to our customers request for a cheaper price? Should older weavings be restored or left as they are? As a designer more than a business woman, I’d rather keep such an imperfect piece than make a sale.


And now we enjoy it daily, since the cicim has been retired to our garden dining table. No worries – we promise not to spill our meals on it!

For cicims I will allow you to buy, please visit www.bazaarbayar.etsy.com.



Catherine Salter Bayar lives with her husband Abit in Selcuk, near Ephesus, Turkey, where they own a vintage textile shop and a water pipe & wine bar. A regular contributor of this blog, Catherine is also a member of our Fiber Focus group. She is currently working on a book on Turkish textiles. Visit Catherine and Abit at www.bazaarbayar.com or www.bazaarbayar.etsy.com.

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Vintage Weavings – to Restore or Not? by Catherine Salter Bayar

Prayer Rugs, Kilims & Suzanis, A Few of My Favorite Things by Catherine Salter Bayar

When I was a very young girl, my mom took my brother and me to the movie theater to see “The Sound of Music”. We loved it so much that we left the theater, drove over to pick my dad up from work, and went right back to see it a second time. The best part of the story was Julie Andrews cheering up unhappy children by singing, “Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens…” I learned then that remembering the little things I most loved was a great way to lift my spirits out of the doldrums. Perhaps that’s why I collect vintage textiles – they remind me of the best things in life.

Turkish Prayer Rug

Like this small prayer rug, probably woven by a girl not a lot older than I was when I saw that movie. Turkish village girls would start learning to weave practically as soon as they could walk and talk, so that by the time they were old enough to marry, their dowries would be complete.

Prayer Rug Tree of Life Medallion

Prayer rugs were not only good training for larger carpets; they were something every person in the home would need for their prayers five times a day. This central medallion is full of Tree of Life symbolism, to remind those who saw it to appreciate their connectedness to all those relatives in the village who nurtured their roots in life.


Hearts, floral vines and zigzags of fresh water were other reminders, along with the waxing and waning moons over the mountains as a sign of how fast time flies.

Long Kurdish Kilim Runner

Near Mount Ararat in Eastern Anatolia, Kurdish tribes would weave pairs of animals into their colorful wool kilims to recall the story of how Noah was commanded by God to collect two of every animal on the earth and take them along in the Ark.

Animals Depicted in the Kilim,
Important in the Weaver's Life

Chickens and ducks must have been an important part of this weaver’s daily life, though all sorts of farm animals are depicted here.

Woven Flowers, Representing Beauty and Abundance

And of course, flowers were almost always woven in, as a sign of appreciation for abundance and beauty. But my favorites are suzanis, especially this one:

40 Yr Old Suzani

Embroidered in Central Asia more than 40 years ago, it is a veritable Garden of Eden. Comprised entirely of flowers, leaves and tendrils in hot pinks, oranges and pungent greens, just looking at it makes me smile.


The embroiderer who drew the pattern was ambitious in the amount of detail she added. She and the friends who must have helped her did not complete stitching all the curling bits and pieces, so ink marks are still evident.

Ink marks still evident on this Suzani from the 1960's.

What fiber artist can’t relate to starting such a large project and never getting it all done?

I marvel that the backs of suzanis look nearly as good as the fronts:

The backs of Suzani embroideries are almost as solid as the fronts.

The edges are bound in a contrasting color cotton and machine stitched, but in controlled wavy patterns that would not be so easy to do.


The embroiderers did manage to stitch outlines around the border leaves. My favorite details are the chain stitched bands that enclose the border, so precisely executed they look knitted.

Scorch marks from an iron add history and character to this suzani.

Alas, someone once took a too-hot iron to the heavy sateen that I think is silk, though it may well be cotton…I’ve never snipped a piece to burn and find out. Much of the pale background is covered with scorch marks, and there are occasional stains that show that I’m not the first woman to love this suzani. Though disparaged in today’s world in which everything and everyone must be without flaw, to me, this suzani’s imperfections give it an extra layer of character on top of the beautiful embroidery. Like my favorite things in life, I’ll take the bitter with the sweet.

