For the last few weeks I’ve been working on Shibori wool samples. I enrolled in a local workshop guided by very knowledgeable artisan Anja Musek from AMUSE.
The process is quite simple but requests some practice (ok, a lot of it :D ). Firstly, you prepare pre-felt (by wet felting) which you then manipulate with thread into desired looks via folds and wrinkles or captured buttons and marbles or other smooth objects, between these folds and gatherings.
Then you wet felt it fully, dry it, take the stitches out and admire what stayed, what worked, what disappeared and well, you know… you enjoy the whole process and all the sparks it lights up in you.
It also happened, for the first time in years, that I was forced to work on something for longer, or better, via multiple iterations. I just don’t do this in my creative practice really but it proved itself useful. The samples taught us about the behavior of the technique, different wools performed differently, and folds and gathers took more or less of the wool from the perfectly made squares, which made all the difference in the end.
We knew we were working towards one final piece that would be exhibited. Anja’s idea was to make abstract landscapes and she provided gorgeous photo inspirations for them. But :D I got a very different idea and ran with it. And oh my, did it open more doors which I will not reveal just yet but I will say this: everything is really exciting to me. As are all of my ideas, so I better not jinx it and instead, stay with it and make it real. Sooner than later this time ;)
We are going to have a small exhibition in Škofja Loka with what we made. All the samples got their own wooly books that each of us tackled differently (I haven’t seen anyone’s yet and I am very curious what they look like). Anja prepared the signatures and covers for all of us, so the base is going to be the same but the final results will still get quite a bit of personalization I believe, and this is the part I love the most.
I will share photos from the exhibition in my next post and also more photos of what I made but for now, I’ll hold back.
It’s the same thing as with prompts - everyone starts with the same seed but then results vary hugely. It’s fascinating to me how we all take these things and add ourselves into the process and the final result.
Last week’s glimmer or spark from the Creative 2026 was “Beetle”. And just as with the rest of the prompts, it stayed with me in the background, subtly following me in the non-visible layers. Well, to be honest, I did see a beetle on Monday when the week started and then had another one following me home but I’m talking about something else here.
Beetles are little chubby fellas that just keep going. They are grounded, mostly, don’t seem to be bothered by much and they just keep doing what they do. Well, I guess I can say this for pretty much every animal but… it was The Beetle week so I stayed with it :)
But…
we are entering the week of The Nest now and I already heard some tweets on my balcony, that heavily suggested, I have a nest right above my head somewhere - among the roof tiles or in the edges of the roof or who knows where. I sure hope to see which birds are my neighbors so I’m hoping they show themselves. They must be tiny though. I think :D
I’ll also be pondering about nests this week and what exactly they speak about.
I hope you’re doing well and that your creative practice is still with you, no matter how short/small/tiny. I am seeing, again and again, that for me, it is the ultimate connection to everything I fundamentally am, and I don’t think it applies only to me. With this said, I better get on with my projects ;)
See you soon my creative friend, keep connecting.
With much love,
Nina
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