Wool & Tea

I'm smitten with Jill Harrop's reclaimed cashmere and mohair sweaters.  

Just how sweet are these?!  It's the hat that got me, it says it all, 

including the name of her vision, Heartfelt Artistry

"breathing compassion and creativity back into existence".

"Ultra-feminine confections by Heartfelt, 

these one-of-a-kind recycled cashmere and mohair sweaters 

are meticulously hand-felted with a tiny needle, creating curlicue 

and scrolling stag motifs that resemble a woolly tattoo."

-National Post

"The artists from Original T-Bag Designs live in a settlement located outside of Cape Town, South Africa. Their homes are bits of tin and wood nailed
together and they have had no formal schooling.

But what they do have is grit and imagination and a desire to make their
families' lives better. The artists use recycled tea bags as their canvases
- and they are painting themselves out of poverty.

Used tea bags are collected and dried in the African sun. Then they are emptied of leaves and carefully ironed. Finally, each tea bag is painstakingly painted. They work mostly at home during these early phases so they can care for their families while they work. Sometimes the little ones help by emptying out tea leaves."

Here is the exquisitely tactile folk art of Morna Crites-Moore.

Morna loves to gather found textiles to assemble and collage into rugs and
mini quilts. She felts her wool from recycled sweaters and blankets to create
her playful variations on penny rugs and folk art images.

Available for sale at the American Folk Art Museum gift shop, NYC,
and at Traditional Folk Art, on the web.

LOS SEMBRADORES, GRUPOS ECOLOGICOS

The Earth Gardens

I am profoundly moved by the clarity of vision of the Princesses of Bolivia.
With great integrity, grace, and joy they have devoted their selves to restoring enchantment to mother earth. Thank you dreamleaders, with all my heart.

"WE HAVE IMAGINATIONS ! WE'RE THE CREATORS !"

"Naturesaver Mara says human affection is the most powerful voice on Earth.
You change things with affection, not with arms or violence. There is no force on
Earth so strong it can't be charmed with the voice of affection. Now that we've established the spiritual basis for our new society, we will begin constructing the new Amazongarden, using the noble contribution within each person. it will be a place of natural beauty and biodiversity, with clean water everywhere,
for water is revered as SACRED GIVER OF LIFE in our new society."

The princesses design and paint textile banners for each of their eco-teams.

"THIS IS THE AGE OF THE BUTTERFLY."

Studio Suna

A deep love of Bali is the inspiration for these exquisite "organic" textiles.
Hatsumi Yoshida transforms all of her found materials into
evocative textures and explorations of complex beauty.

"Nature's products such as banana tree skins, fish scales, tapioca powder,
and golden cocoons found in the mountains on Java island; man-made materials
such as recycled sponge and plastic wrap that used to be inside chairs,
vinyl sheets found on the beach, and shopping bags from the morning market...
By fusing all these different materials and textures, we create
new products that no one has ever seen before."

SUTRA KEPOMPONG : ("Silk & Cocoon")
"Created by inlaying golden silk cocoons, shredded raffia, banana fiber, plastic wrap, and the gold and silver threads of Nishijin Textile."

PASAR PAGI : ("Morning Market")
"The plastic bag used at the morning market is surprisingly thin. Taking advantage of this, we ripped the bags by hand to make them look like ostrich feathers."

DALMATIAN
"Created from recycled sponge with spots that remind of Dalmatians.
By using sponge that does not absorb ai well, the material displays
surprising color effects that cannot be planned ahead."

"Products designed with the idea of enjoying everyday in mind."

Hatsumi is represented by Julie Artisan's Gallery.