These three treasures can be found in my Etsy shop, along with lots of other vintage fiber art finds. Click on their names to visit the listing:

Prayer Rug

Ararat Kilim Runner

Suzani

Catherine Salter Bayar lives with her husband Abit in Selcuk, near Ephesus, Turkey, where they own a vintage textile shop and a water pipe & wine bar. A regular contributor of this blog, Catherine is also a member of our Fiber Focus group. She is currently working on a book on Turkish textiles. Visit Catherine and Abit at www.bazaarbayar.com or www.bazaarbayar.etsy.com.




Visit us: Ataturk Mahallesi, Siegburg Caddesi, 3 Selcuk 35920 Izmir Turkey
Phone: 90.232.892.6508

Prayer Rugs, Kilims & Suzanis, A Few of My Favorite Things by Catherine Salter Bayar

Selcuk: An Aegean Home to Art, by Catherine Salter Bayar

A western view of Ayasuluk Hill, from the Basilica of St John.

The historical valley on Turkey’s West Coast where we live has more than its share of diverse cultural attractions – from centuries of wonders at Ephesus, a city founded by a mythical tribe of women warriors known as Amazons, embellished by King Croesus, liberated by Alexander the Great and nearly as important as Rome, to the tomb of Jesus’ favorite disciple and last home of the Virgin Mary, both sites of Christian pilgrimage, as well as a charming Ottoman village best known for its traditional pleasures of homemade wines and handmade lace.

Colorful neckpieces of silk, oya lace and embroidery.

Nestled amid olive and pine tree-covered mountains, mandarin orange and peach groves, the roughly 12 square-mile Selçuk area’s vast offerings are completed by a wide sandy beach along the blue Aegean Sea. Named for the pre-Ottoman Turks and pronounced “Sel-chuk”, through millennia this region has been home to the Hittites, Carians, Lydians, Persians, as well as the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Turks. Each culture has left its mark on the people who live here now, though the handcrafts of the past are quickly becoming only marketing tools to attract tourists, as modern generations have few opportunities to make a living though the arts.

Today, travelers visit the ruins of Ephesus, the best preserved Greco-Roman city in the Eastern Mediterranean:

Or, they visit the last standing column and a half of the ancient Seven Wonder Temple of Artemis, built to honor the Artemis of Ephesus, the goddess combination of the Greek Artemis, goddess of the moon, the hunt and fertility, and the Anatolian mother goddess Kybele.


This ancient temple, four times the size of the Parthenon in Athens, stood on the southwestern slope of Ayasuluk Hill. The Temple served as both religious institution and marketplace, visited by pilgrims, tourists and merchants from the far reaches of the known world, as long ago as 550BC. Ayasuluk Hill is also home to a Byzantine fortress, the 14th C Isa Bey Mosque, and the 6th C Basilica of St John, all above.

Travelers can also brandish replicas of gladiator’s weapons at the Selçuk Ephesus Museum, sip cold mountain spring water from the well at the Virgin Mary’s chapel, and wander the stony lanes in the hillside village of Sirince or our larger town of Selçuk, to mix with the locals and experience how people live here now.


Selçuk is inhabited year-round by a pleasant mix of farmers and business people, tourists and travelers, and a growing expatriate community. The town is easily accessible by bus, train or car from big city Izmir’s airport 37 miles north, or from the Aegean port town Kusadasi 12 miles south. All sites of interest are within walking distance from the town center or a short minibus ride away. Visitors stay in hospitable family-run hotels of antique-filled, traditional-style stone, or modern accommodations with sweeping roof terrace views.

Restaurants serve savory home-cooked Turkish food and a farmer’s market every Saturday abounds in fresh, locally grown produce.


Tall stone Byzantine aqueducts bisect the town, supporting massive stork nests for the revered migratory birds, and propping up my favorite old Ottoman house, which in my ten years here has perpetually been on the verge of falling down. All centered on cobbled walking streets, making Selçuk the perfect travel base and a peaceful respite from the congested Aegean coastal towns.

If this all sounds like a tourism pitch, I suppose it is. For you see, I have a dream for the future of sustainable tourism here, a dream that is shared by a few other small business owners - all women - who also work with local artisans.

