Eco dyeing. Happy Easter

Just can’t wait for the Summer when I will be collecting plants again and doing lots of solar dyeing with plants. What’s most exciting about eco dyeing with plants is that there’s always a factor of the unexpected. There are so many influences in this technique that dyeing becomes a close communication between the dyer and the nature.

I loved dyeing Easter eggs with plants this year as well.
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Laukiu nesulaukiu vasaros, kuomet vėl rinksiu augalus ir užsiimsiu dažymu jais. Toks dažymo būdas matyt labiausiai žavi savo nenuspėjamumo prieskoniu. Yra be galo daug veiksnių, kurie dažymą augalais paverčia artimu dažančiojo bendravimu su Gamta…
Šias Velykas  ir mūsų margučiai buvo numarginti augalais.

VILTE – new name and new logo

Some of you might have noticed that I’ve changed the name for my “brand” to VILTE.

VILTE was chosen as a “brand” name not just for it’s my name, but for its linguistic similarity to the word “vilt” (in Old Dutch it means “felt”) from which the Old English “felt” was actually derived. Having “felt” encoded in my name, I think it would have been a sin not to use it as a “brand” :)

My website address is also changing to http://www.vilte.net and it is going for a face lift. Very soon you will see a new design and a new concept of presenting my work!

And of course – I have a new logo that has already been noticed by the editor of my favourite eco minded fashion blog ECCO*ECO Abigail Doan who was so kind to put it to ECCO*ECO side bar! Thank you, Abigail!

And one more announcement to make – I have opened my own online store at bigcartel with prices in Euros at http://vilte.bigcartel.com

There won’t be many items listed for now as it’s a test, but anyway, you are very welcome to visit my store there. Payments are accepted via Paypal.

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Kai kurie iš jūsų tikriausiai jau pastebėjote, jog “persikrikštijau’ į VILTE.

Ne tik dėl to, jog tai mano vardas, matyt daugiausiai dėl to, jog VILTE lingvistiškai tokia panaši į senosios olandų kalbos žodį “vilt”, kuris reiškia “veltinį” (būtent iš “vilt” ir yra kilęs angliškas “felt”).  Tad jei jau mano varde užkoduotas veltinis, matyt nuodėmė būtų jo nepanaudoti kaip pavadinimo :)

Mano tinklapio adresas taip pat keičiasi į http://www.vilte.net Keisis ir jo išvaizda. Netgi visiškai netrukus.

Atsirado ir mano logotipas, kurį, kaip džiugu paminėti, pastebėjo eko mados blogo redaktorė Abigail Doan ir įtraukė į ECCO*ECO ! Ačiū, Abigail!

Na ir dar viena naujiena – atidaryta mano asmeninė parduotuvėlė tinkle http://vilte.bigcartel.com. Tiesa, tai daugiau eksperimentinis projektas ir pardavimui siūlomų daiktų skaičius bus nedidelis. Kainos pateiktos eurais, apmokėjimai  priimami Paypal sistema.

Growing Spring on my skin

  Fragile as the beauty can be. Tender sprouting of Spring on my skin.

Growing Spring on my skin

silk ponge, merino wool

eco dyed with plants

Workshop. Midwest Felting Symposium

If everything goes as it’s planned I will be teaching in Midwest Felting Symposium in Madison, WI (USA) this Summer – July 21-24, 2010.
I will be teaching:
working with raw wool in nuno felt
nuno felting and surface design – focus on different deapths of texture created by fabric usig several manipulation techniques
creative felt textures – bubbles, beads, craters

You can register for the classes at Midwest Felting Symposium webpage here.

I like it slow

It was like enlightening – I really don’t like to be pushed! I like it slow…

Slow fashion, slow art, slow cloth… Slow process. Whether it is the process of making or the process of thinking about it.

Any idea is like a baby who grows in his mother’s womb for a certain time until he is let out to the world. (Yet there are brainstorm ideas as well that are brilliant. But this is fast only on conscious level as any enlightening is a result of a long process hidden in the subconsciousness).

I’ve been told many times that my felt items seem to have special aura or soul, story behind them. I guess this comes from being slow with what I do and giving time for that soul of an item grow and develop.

