Fiber Festivals Ahoy!

Fingers crossed…shhhh…don’t tell Covid….

I have been working on getting a place at a few different fiber festivals for the PNW Community Coral Reef. I will be traveling to Shepherds Extravaganza in Washington on Saturday, April 23 starting at 10 AM in the demonstration area, Building J.

Next? Fiber Fusion NW in Washington on Saturday June 4. I will have a scheduled time to talk and demonstrate some pattern ideas for the PNW Community Coral Reef. I will announce the time when I learn it.

Even better? Black Sheep Gathering which is very close to home! The festival runs June 24-26 and I believe we will have a table of our own with reef exhibits and pattern ideas.

I am beyond thrilled to be able to get back into the swing of fiber festivals, not only after Covid but after moving back to the PNW. There are more fiber festivals out here than where I was in the Midwest and it is wonderful!

Hitting The Road

The presentation to the Salem Millstream Fiber Guild today was very fun! It was the first time that we have brought so much of the reef parts together in one room and it made me very happy to see it all together and to have such a positive reaction from folx who are ready to create and donate. We now have a new donation site at Teaselwick Wools in Salem. The Guild also put up a page on their website with knitting and crocheting patterns and info on the project.

I’m also reaching out to fiber festivals throughout the PNW to see if I can get an informational table and bring some reef bits along to inspire people. It’s a case of “be careful what you wish for”. Since all but a couple of them are out of town, it would mean getting some hotels and spending some long weekends. We’ll see how it goes.

The lovely folx in Salem also donated a huge box of yarn to the cause so if anyone is in need of some yarn, first come, first served! Just let me know. If you are in the Lincoln City area, you can stop in to the Lincoln City Cultural Center and help yourself to donated yarn there.

The Need to Make Art

There must always be art.

I have to tell myself this as I have been preparing my presentation to the Salem Millstream Fiber Guild for April 9th starting at 10 am at the Willamette Heritage Center. The reason? I wanted to include a basic level of scientific information on coral reefs, climate change, acidification of the ocean, and pollution such as abandoned fishing gear and plastic garbage which leads to entanglements, ingestions and breakdowns into microplastics.

In other words, I want to give the “why” behind the PNW Community Coral Reef Project.

Much like working on bleached corals, this all feels so overwhelming and depressing. As news of the sixth mass bleaching event to hit the Great Barrier Reef comes out along with the disturbing temperature surges at both poles, I must admit I felt very small this morning as I was sorting through our donated corals.

There must always be art.

It helps to realize that people have used creative mediums throughout history when they were on the brink. From graffiti in war torn areas to the orchestras of the Warsaw ghetto, people have created art. A show that I have been absolutely loving since the pandemic hit has been Grayson Perry’s Art Club where all members of the UK public are invited to send in their art, sometimes during the very bleakest days of the pandemic.

There must always be art.

I’m always one to muse on history in the long and short term. I wonder what it must have been like to be the cave painter at Lascaux, 20,000 years ago, painting by torch light. Surrounded by darkness, possibly fear, possibly exhilaration, they made art.

Will there come a day thousands of years in the future when a sentient life form visits our planet and finds hundreds of satellite fiber art coral reefs all over the world and wonders what they are? Because the beautiful inspiration they were based on no longer exists. Will they wonder what we were doing? Will they understand that we were trying?

Today I am feeling a bit defeated. I believe I will pick up my needles.

I need to make art.

Art Imitating Coral

Today I have been working on a presentation that I will be giving to the Millstream Knitting Guild in April. The public will be invited so if you are in the Salem, Oregon area on April 9th, stop into the Willamette Heritage Center from 10-12. I will be chatting about the PNW Community Coral Reef and folks will be welcome to take a peek at some of our donations so far, pick up some donated yarn, and gather some inspiration for corals and critters.

Going back through some old photos I have of corals that I used as inspiration for pieces has been kind of entertaining. Whenever I am feeling uninspired, it helps to pull up some google images and then I start by simply recreating the shapes that I see. For folks who knit or crochet strictly by using a pattern, this can be a challenge. I would encourage you to simply look at a coral form as a series of increases and decreases. Pick a spot on the coral where you want to start and then work your way through it. If I an crocheting, I generally start in the center and work my way out. If I am knitting, I tend to work from the outside and decrease to the center. (This helps to avoid having several double pointed needles and very few stitches at the beginning of a project which I find to be a bit of a pain.) The reality is, you write the rules on how you want to do it and there are no hard and fast rules. This is why freeform knitting and crocheting is so fun! I can guarantee, there are very few other parts of our lives that let us write the rule book.

Boxes of Happiness

I seem to recall that I had initially set the goal of posting here every week. Well, it didn’t take too long for that to go out the window!

In all honestly, I did create a playlist on YouTube last week that I had intended to post here and after I put it together, I sat back and promptly forgot. So, I will post it now and let you know that I chose videos of other fiber art reefs to show folks how your donations all go together to create one installation. I have had questions from crafters whether they should create one item or create an installation ready chunk of corals connected together and I would encourage you to keep your donations singular unless your desire is to create a large piece that is it’s own “ecosystem”. Having individual pieces of corals will allow us to manipulate them into the best place in the reef for their design and color.

I am starting to receive shipments of corals and critters from organizations and individuals and it is so exciting to open the boxes and see the wonderful things that you have been creating. Thank you!

Don’t forget, if you are in the Eugene, OR area next Saturday, stop by the Eugene Textile Center between 10-3 for inspiration and a chance to ask questions or to just sit and craft with us. Hope to see you there!

A Perfect Alliance

Very excited to announce that the PNW Community Coral Reef Project has partnered with the non-profit Coral Reef Alliance out of California. They will be providing educational materials at our installation and helping to encourage fiber artists and crafters to get involved. I have visited their wonderful website and used their images to gain inspiration on making my pieces for the reef and it’s nice to know that they have knitters on staff who are excited to participate.

Additionally, I took a trip up the coast yesterday and dropped off informational postcards at the Latimer Quilt and Textile Center in Tillamook, OR and at Coastal Yarns in Cannon Beach, OR. Hopefully I will be able to arrange a crafting day at Latimer sometime in the future. Stay tuned!

For my inspirational suggestions today, I would like to point you to the playlist that I have created on Youtube which include videos on past coral reef installations as well as instructional videos on how to create different elements of a fiber art coral reel. You will find that some of these patterns are in languages other than English but I have found them to be instructional as someone who is fluent in knitting and crochet. I hope you will enjoy!