A Turkish wish tree – tie a piece of fabric,
make a wish, and your dream will come true…

Our dream is reclaim our valley in the name of handcrafts. Yes, we have ‘carpet villages’, places where women demonstrate the art of weaving to busloads of captive tourists. But how about staying in a small hillside neighborhood of winding lanes and old houses, with workshops where visitors spend a week learning how to shear a sheep, card wool, spin yarn, pick berries, roots and other materials to dye it, and develop the skill of tying a Turkish double knot?

The Isa Bey Mosque, built in 1375 by the Anatolian Selçuk Turks
from remnants of Ephesus and Basilica stone,
is an asymmetrical mix of Selçuk and Ottoman architecture,
with excellent carved decorations, a peaceful courtyard and
lovely old prayer carpets for inspiration.

Or, how about lace making classes? Plenty of Turkish women still make oya, the crocheted lace that traditionally edges headscarves and speaks a floral language that only other women of the same village can understand.

Other regions of the world offer knitting tours – why not learn to make these colorful multi-patterned socks? Or the art of feltmaking, more of a southeastern Turkish art, but a practical one that uses every last fiber of wool after spinning and carpet weaving is done.

Other arts abound as well. Our local spoon carver loves to show visitors how he whittles wood into a kitchen utensil that could last a lifetime:

There is always the ancient art of mosaics:

The sidewalks in Ephesus, where terraced courtyard houses were once occupied by the wealthy, are still complete with intricate mosaic floors and frescoed walls. Nowhere other than Pompeii do today’s visitors have such an excellent chance to experience life in the ancient world.

Selçuk surrounds Ayasuluk Hill, site of the first city of Ephesus, where artifacts dating to the Bronze Age of 6,000 BC have been uncovered. This is also the hill where we live, in a 70 year old stone house, just visible to the right with the red tile roof. With the wealth of antiquities here, few people live in houses as old of ours, a fact which I find ironic and also sad. The past is preserved only for tourists to visit, but why can’t we live there as well? Why not recreate this ancient hill, now home to immigrants from the east and gentrifying big city Turks and foreigners? Let us reclaim these old houses and fill the lanes with artisans’ workshops, creating jobs, training future generations and giving visitors hands-on experience in the ways things used to be made!

Saint John the Evangelist, favorite of Jesus and only disciple to attend his crucifixion, with his important role in disseminating Christianity and writing the Book of Revelation, is buried on Ayasuluk Hill, according to several early Christian writers. In the 6th century AD, Emperor Justinian built an enormous Basilica over an earlier 4th C church. Many of the stone walls, strikingly contrasted by horizontal rows of red brick, still stand. From the terrace, there is a wonderful view of Selçuk, the Ephesian Plain and the Aegean, especially at sunset.

Throughout the year, Selçuk holds festivals celebrating local culture. In January, camel wrestling is held near the beach. The traditional and colorful competition sports large beasts decorated in their finest kilims and tassels. While thousands of people come from all over to watch these beasts wrangle necks and kick up dust, it’s far more fascinating for me to see what the camels will be wearing.

May and September host art, music, dance and handicraft festivals which are gaining more interest each year. But someday soon perhaps we shop owners of Selcuk will come together and request that Ayasuluk Hill be made an artists’ district. Visitors could then come out from behind the glass windows of their big tourist buses and interact directly with the artisans – the carpet weavers, lace makers, copper workers, wood carvers, mosaic setters – and feel truly a part of the past here for a time, not just looking in as observers.

Catherine Salter Bayar lives with her husband Abit in Selcuk, near Ephesus, Turkey, where they own a vintage textile shop and a water pipe & wine bar. Catherine is currently working on a book on Turkish textiles. Visit them at www.bazaarbayar.com or www.bazaarbayar.etsy.com.

Selcuk: An Aegean Home to Art, by Catherine Salter Bayar

The Artist in Her Space: Creative Essence

Many years ago, my mother gave me a cute ceramic wall plaque that said something like "Creative Minds Mean Messy Spaces". Well, it's true in my case. I tend to let things pile up. And, I have a lot of stuff. Sometimes I think I would find freedom in just walking away from it all. If I did, I know that I would just start accumulating supplies all over again! A quilter needs her stash, a painter needs her paints, and we all find treasures that to someone else might just be trash.

