Monday, October 5, 2009

Inspired Gorgeousness! Handspun Artyarns From Coolclimates

I came across this amazing artist while searching for my fellow sparkly Etsians.  I was just blown away by her sense of color and texture so I had to have her gorgeous yarns to share here.  She kindly took the time to answer my questions and agreed to be featured.  I am so excited to present Rachel from Coolclimates


my heart be still...it has beads AND sparkle in it!

How do you choose what you will add to a piece?
 I know what I'm trying to capture before I spin the yarn so I pick items that I think will further enrich that idea. For example, with "Tropical Rainforest" I knew I wanted some tropical flowers thrown in.

Do you ever get stuck? How do you move through that?
 Yes, sometimes. I go to Ravelry and go to several of my groups who post amazing pictures and ideas for inspiration. There are lots of "challenges" (games and such) for people to spin certain kinds of yarn. I also just look through books of scenery, my travel photos, etc.



Why do you choose the colors you do?
 Again, I have a certain theme or topic in mind with the yarn before I start out. Sometimes I try to match colors in the ones through a photograph. Other times, I just pick out colors that I think will best express the idea I have in mind.

Do you have one piece that is your favorite? The one you can't part with or wish you didn't? 
 I have several. I guess "Garden of Earthly Delights" (Heironoymous Bosch) is one example. It's just so unique and I don't think I could easily make another one. Also, there are yarns that I spin that have great personal meaning to me that I'd like to hold on to.



Do you listen to music when you work? If so what do you listen to?
 Yes, all the time! I listen to all kinds of music: world music, rock, etc. Some of my favorite musicians are David Bowie, Sigur Ros, the Beatles, Bjork, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Tori Amos and so many more.

Is there someone who has had an influence on you? 
I would say that Lexi Boeger and her book have had an influence on my yarn. I have been trying to spin most of the yarns in the book and have been continuing to use those techniques in my future yarn.




What did you dream of doing when you were a kid? If we knew you then could we guess that you would be spinning art yarn?
I wanted to be a rock star. I never would have thought that I'd be spinning artyarn.

I read in your profile that you have traveled a lot and are influenced by your travels.  Tell me how these places have influenced your work. 
 A combination of factors. Usually, it is a particular place that I visit that makes a real impression on me. Such as the Blue Lagoon in Iceland or the Puna district in the Big Island of Hawaii. Iceland, especially, has so many odd and striking color combinations. It's hard to say why I'm drawn to particular places more than others.



*I really love that Rachel offers a knitted sample of some of her yarns.  Here is a sample of  the Chinese lanterns Yarn (above) knitted.




Please go visit Coolclimates shops here:

3 comments:

  1. This looks great! Thanks so much for featuring me!
    Rachel

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh my, my, my ... What beautiful spun magic ~ Rachel's work is ust gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete

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