We never create alone. From the tools we use to the subjects that inspire us, nature is a part of our crafting lives…
Crafting ABOUT nature: I get the opportunity to study what plants and animals really look like, interpret and express that in my own creative way, and then share my love for them when I gift the finished products to others.
Crafting WITH nature: I prefer working with natural fibers, and it’s fun to experiment with wool from various animals. They each have different textures and colors that add to the charm of the finished product. I crochet with handmade hooks of wood collected from the forest where I conducted my Masters fieldwork (pictured below) and knit with bamboo needles.
Stay tuned for pictures of a wall hanging that incorporates a beaver-chewed stick and sheep wool yarn dyed with all natural plant materials collected at The Clifton Institute!
Moor macaque (Macaca maura) and pom-pom tree. Go team Macaca!Wall hanging crocheted with sheep and alpaca wool yarns. I met some of the alpacas at the Butterfly Hill Farm Store in Loudoun County, Virginia!Narwhal that I gave to my husband’s cousin for Christmas one year.I was very proud of this crocheted salmon. Sadly, I gave it to an ex-boyfriend.Giraffe! I gave it to Anna, my dear friend and bad-ass veterinarian.Amigurumi-style bunny, posing with a blown-out egg I decorated with acrylic paintYak! Inspired by a rug in a Nepalese restaurantThis wall hanging is crocheted from wool and blended wool/bamboo yarn. It is hanging from a branch decorated with origami book-page flowers.A Sumatran pine crochet hook handmade by my friend, Amir. It still smells faintly of the UNHAS Hutan Pendidikan (Education Forest)! My dad also made the wooden yarn twirly in this picture.Weaving with invasive Autumn Olive branch. A summer camp project turned wall decor!
I’d love to see other people’s animal/nature-related craft projects!