I put the word out that I wanted to see people's creative spaces. I think it's important for everyone who is making things to have a space that is theirs for their work. I was extremely pleased with the response. It's so interesting to see how each woman (these all happen to be women) claim their corner, their room, their studio as her own. Some are neat and tidy. A few are so beautiful I would be afraid to sneeze in them. Others, like me, pile it up to the ceiling!

The photos are interspersed with quotes that have nothing to do with the images before or after them. I just thought it would be interesting to see these words on space and art mixed in, kind of creating a collage of thoughts and places. Visit the studio links to see what the final product is of each space! Can you guess what they make by how the studio looks?

Most of the photos will enlarge if you click on them...

Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music - the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself.
Henry Miller (1891 - 1980)

ART CREATED BY AHNA & JIMI

Although I am no longer in this space, it is one that I loved for 2 years. What you don't see is the view onto my garden that I designed and created as well (rock walls and a small pond). The only down side was that this work space was in my bedroom that I took over for a small studio. I'm still in the process of moving so next time; new picture.

Links: http://ArtCreated.com
Location: Northern California, USA

Art is making something out of nothing
and selling it.
Frank Zappa (1940 - 1993)

There ought to be a room in every house
to swear in.
Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

KATHY MCNEIL

Well, it so happens that we are just finishing my new studio. You can see a large design wall in the back ground. There will be a light table and the cutting table will be on lockable wheels so it can move about the room. I will be teaching classes at home, so there is an outlet in the floor under the large cutting table where everyone can put their machines. Great lighting with track lighting and another wire fabric rack to still come.

Links: www.kathymcneilquilts.com
Location: Marysville, Washington, USA
FIBER FOCUS MEMBER

At moments of great enthusiasm it seems to me that no one in the world has ever made something this beautiful and important.
M.C. Escher

CHARMAINE MANLEY DESIGN

As a firm believer in color therapy, I love my work space....bright, happy, and filled with artwork from women I admire. Sadly, it only looked this good for the photoshoot....normally it is chaos. When the desk is actually clear, I use it as my creative work space. Lately I've been messing around with jewelry, trying to figure out a good wire wrapping technique. The computer (an eight year old PC) sits to the right of the chair along with the printer/scanner/copier. Most of my correspondence and other computer work is now done on my MacBook found in the living room next to my favorite chair. With the addition of the laptop, the need to be in my real office has diminished considerably. It still makes me happy though.

Links: http://charmainemanleydesign.com
Location: Central Oregon
FIBER FOCUS MEMBER

Believe it or not, I can actually draw.
Michelangelo

CATHERINE SALTER BAYAR/BAZAAR BAYAR VINTAGE TEXTILES & JEWELRY

I am definitely NOT a morning person. So, this light-filled, east-facing room with the adjacent outdoor terrace would fabulous to work in - IF I were truly awake and at my creative best! This room doubles as our living room, so imagine a sofa, table and overstuffed bookcases in the opposite corner of this 13' x 18' space. And plastic bins full of fabrics, beads, yarns and such stacked high behind a door in the next room. The old tile floors are great to spread things out on once I roll back the kilim, and that trunk in the corner is not usually that uncluttered! The worst thing about this room is that those double doors are the only source of natural light, so afternoons are too dark to work here. I don't open my shop in town until well after lunch, so I work here at home (along with a BIG pot of coffee) on various textile related projects til then. My Singer sewing machine, purchased here in Turkey about 8 years ago, actually has the option to run without electricity with an old fashioned foot treadle. Very handy if the power's out, or we decide to become real nomads one day and live in a goat hair tent...

Links: www.bazaarbayar.etsy.com
http://fiberfocus.blogspot.com/search/label/Catherine%20Salter%20Bayar
Location: Selcuk/Ephesus, Turkey
FIBER FOCUS MEMBER

I see more and more that my work goes infinitely better when I am properly fed, and the paints are there, and the studio and all that. But have I set my heart on my work being a success? A thousand times no. I wish I could manage to make you really understand that when you give money to artists, you are yourself doing an artist's work, and that I only want my pictures to be of such a quality that you will not be too dissatisfied with your work.
Vincent van Gogh

CHRISSIE DAY

After years of finding space by an armchair or on a kitchen table whilst bringing up 2 children who seemed to take over ALL my house during there formative years I promised myself a studio in my garden with room for knitting yarn ,painting table ,etc etc you get the picture.

