Back from USland

Sitting in a plain from US to Amsterdam one of the movies I watched was “Alice in Wonderland”.  And I drew a funny parallel between what Alice was saying in the movie - “I keep on forgetting that it’s only a dream” and my short trip to US and back. It was like a blink of an eye – I keep on forgetting that it was reality and not a dream.

My thanks go to Susan McFarland who invited me to Midwest felting symposium in Madison, WI, and who made sure my stay there was exciting. To tell you the truth I was really fascinated by this energetic woman! She also runs Susan’s fiber shop that looks like a paradise to any fiber artist and if I had to spend there the whole day, I am sure my bank account was empty in a few hours, too much temptation :)

 

My thanks to Susan’s Teeswater sheep, especially no 29 who’s amazing fleece I took with me back to Lithuania. We used Teeswater sheep fleece in our raw wool felting class and I am sure everyone loved its soft, shiny, springy locks.

 

And my wonderful students at the symposium! Oh, I loved teaching! It’s such a joy to see your students in a process of creating  (not just making!)

Eugene, thank you for the flowers too!

 

Holly and Maryanne – for assisting and driving, Susan once again – for carding and crazy spinning tips ;)

I am sure – Midwest Felting Symposium 2012 will be a hit again!

 

I really appreciate the invitation from the University of Madison where I read a lecture on “Archaic felt and its tradition in Lithuania”. Thank you to all the people who attended the lecture!

Thanks to Donata who gave me raw skudde sheep fleece – probably the oldest Lithuanian breed of sheep. And all my gratitude to wonderful traditional feltmaker from Lithuania – Anelė Radvinskienė and her daughter Milda Stanevičienė who shared their movie about living felt traditions in Lithuanian villages.

 

Thanks to very hospitable Lithuanians living in Madison – Gediminas and Jolanta who showed me around Madison and invited me to their cozy home.

My biggest thanks also goes to my family who made this all possible! And…for the pilots for the safe flights and bringing me back home (well, there were 7 flights during this trip, so it’s worth it, yes? :) )

 

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Didelis didelis ačiū visiems! Mano kelionė į Madisoną, WI, JAV, pilna teigiamų įspūdžių ir malonių pažinčių! Ir…man be galo patiko mokyti veltinio technikų, subtilybių tokius nuostabius mokinius, kokius turėjau Midwest Felting Symposium’e!

My eco felt fashion and photography by Victor Morozov

I have been lucky enough to win a photo shoot with wonderful talented photographer Victor Morozov.  It was an unforgetable experience, lot’s of impressions and emotions, and fun!
I chose only eco dyed with plants hand felted outfit for the photo shoot. The photo shoot took place in Vilnius, Lithuanian capital. It was really interesting choice to show the “eco” living in the urbanized world. Please enjoy!


            




All photo credits: Victor Morozov ( http://www.facebook.com/meninefoto)
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Man iš tiesų pasisekė laimėti fotosesiją su nuostabiu fotografu Victor Morozov. Be galo daug neišdildomų įspūdžių, potyrių, emocijų, nuotykių iš fotosesijos Vilniaus mieste. Mano pasirinkti apdarai – visi iš eko serijos, t.y. dažyti ekologišku būdu augalais arba natūralių spalvų, velti ant šilko. Taigi sprendimas “eko” apgyvendinti urbanizacijoje buvo labai įdomus ir tikrai įspūdingas.
Fotografas, kuris pasakoja istorijas… apie laisvę, apie laumes, apie…

Self taught has got a teacher

When I was caught by felt few years ago, I started studying and experimenting with it on my own, going deeper and deeper into this archaic textile from point 0. Joy of discovery has been one of the greatest stimulus for experiments (even if it was the same as inventing a bicycle :) ). I think from one point I might be even proud that I am a self taught, that I managed to “domesticate” this technique by myself and little by little learnt to express myself through it.

But like in every other field, at some points of development a human needs a teacher (directly and literally). And it’s not actually about techniques and skills, I know that, it’s about personal development of your creativity, expression, relating, growing, moving forward, getting feedback, or even hearing your own thought aloud, tracing your artistic self and identity… And if I said I “might” be proud that I am a self taught, then I can definitely say that I AM for sure proud that my one and only teacher was Claudy Jongstra.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank You, Claudy, for all you gave to me. And You gave a lot!

 

I won’t show you everything I made during the workshop yet, just a glimpse, hope you enjoy.

 

 

 

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Nuo pat to momento, kai susidūriau su veltiniu, atradinėjau, eksperimentavau, gilinausi, grimzdau į jį pati, niekieno nemokoma. Atradimo džiaugsmas visuomet būdavo vienas iš stipriausių stimulų suvokti šią archaišką tekstilę giliau ir giliau. (Net jei tai buvo dviračio išradinėjimas :) ) Galbūt galėčiau pasakyti, jog galėčiau didžiuotis, jog prisijaukinau šią techniką pati, po truputį mokydamasi ja išreikšti save.

Visgi kaip ir visur kitur gyvenime, augant ir vystantis, žmogus atsiduria tokiuose etapuose, kuomet jam reikalingas mokytojas (tiesiogine ir perkeltine prasmėmis). Ir tai nėra susiję su technikomis, įgūdžiais, juos galima perkąsti patiems. Tai susiję su asmeninio kūrybingumo ugdymu, išraiška, augimu, atspindėjimu, judėjimu pirmyn, atgalinio ryšio gavimu ar net savo paties minčių klausymu garsiai kažkieno kito lūpose, savo kūrybinio “aš” ir identiteto apčiuopimu.

Rašiau, jog “galbūt” galėčiau didžiuotis, jog viską išmokau pati, bet aš TIKRAI galiu pasakyti, jog didžiuojuosi, jog mano viena ir vienintelė mokytoja tapo Claudy Jongstra.

Ačiū, Claudy, už viską, ką man davei. O davei tikrai labai daug!

 

Dar neparodysiu visų darbų, kuriuos dariau studijoje su Claudy Jongstra, bet tikiuosi, jog šis mažas žvilgtelėjimas pro rakto skylutę jums patiks.