Fiberista, Can I be real with you for a minute? Maybe you guys could tell from my trend of encouraging posts about finding your visual language and how it relates to a greater life purpose. Something on my mind lately as I navigate these things for myself. This month marks 2 years since I have stepped away from my yarn business to dive into making art. Art has always been something I have always thought I would do, and at 50+, I figured there was no better time than the present to just freaking make the art I am meant to make already.
Despite really exploring every creative whim that I have had bubble up (hello clay, glass and painting), I have felt a little rudderless when it comes to my personal work and where I am going with it. I can’t imagine a world without yarns and fiber. So that is a solid. But what that looks like and what the hell and I going to do with it is a whole other story. Pattern design? Online classes? Gallery work? Back to product? All of the above? I am okay with not having immediate answers, but I have been a little stumped as to where to look next. And to be honest, this waiting for the answers to bubble up has been crazy confusing.
So I have been meditating. It is my way to give a little intentional time to encourage those a-ha moments to show up at a time when I am actually paying attention. Out of the blue I was called to look at my family history. Now it is a little crazy that this is what surface during a recent meditation. I do not spend a lot of time focused on family. We don’t have kids and live far from immediate family. I have always been a hard driven career girl. Married late and could NEVER be mistaken for anything close to a housewife. But for Bruce and I family is important and we do stay in touch especially during holidays.
So, I have been led to recall and connect with my great grandmother on my maternal grandmother’s side. We called her Mimi.
I think I kind of look like her, ESPECIALLY in this picture. We actually have the same hands.
Mimi was a seamstress. It was kind of her side gig since her main gig was looking after my mom and my aunt while my grandmother worked full-time after my grandfather was out of the picture. But Mimi was whip smart when it came to sewing. As the story goes she could sew just about anything. She designed and created my mother’s wedding dress as well as all of the bridesmaids dresses. Mom’s dress was modeled after a very expensive dress they saw in a fashion magazine. It was a beautifully tailored slip with a lace overdress. (I wish I had a picture to share)
What I remember about Mimi is her love. Despite this perfect three year old resting bitch face, I loved visits with her. My memories are foggy, because she died when I was seven. But I remember her red beans, I remember her drinking coffee in her garden at the white metal garden table that I now have on my patio. I remember the cool vintage buttons in jars. And I remember her roses. She loved to kiss our necks when we hugged. And we always had her undivided attention.
I really do not remember ever seeing her sew. I mean, that was her work. When we were there, she focused on being with us. But, the stories I know about her sewing and sewing business, have totally shaped me. For example, one story in particular shaped my ideas about perceived value. Mimi had more work than she could handle. She was caring for her granddaughters and needed more time to focus on her family. She decided to raise her prices thinking her customers would drop off when her work became too expensive. But that is not what happened. To her surprise her services became in demand and she had even more work than before. This, fiberista, is the magic of perceived value. People will always gladly pay for what they perceive to be valuable. Her higher price reflected a more valuable service. I imagine her new price also properly matched her friendly customer service and her beautiful work.
During my meditation, I realized, she to was not just a seamstress, she was a fiber artist. Maybe that is really just a modern term to describe what she was doing in the 40s, 50s, 60s, and maybe even the early 70s before she passed. I’d like to think My love of fiber and clothes is in my genes thanks to Mimi. She used fabric as her creative outlet. She was adamant to keep a work/life balance.
These are just some of my aha moments that surfaced as I focused on what family stories make up who I am. Had never really thought about how this has impacted my choice of fiber art as a medium. Or why I am drawn so deeply to functional art and wearables. Family stories build who we are, how we think, and why we do what we do. It is part of our culture.
So in my quest to figure out what where my art and business will go this is where I am starting. I’d like to think that my actual DNA is a foundation to finding what resonates. Every piece of yarn, weaving, sock, swatch, sweater and roving contains this history. We all have a family history to some kind of creative work.
What family stories make you you? What is influencing your work? Feel free to share in the comments, or shoot me an email if you just want to share privately.
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Fiber artist Stacey Budge-Kamison AKA UrbanGypZ lives and works in Cary NC. She can also be found knitting in public, hammering out her latest e-course at local cafés and spinning yarns in her booth at her favorite arts festivals. A designer at heart, Stacey has decided that her mission is to help fellow knitters, crocheters, weavers and felters embrace their own style and creativity by exploring fiber art as it is a part of their everyday life and helping them embrace the title of artist no matter where they are in their journey. 
Your thoughts on your ancestry and the creative urges your grandmother passed on to you are very inspiring. I was just thinking last night about how I have some roots in Scotland, Wales and Ireland (to name a few). I felt compelled to send a flattering email to an Etsy seller who’s in the UK because when I see really intuitive use of color in fibers that seem to touch something in me they often seem to be in the UK (aside from Urban Gypsz’s and some others who are truly gifted here). She responded that she hears that a lot from people in the U.S. I start to wonder if I just feel a connection to a culture that runs in my creative roots or if there’s something about the ancient history there.
How interesting. And it is especially interesting that she gets that comment a lot from the US. It is my guess that the strong culture of clothing in that part of the world stirs nostalgia with those here in the US wishing to connect more with their heritage. So common her because most of our family are not originally from here. Would be interesting to trace your lineage to see if there are other fiberistas in your ancestry.
Yes, yes, yes! My grandmother and my mother were both fiberistas. My grandmother sewed, knitted, and crocheted. My mother sewed (she made almost all my clothes when I was a kid), knitted, and quilted. She taught me how to knit when I was in kindergarten and we made a couple of quilts together. And now I weave. I think my mom would have dug weaving (she and my dad both passed in 2013… I just started weaving this year). The difference, however, is that my mom was strictly a pattern-follower, whereas I am more the funky, free-styling type (Saori loom… you will be mine some day). But, yeah, I think the whole fiber addiction is hereditary.
YES!! I know that there was a time when fiber crafting had so much to do with a basic need for textiles we can so easily buy these days. But I think that opened so much opportunity to find a love for creative expression. I am determined to do a DNA/ancestry thing to see what shakes out.
I did 23andMe and MyHeritage. I’ve been doing genealogical research for about ten years (I have way too many hobbies and way too little time) … sooooo interesting! I highly recommend it.
My mom started to teach me to knit when I was 4. Don’t know how she did that. She taught me all the “proper” ways of doing everything, textiles included. I can do that but usually break the rules to fit my ideas. It is more fun that way and way more interesting.
My youngest daughter is a designer / maker way beyond me. Truly amazing to see the progression of fiberistas.
Interesting comment that my late father made, born 1929. He liked things home made only if they looked like they were purchased in a store. I realize that people who didn’t grown up like he did, like things that are hand made because you can’t buy them in a store. Some one spent thought time and creativity making them.
You are so right, with the ease of buying in stores, that handmade quality has definitely become more valuable. And I’m with you breaking the rules leads to art.
You really DO look remarkably like Mimi. Those pictures look like you had stepped into a time machine and had gone back to another era.
Yes, you do look a lot like Mimi!!! And now that I stop and think about it does run in the family…sewing, quilting, crochet, tatting and milinary to name a few (on both sides). I’m sure it was often do to necessity but having many of the items still I can tell they were made with passion and love.
Wonderful read…enjoy your family time!