So now i have the studio in the garden the kids are grown i can Please myself what i do and guess where i do my best work ????? when sitting in my armchair or doodling at the kitchen table so there you go it makes a great store room but i do n ot work in there all the time .having said that i do love to be in there with the buttons ,silks, wools ,cottons, haberdashery bits ,jars of needles, sewing machines ,sketch books, paints and hearing the rain on the roof or the wind making the weeping cedar bang on the window and scare me.

'In truth be careful what you wish for you just might get it'

Links: http://www.chrissieday.wordpress.com
http://www.chrissieday.co.uk
Location: United Kingdom
FIBER FOCUS MEMBER

Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.
Twyla Tharp

ARTWORK BY SARAH

I had this studio space for 5 years, here in Melbourne, in the city. It took me those 5 years to get the space looking how you see it in the picture....a collection. Things I have received as gifts from people, things that I have found in junk stores & from my travels. I love opp shops & second hand stores. I collect sculptures from my travels...Mexico, Italy , Indonesia. (I lived in San Miguel De Allende in Mexico for 5 months. I brought back loads of trinkets depicting 'tribe'...papier mache, ceramics, drawings. I also love Bali. You can see the carved wooden flying mermaid suspended from the ceiling in the photo. The studio was a representation of me.... Much of the trinkets, dolls (I collect these too) are depicted in my paintings & drawings.

I had to shut studio in order to move on, to go overseas. I feel a need for new inspiration for my artistic endeavors.

I have an affinity for Mexico...I will be travelling back to San Miguel De Allende. I feel this way because I'm so drawn to the art & culture. I love the richness & opulence of the festivities. I had the priviledge of being part of the Day Of The Dead in Patzcuaro. I sat in the candle lit cemetary with the locals of the island of Janitizio, was incredible. I also took part in the 'Posada De La Navidad' in San Miguel DeAllende...a celebration of Christmas festival.These are the experiences which have influenced my artwork. My work is also very personal. I don't really consider it to be decorative so to speak....even though it may look 'pretty'. Its a depiction or interpretation of my childhood memories...ficticious/fantasy characters such as 'Merman'....I spent much time playing alone as a child, so I would sew & draw by myself. I also depict my loved ones, people in my life, my experience with them, happy or painful. My drawings& paintings depict feelings of happiness, grief, loss, & joy. So there you have it! This may give you some idea what I'm about....

Links: http://artworkbysarah.blogspot.com
www.flickr.com/photos/sarahs_artwork
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Very few people possess true artistic ability. It is therefore both unseemly and unproductive to irritate the situation by making an effort. If you have a burning, restless urge to write or paint, simply eat something sweet and the feeling will pass. Fran Lebowitz

JADED WOLF STUDIOS-CHRISTINA MARTINEZ

This is my humble and crowded studio I refer to it as the wolf den. My little studio is a 10x10 bedroom. I have supplies in here for everything from painting, drawing, digital work, sculpting, shipping, and paper supplies. I somehow managed to fit in a "dorm" sized recliner (which I'm hardly ever in!) and an Elliptical machine. I fit all my electronics like the computer, its equipment, and the TV, DVR, and Stereo into my little closet cove. I wish I had more room of course, a walk-in closet for storage, and larger windows for better light.... but it works!

Links: http://weblog.xanga.com/JadedWolfStudios
JadedWolfStudios.etsy.com
Location: Fresno, California, USA

What art offers is space - a certain breathing room for the spirit.
John Updike

PAM HEAVRIN

What I love most about my 12' x 22' studio work space is this very large table that my husband builtfor me 16 years ago. It's 4' by 10', there is a shelf under it the same size and floor space under that. I have concrete floors since it's a converted garage. So, for warmth in the winter months, I need carpet. Next on my wish list is to get new carpet. My other favorite things are the three cushionedmats I bought from a beauty supply business. They have made a difference in how my legs feel at the end of the day.

