Conversation with Tastykaeru

Tastukaeru is Kate who lives in Scotland. I was drawn to her work by her luscious embroidery. Her titles bring the pieces alive, hinting at her unique relationship to the natural world giving us an insight how her craft is truly a meditation in an elemental exploration of colours and textures.
As she explains art is a universal language with the process providing its own reward – there is definately a meditative quality around these words and creations.

Many thanks Kate and check out the bottom of the interview for blog, Etsy, Photographic and musical links.



I see nature in your work. Why incorporate/replicate nature?

I see nature as beauty in one of its purest forms. The development of the planet and evolution of life over billions of years has created so many wonderful, complex, absurd, incongruous and incredible things. Nature to me is about purity and getting ‘back to basics’ – I want to celebrate the fact that underneath all the ugliness and sadness in the world, beauty and wonder are still possible – and inspiration for this from nature is abundant.



What inspires you?

Colour and texture. Memories, smells, light, and shadow. Biology, chemistry, astronomy, and photographs from the Hubble Space Telescope Serendipity.


Do you ever get obsessed?

I wouldn’t say I get ‘obsessed’ but I do love the satisfaction of finishing a piece, which makes me want to start another, and another, and…!

Have you ever experienced a spiritual element in craft?

Physically the Japanese ‘kumihimo’ braiding that I do is quite repetitious and almost meditative – I certainly find that I get into a rhythm that is soothing, relaxing and mind-clearing – quite like a meditation in fact.
I find music to be the creative outlet that connects directly with something deeper and more ‘spiritual’, whereas crafting is much more like a meditation, where I can celebrate and explore elemental perceptual ideas of colour and texture.


As for a connection to a certain place, I am always drawn back to the sea and seashore – the texture of wet sand, the subtle colours of shells, light glinting on the surface of water, and the perpetual motion and sound of waves. A place I am particularly attached to in this respect is the beautiful island of Tiree, here in Scotland. My memories and photos of Tiree often inspire ideas in my crafting.



What does creativity feed you with?

Creativity lets me feel that it’s ok to be alive in this world! (When it’s going well…!)

Is there anything creativity gives you do that is missing from mainstream society?

It feels like humans have forgotten that they are part of the Earth’s ecosystem, and that everything on the planet has its place and there is a balance that needs to be maintained for the benefit of all. I think it all comes down to responsibility – to oneself, to others and to the planet. Creativity allows us to distil our human experience into a pure form – art - that is like a universal language. The process is its own reward.



What kinda work inspires you?

Any work where the person has really enjoyed what they have done – the process and the result. Works that have taken lots of patience or fine attention to detail; fantastic textures or luscious colours. I also find really good raw supplies extremely inspiring – sometimes I’ll see a new colour combination that I never would have thought of, or a new fibre I haven’t worked with before, and it sets a whole new idea off…



‘Disasters or experiments? What’s your attitude when it all goes wrong?

I think it’s all about state of mind on the day. Usually when my ideas are too fixed, I’m unable to make my idea into reality in a satisfying way. If however I can relax a bit and ‘play’, I find all sorts of serendipitous things happen and that is often when I have the most fun and make the best pieces.

What are you working on just now?

Today I am working on a custom necklace – one of my felted, beaded and embroidered pieces. The colour theme is brown with a hint of pink and gold, like sea-washed shells.



Kate's links:

Blog
Etsy
Flickr
The Madrigal Project

Nature, Spirit, Craft

Tree of life

This blog came about inspired by the amazing craft I’ve seen on flickr, Etsy and blogs. I’ve been so curious about the makers inspirations and thoughts and with serendipity weaving through virtual worlds we naturally connect, encourage and answer a barrage of questions!

My motivation lies in the sparks I feel when I see particular pieces. I want to walk around their creative sacred place and look at what they’ve gathered around them. I want to know what inspires them, what’s their working process and find words to converse in a language we naturally don’t use words for. This is an ancient language: one which we are naturally fluent in, through our long evolution on this planet alongside our non human family. We are after all interconnected and cannot live without each other.

‘It was as if my body in its actions was suddenly being motivated by a wisdom older than my thinking mind, as though it was held and moved by a logos, deeper than words, spoken by the Other’s body, the trees, and the stony ground on which we stood’.

D. Abrams*

Wooden Heart

The nature of modernity has somehow swayed us off that course away from our inherited knowledge, and lead us to believe that here in our man made world we are somehow elevated above the natural world.

Maybe that’s why we often feel a little lost in this modern world, we no longer embody that ancient natural knowledge we all possess. The prevailing powers feed us with distractions and maybe if we were a little more fluent in out mother tongue, we might just be less addicted to the quick fixes of modernity’s drugs and a little more self satisfied with our relationship to ourselves, each other and the place in which we live.

Reassuringly ancient

So when I see a craft piece that stirs my soul I wonder if the practitioner is fluent in this ancient language. I wonder if my questioning reflects that early on in life I knew I saw the world differently and by that nature it’s been impossible for me to ever feel alone, or lonely. How can you feel alone when their is the wind, the night stars beckoning from vast distances, bird song, snow, mist, weather, cold, thunder – they all have their voices their spirit.I am unsure where this questioning will lead, but it weaves serendipity so I set sail in it’s stream trusting the guiding forces. I do wonder if we are more aware of our relationship to nature – in that we are nature – do we then act accordingly? How can we then share that inspiration to act, share that feeling with others and offer an antidote to addressing the problems of the world?

* Abrams, D. 1996. The Spell of the Sensuous, pg 21. Vintage, USA