I like taking my time for thinking about felt, sometimes even months or years. And though fast results are tempting I prefer it slow.

I’ve been thinking about this tunic for a boy for several months before I started making it. Though  the result might look simple, it really had a deeper meaning for me.

And this piece took about 3 months to dye with plants the way I wanted it. Another few months of thinking of using it in felting.

And this neck piece took 2 Summers of constant exposure to the Sun until it was bleached as white as I wanted it!

The bleacher would have done it in a day or so. But it wouldn’t have put any good energy or soul to the cloth…

Though I like being on Etsy, at some point it is out of my comfort zone as there’s so much pressure – list list list, upload, give new works every day if you don’t want to drown in the ocean of all items listed there. And it’s simply not my way of working. I am not baking pancakes… When I feel pressure (and again – it’s not the same thing as having to work for a thrilling project with a deadline that actually mobilizes all your inner processes, insights and effects the actual making with adrenaline), I start to rebel or shut myself inside and feel paralyzed, not being able to do a thing until I cure myself from any thoughts of pressure. Creative ideas are something like a fox and the Little Prince trying to domesticate each other, just a little step towards each other in a day.

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Kartais imi ir suvoki staiga – man tikrai nepatinka spaudimas! Patinka lėtumas…

Lėta mada, menas, lėtos medžiagos… Lėtas procesas. Ne tik lėtas darymo procesas, bet ir lėtas apmąstymo procesas.

Kiekviena idėja yra tarsi vaisius, augantis įsčiose tam tikrą laiką, kol yra paleidžiamas į pasaulį. (Žinoma, yra ir genialių žaibiškų idėjų-nušvitimų. Visgi jos yra greitos tik sąmoningame lygyje. Kiekvienas nušvitimas yra ilgo pasąmoninio proceso rezultatas).

Daug kartų teko girdėti, jog mano veltinio darbai turi ypatingą aurą, sielą, pasislėpusią juose istoriją. Tikriausiai tas jausmas gimsta iš lėtumo tame, ką darau – laiko, per kurį kiekvienas darbas vystosi ir auga.

Man reikia laiko galvojimui apie tai, ką aš darau. Kartais net mėnesių ar metų. Ir nors greiti rezultatai visuomet viliojantys, paprastai renkuosi lėtumą.

Daug mėnesių galvojau apie baltą komunijai skirtą tuniką vienam berniukui prieš pradėdama ją daryti. Nors galutinis rezultatas gali atrodyti paprastas, visgi man jame slypi daug gilesnė prasmė.

Dažymas augalais kartais trunka ir 3 mėnesius, kol išgauni tokius subtilius tonų perėjimus, kokių norisi. Dar keli mėnesiai skiriami apmąstymams, kokiam veltinio objektui skirtas tas medžiagos gabalėlis.

Išbalinti balikliu turbūt galima per parą, tačiau kartais prireikia 2 saulėtų vasarų, kad saulės išbalintas šilkas ir vilna įgytų tą teigiamą energiją, dvasią, kurią, tikiu, sugeria iš saulės…

Buvimas Etsyje labai dviprasmiškas. Man patinka siūlyti savo darbus Etsy-je, tačiau iš kitos pusės nori to ar nenori, patiri spaudimą kelti vis naujus darbus, atnaujinti senus vien tam, kad nepaskęstum Etsy’io pasiūlos jūroje. Tai nėra mano stilius. Aš nekepu blynų…  Jusdama spaudimą (nemaišykite to su kokiu nors įkvepiančiu projektu, turinčiu terminus, kuris išties tik mobilizuoja visus vidinius procesus, įžvalgas bei įjungia antrą kvėpavimą dirbant), pradedu maištauti arba užsisklendžiu savyje ir jaučiuosi paralyžuota, negalinti nieko daryti tol, kol neišsilaižau visų minčių apie spaudimą. Kūrybiškos mintys yra kaip lapė ir Mažasis Princas, bandantys prisijaukinti vienas kitą pamažu, po mažą žingsnelį vienas kito link.