Location: Paducah, Kentucky, USA
FIBER FOCUS MEMBER

Art is a kind of illness.
Giacomo Puccini

The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.
Rumi

OLIVE AND OLLIE

We live in a 100+ year old house. It still has so much charm and character, but it's been updated in all the right spots, like the kitchen and baths. My studio is in the dining room right now, so I can get some work done during the day while staying home with my two small children. Most of the time it's pretty messy, with piles of fabric and scraps around because I keep things out while I'm working, since I usually only have a few minutes at a time to jump on projects. But, I think it has just the right mix of traditional and modern, old and new that I instill in my creations.

Links: www.oliveandollie.etsy.com
www.oliveandollie.blogspot.com
Location: I'm just outside of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.

I don't believe in total freedom for the artist. Left on his own, free to do anything he likes, the artist ends up doing nothing at all. If there's one thing that's dangerous for an artist, it's precisely this question of total freedom, waiting for inspiration and all the rest of it.
Federico Fellini (1920 - 1993)

ADELE THOMAS TEXTILE ART

I used to have fairies at the bottom of the garden, they lived quite happily with my return to nature corner of the garden along with the butterflies and spiders. I then decided after a very long spell away, to return to textiles after a parenting class had taught me to do what used to make me happy. I had taken over the whole of the living room with all my bits and pieces when it became obvious I needed a separate workplace. So this is my shed at the bottom of the garden with the chaos of too many things being dumped after demonstrations and not enough time to tidy away. I love my own workspace but I have found being in my shed a little isolating from the rest of the family. I have a lovely view across fields to the Exe estuary though, I think I am quite spoilt. I try to post regularly on my blog with my latest creations and discoveries, especially now I have finished the City and Guilds course. Keep stitching , Adele X

Links: adelethomas.blogspot.com
Location: Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom
FIBER FOCUS MEMBER

It doesn't matter if people are interested. It's about you taking your stuff and shouting out into the void.
Jadelr and Cristina Cordova, 07-11-2006

LINDA LYNCH

I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my studio! I am a compulsive organizer. I get crazed while creating and make a gigantic mess until I complete my project, and then it all gets put away, maybe not right away..... My studio is my "sanity site." I can be me without any holding back. I sew, I paint, I pound on metal, I knit, I collage, I glue, I scrapbook, I embroider, I felt, and so much more!

Links: www.lindalynch.com

http://wwwlindalynch.blogspot.com

http://www.picturetrail.com/lindalynch
Location: Couer D'Alene, Idaho, USA
FIBER FOCUS MEMBER

To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.
Thomas A. Edison (1847 - 1931)

Lord Ronald said nothing; he flung himself from the room, flung himself upon his horse and rode madly off in all directions.
Stephen Leacock (1869 - 1944)

DREAMWOVEN

Space.............. the final frontier.

This is a collage of my space. This was prior to the 'big clean up". I had a studio built onto the house at the end of 2006, fully completed (with bamboo flooring, yum) by Feb 2007. Within a period of 3 months, I had outgrown it. Prior to that time, for at least 8 years, I had traveling studio space. It moved wherever I was comfortable, the dining room bearing the brunt of it. This last July I decided to split up my studio.... the real impetus was an 18 year old daughter who had vacated her room. I swooped in and made it mine. Now I have my studio where I do my paperwork and finishing work on my pieces as well as photography and shipping and I have a room for inventory and a wall to display a lot of the hand dyed yarns that I use. I am not a neat worker. In fact, once I cleaned up the studio and the inventory room, I could not create anything. Hence, my 'space' reference in the title. I work well with the "Big Bang Theory". As soon as I started bringing things in and laying them on the table in the studio, hanging them on hooks, placing them on cabinets, draping them on my chair, etc., pieces started to come together. If it is clean and tidy, I can't work. My brain is the same way. It is rarely, if ever, clean and tidy. It moves fast, makes connections on the cuff, searches out specifics and bundles ideas up so that I can use them. My work space is the same way.

