Spring is at our doors as well as lots of snow and I thought to start the new season with a very inspiring project that I’m very passionate about.
I’ve put together a series of 10 interviews with makers & artists, all over the world, to discover how their creative journey started, what inspires them and if they could share with us their top tips.
Every week, starting the 1st March, you will find their stories and samples of their work, here.
I hope you will enjoy reading them and most of all I’m hoping they will inspire you to take that leap, have faith in your ability and have courage to start your own creative journey #startacreativejourney.
image credit: Annie Martin
This week we are talking with . I discovered her work on Instagram as she started her project ‘The Years of Knots’ and I got addicted to all her beautiful, sometimes simple sometimes interacted knots.
Even though her project is now finished, she works on commission pieces that blow my mind every time I see them! Perhaps because I’m a macrame artist myself, she is an idol to me, but I’m not the only one to think so. In fact she was recently voted by as one of the top 10 Influential Macrame Artists on Instagram. She is no doubt a master!
I was over the moon and dancing, when Windy agreed to take part to my Interview series!
Enjoy and comment below sharing your thoughts.
Hello Windy!
When did your creative journey start? I quit my corporate job at Apple in 2013. Knowing I wanted to work with my hands, but not knowing what form the work would take, the first thing I did was take workshops in everything that even slightly interested me, including ceramics, stone carving, LED lighting, interior design, block printing, weaving, and more. The only two things that I loved (and I loved them instantly) were wood carving and the macrame refresher class. Looking back now, it makes sense that these were the forms that stuck, because my father had been a woodworker and my mother had taught me macrame during its heyday in the 1970s. Somehow, through my rebellious teens and twenties, these forms were laying dormant inside. Once I had decided to make my creativity my priority in life, they came right out.
image credit: Windy Chain
Can you pick three words that describe how you feel when you are being creative? The only feeling that matters is being in flow, that state of blissful productivity where one is working at the forefront of ones capabilities, all cares and distractions fall away, and the pleasure is intrinsic to the activity. It’s the best feeling in the world.
As a creative where do you find your inspirations? The fiber sculptors who came before me. Massimo Vignelli. Nerdy math and science concepts. Functional knots begging to be looked at as aesthetic objects. But mostly the inspiration comes from the materials themselves. They somehow already know what they want to be.
image credit: Vero Kherian
What’s the most valuable tip you would give to an aspiring maker starting their own creative business? Make sure you love every part of the process of making your thing. If you love the result but dislike the process, that’s a red flag.
If you were not an artist, what would you love to be instead? I’ve already had two dream jobs in life — owning a record shop and curating apps and music at iTunes/Apple. This is my third dream job/life and there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing.
image credit: Windy Chain
