Alchemy of plants continues

I keep on studying plants and their properties. And having dreams of their roots, leaves and blossoms at night, as well as their latin and common names spining in my head while I sleep.

And getting amazed how blind I have been walking on the green grass and seeing just a green grass before when I see hundreds of different species of our green world now...

My experiments with eco / plant dyeing continue

with my nuno felt shawl "Tale of Gold" that has a memory of many kinds of plants - their blossoms and leaves.

and another wild and elegant bracelet from rare Drenthe Heath wool, merino wool, silk (all dyed with plants) and amber - "Desert Kings and Queens"

P.S. Many thanks to all of you for featuring my work again on:

ecco*eco by Abigail Doan

paulaartonetsy by Paula McCullough

blueberryshoes by Hollie Sturgeon

Back from Heaven

There are certain places in the World where you reconnect with your inner self and mother Nature. Certain places that purify your heart, mind and soul. Places that get into your heart. Places where you feel Majesty of Life.
Places like a top of the Dead Dunes in the Curonian Spit...
Photo by Marius Jovaisa. Kopa Naglių rezervate.

I've been there again. And I can say - I am back from Heaven now...

Alchemy of blossoms

For the last few weeks I've been collecting samples of various kinds of plants - blossoms and leaves (as well as scrap metals). Another dare for the pretender? Yes.

Discovering the world of botanics. I've always been interested in plants, their use for medicine purpose, always experimenting with growing plants from the seeds. But this time I am interested in pigments they hold. Colour. The colour of Universe.

I've started my eco series with plant dyeing that I called "Memories". Everything around us has memory. Starting from memories in our mind, memories of our skin sensing a touch, memories of water of any kind of vibration met in its way and...memories of the cloth that once embraced the fruits of Mother Earth - blossoms, leaves, berries, fruits, wood, mud, coal or even blood.. and left its traces. And memories of those same blossoms and leaves of the wild and endless fields, meadows, forests, open sky, rain, soil, wind or touch of a bee. All of those memories harboured in the same piece of cloth...

I gathered some pieces of our Universe...

And started my eco series with eco printing and dyeing. Just 3 plants from those produced clear visible colours, but it was a real alchemy - memories expressed in sand, maroon, grey, green and eggplant colours in a top "Linden Lea". And it smelled divine...

White. Like 20 kg of snow in the Summer

White white and white. White is purity and innosence. White is kindness, wholeness and completion. White purifies your soul... like 20 kg of snow in the Summer...

I've been working a lot with white recently. Taking new photos of my white rug "Wind in the desert", felting a white christening outfit for a little girl and a white wedding dress for the "Bride of the Clouds"...

And dreaming white dreams... trying to purify my soul and heart from all the inquietudes it's got...

I miss snow in the Summer. (Ironically - I miss Summer blooming in the Winter...) I miss white all around me. Could you send me 20 kg of snow in the port?..

P.S. Discovering myself featured in Alcova Moderna was a pleasant surprise.

The Pretender. Life of Learning

In 1996-2000 there were TV series shown - "The Pretender" - about the man genius who could be anyone he wanted, i.e. he could "flawlessly impersonate anyone in virtually any line of work".

What is the ability of a genius, is also an ability of every man but to different extent. At least I believe in this. So it wasn't just a charismatic look of the Pretender (Michael T. Weiss) that would grip you watching the series, but the idea of this human potential of becoming anyone he wanted in professional level and in the same life time.

Anyone who has changed his occupation, profession or interest field in life at least once do have this feeling of being a "pretender" and have motioned the human potential of being anyone desired. The extent of it depends individually, of course.

I have had this strong feeling of being a "pretender" several times in my life. Being a dancer from my early childhood years led me to dream only about a career of a dancer and seek perfectionism in it, though in my late teenage year I found passion for photography that I think was in the family as my father has been an amateur self taught photographer having his own old photo making equipment, chemicals, films, shiny papers, dark room...that all built into some magical sense for me as being a child. I didn't go into deep at photography at that time and I have even lost my black and white films and photos of that time.