Links: http://DreamWoven.blogspot.com
http://DreamWoven.com
http://DreamWoven.Etsy.com
http://DreamWovenSupplies.Etsy.com
Location: (She's in California, USA)
FIBER FOCUS MEMBER

If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind,
what is the significance of a clean desk?
Laurence J. Peter (1919 - 1988)

VICKI DUNK

I love that i have a space to mostly call my own, but it is too small, especially when the kids are in there with me. My hubby says to ban them from the room, at first I didn't do this, they make me feel so guilty when I don't let them in, but now I really have to - they just make too much mess and take up too much room and distract me way too much (again with the guilt).

My favourite things in the room are my sewing machine and the fold out table that my dad built for me. It is at bench height rather than desk height so I can stand up and work when I want too - I really need a drafting chair as well, but it wouldn't fit in the room.

My dream studio would have a table for the kids, heaps of storage and display space, room to spread out a whole quilt and some nice comfy chairs so that my husband could sit and have a cuppa with me in there. I think my hubby should get me that dream studio for my big 4-0 this year!

Links: http://fiberartsmixedmedia.ning.com/profile/VickiDunk
Location: Townsville, Australia

You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet, still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.
Franz Kafka (1883 - 1924)

CHRISTINA SILVERIO/HOYDEN DESIGNS

I love my workspace! It's right in the middle of all the family commotion. It's so inspiring for me to be with my family while I'm creating. The house we live in is a 1915 era cottage and all of the wodwork is original. The little table that I keep my newest paintings on is actually my grandmothers old sewing table, with some vintage luggage next to it that I store supplies in, and I have another corner by the window that I've placed a comfy chair and table that I can paint at. I really couldn't ask for more; I love it!

Links: http://www.hoydendesigns.com/
http://www.hoydendesigns.blogspot.com/
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=59651
http://www.cafepress.com/hoydendesigns
Location: I live in the San Francisco Bay Area (California, USA). It's busy, but there are so many wonderful things close by that you can always find something fun to do.

You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day, where you don't know what was in the newspapers that morning... a place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are and what you might be. Joseph Campbell (1904 - 1987)

WATATU

As we have a web shop you can say our work place is mainly the cyber world. But we have an office, where we have the stock, and also in one corner a show room where our customers can come and try to see how to carry their baby. What we like most is when we go out and meet our customers during trade fairs or special events.

Links: www.watatu.com
Location: Vsterhaninge, Sweden
FIBER FOCUS MEMBER

The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.
Carl Jung (1875 - 1961)

CARYL BRYER FALLERT
/BRYERPATCH STUDIO

Caryl didn't submit a statement about her space, but she is a dear friend of mine and I know that this is her dream come true. Visit her website to see the rest of her wonderful space (and her gorgeous work!).

Links: http://www.bryerpatch.com/wkshops/BryerpatchStudioTour.htm
www.bryerpatch.com
Location: Paducah, Kentucky, USA
FIBER FOCUS MEMBER

My holy of holies is the human body, health, intelligence, talent, inspiration, love, and the most absolute freedom imaginable, freedom from violence and lies, no matter what form the latter two take. Such is the program I would adhere to if I were a major artist.
Anton Chekhov, 1888

RAYELA ART

Well, finally there is my space. Hmmmm... that phrase has been taken, hasn't it? This photo shows what would have been the dining room in a "normal" house. Ha! This is where I sew and where I pack product from online sales. These plastic bins you see are in every room except kitchen and bath. The computer is in the bedroom. I share my space with four monster dogs. That's Juba, there. It's a constant war against chaos. Unlike DreamWoven, who says she thrives in it, if things get too out of control, I can't think straight. I long for a wall where I can pin up queen size fabrics, for a table big enough to spread a large quilt out and more than anything, a space which I can close the door on. I feel kind of guilty because so many people around the world have so much less and I want so much more. But, on the other hand, the whole state of Kentucky has less people than metro-Chicago, where I came from, so there is room to spread out here. All I know is that home is where my stuff is!

Links: http://www.rayela/etsy.com
http://stores.ebay.com/RayelArt
www. the page you are looking at (Fiber Focus)
Location: Paducah, Kentucky, USA
FIBER FOCUS MEMBER

Note: Whew! This took a lot longer than expected. Please let me know if I made any mistakes. It was a challenge keeping everybody's info straight!

The Artist in Her Space: Creative Essence