Felt you. Felt me

When I felt, I usually felt something that has been felt by me, that is coming from the inside consciously or not, like blank verse, as well as little games and experiments or I felt something that I felt about the person who has ordered the piece of felt. From a certain point of view you can always feel more comfortable with felting just what you felt coming from your own self. But it’s just one point of view. If you don’t have a privilege of only leting people find things that warm their souls but are truly you, you are finding your ways to feel comfortable in making things that feel like “they", i.e. you take custom orders. Though there must be a healthy balance between things “felt for yourself and felt for others” (different for every artist I believe), there is definetly so much value in felting for others. When a client makes an order, there is invisible connection built between the maker and the receiver. It’s complicated to explain that if you have never tried to experience “the other” in you…

I sense “the other”. Unconsciously I see the world and feel the world through my client’s eyes. I choose colors and materials that are that person. And it seems I can sense how that person moves, talks, how he touches the things I felt… And I felt a part of that person into any piece I make for him. And it usually doesn’t look like something I would felt if I was felting “myself”. Or the colors are not the ones that I would ever pick if I was felting just what I personally feel without any thoughts of anyone else… But…THAT connection with another human being (even in unconscious level) is something like a miracle that opens a world to you. It’s a connection that shows you the places you’ve never been to, makes you meet and know people you’ve never met or knew, it makes you feel being someone you’ve never been or will be… Perhaps that’s why when my client receives his order I usually get a feedback – That’s me!..

colors, style, forms…the story that is in that piece…anything and everything – how could you ever know that??

I don’t know. I just sense.

Into the world of deep relaxation

It happened a month ago, just never found time for my blog… But I’d like to thank everyone who voted for my rug in Etsy voter and…it was a winner!
There was a short article in Storque (Etsy’s blog) with a wonderful title – Vilte ushers us into a world of deep relaxation (sigh)

And it was interesting to read the comments and find out that this rug in this photo looked like the wave of the ocean coming to the shore for many many readers. I guess it really looks like this, especially when you look at it from a distance…
And there’s definetly something so relaxing in this rug…White color, natural wildness of the raw wool, delicate touch of silk that always bring me in some state of meditation whenever I look at it or touch…

Happy Felted Christmas!

and..I know my blog has been abandoned and I haven't showed you any of my felts lately. I just know that you know there's a link to my flickr account where you can always check for new updated :) don't you?...

But today I am saying you Happy Felted Christmas! and leaving you alone with some of my latest felt items:

Nuno felted top - Wild pigeon

Scarf - Food for the soul: Christmas pastry


Nuno felted hood scarf - Food for the soul: Nuts, wheat, poppy seeds and honey


Bracelet - Treasures


Nuno felted scarf - Wild bird

p.s. there's more on flickr

My Christmas gift from Etsy community

I received a wonderful gift from Etsy community - I won New Years Glitz & Glam vote contest on Etsy!

And I decided to issue gift certificates for my etsy shop:

Food for the soul - marking the start of the Christmas Season

Some shots from hanging our mini exhibition "Food for the soul [Christmas]". Unfortunately I was not there, but...
We are going to prepare a virtual exhibition "Food for the soul", meantime, here is a preview of it:

This is my scarf - traditional Lithuanian Christmas Eve pastry served with poppy seed milk

This is my dress - traditional Christmas Eve beverage - oat jelly

Another work by me, Vilte Kazlauskaite, - cape/hood/scarf - traditional Christmas Eve food made from wheet seeds, poppy seeds, nuts and honey

These are felt boots by Daiva Morozova - hot Christmas wine

And I am totally in love with this handbag by Ramune Toleikyte - smoke spiced herring

Another handbag by Jurgita Migoniene - traditional Christmas Eve pastry in poppy seed milk

Felt slippers by Inga Samusiene - traditional Christmas beverage - cranberry jelly

Felt collar by Aurelija Masiulionyte - Christmas bakery

Handbag by Donata Dumciuviene - freshly baked white Christmas bread

Felt slippers by Inga Samusiene - boiled potatoes served with hemp seeds and salt

Collar and accessories by Vaida Petreikiene - Christmas bread with dried fruits

Scarf and gloves by Aurelija Masiulionyte - cheese - a modern taste of Christmas

Another felt bag by Donata Dumciuviene - freshly baked black bread

Felt cape and shawl by Daiva Morozova - tangerines - its smell is in every home during Christmas Season here long ago since the times of Soviet Union