My biggest transformation was leaving a career of a dancer for study of psychology - I took my BA and MA degree in it and I can say I was passionate about it and yes, I was good at it. I knew I could do a lot in this field. If I wanted to... And that's where I had my first doubts. I sacrificed my biggest passion - dance for psychology (and always had a feeling of being a bird with cut wings since then) and suddenly found myself in doubt if it really was the field I want to devote myself to... This was the point in life where I started my dance therapy groups and my new passionate study on merging dance, art, expression and psychology.

My second biggest transformation was finding textiles - felt and becoming - an artist? self taught. artistic soul? I haven't actually found the right word for myself till now.

I knew so little about textile before and suddenly I was so into it spending days and nights studying and practicing it on my own, experimenting, trying to feel it.

I do feel I am doing the right thing at the right time of my life now. I enjoy discovering the textile world and feel it is so strongly connected with discovering world itself, nature and life. And being a therapy for one's soul as I once said...

What actually made me think of the human potential for "pretending" (which is actually not the direct meaning of pretending to be someone you are not, but in the meaning used in the series - really becoming someone else) was my renewed interest in photography. I must say I don't know any technical rules, even any basics of it, I usually shoot driven by feelings, by something one can only sense without any scientific explanations. And suddenly I wanted to know it all, not just experiment with setting different numbers on my camera, but know what those numbers mean and what exactly I am doing.

I spent a couple of evenings trying to make several self portraits and just got a feeling that I would need another lifetime for discovering what photography really was... Or just felt too tired yet for another potential of being a pretender again in my life.

And there are so many other things I still want to learn and keep on discovering... that it really blows my mind how other humans manage to learn and keep all the information, and skills they develop in so many fields in the same life time... And where do they get all the time in the world for doing that?

We are learning all our life and after. Learning on its' global perspective is living... But I would need hundreds of life times for learning everything I want now... Yet it doesn't prevent me from enjoying those few things that I've learned in life and keep on doing. And it leads to belief that every minute left of this life time would be full of joy of discovery.

And yet I do get confused when someone asks me now - who are you?..

A "pretender", I guess.

e c c o * e c o. Featured by Abigail Doan

Recently I made a contact with very special environmental artist and writer Abigail Doan, the editor of e c c o * e c o. As she states on her profile: "I am a writer, editor, and environmental artist residing in NYC, Sofia, and rural Italy. My eco-textile and art farming projects are a means to create sustainable solutions and key visual links to the global challenges we collectively face. I am also a mother of twins." 

Conflux 2008/'Urban Fiber Flotsam' 9/13.08 (photography by Meiling Chen)

Abigail caught my view with her sensual, fragile, tactile fibre art installations and projects that merge with the surrounding space and become a natural continuation of the nature. Abigail entangles her ideas of "environmental tinkering and sustainable practice" into her projects.

She is also the editor of the blog e c c o * e c o that covers original and organic designs, fashion and art. So I was definetly honoured to have my work featured on Abigail's blog:

"Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Vilte's Lithuanian Felt Magic

I am so thrilled to have recently made contact with Vilte Kazlauskaite, a super talented eco fashion-forward felter from Lithuania. Her one-of-a-kind felted wool, silk, flax and other natural material creations are totally handmade and part of a long tradition of fiber art in her exotic homeland.

Vilte states, "I started my journey into magical world of felt about three years ago. I was a psychologist and dance therapist before then. Felting became an important part of my life. I got so into it that I also published a book, Veltinis ("Felt") about the unique felting technique in Lithuania, the first book of its kind covering this form of textile art."

I love the spirit of Vilte's designs and the sustainable alchemy that she so effortlessly conjures. Her entire collection is an inspiring example of the future of contemporary fashion being rooted in indigenous methods and earth friendly goodness.






* above images courtesy of Vilte Kazlauskaite
* visit Vilte's blog and 'felt magic' etsy shop

Posted by Abigail Doan at 11:23 PM "

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Abigail Doan – į aplinką orientuota tekstilininkė-menininkė, rašytoja ir etiškos ir ekologiškos mados dienoraščio ecco*eco redaktorė, gyvenanti New York’e, Sofijoje ir Italijoje.

Abigail instaliacijos – itin jautrios, trapios, taktiliškos, įsiliejančios į aplinką ir ją pratęsiančios.

Labai vertinu tai, jog tokie kūrybiški žmonės kaip Abigail pristato mano darbus savo dienoraštyje. Ačiū, Abigail!