Meghan Bogden Shimek is a fiber artist and weaver. She uses textiles to explore themes of loss, discomfort, and healing. Her training is in traditional tapestry and Navajo weaving techniques. She combines her skills as a weaver with organic movement inspiration. The result is artistic wall hangings that are rich in texture and reminiscent of landscapes. Meghan is based in Oakland, California. In this interview, she gives us insight into her artwork. She also shares what it’s like to be a professional artist and the single mom of a young child, including how helpful it is to rely on a community of women for support. A Working Artist Many people find…
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Book Review: Always Too Much and Never Enough
Jasmin Singer is a vegan, lesbian, animal rights activist and author whose 2016 memoir Always Too Much and Never Enough shares her story of weight gain and loss on the path to understanding the core of her own true identity. She shares raw, intimate details of her life including the journey from actor to activist the complexity of being the much-loved but always-overweight daughter of a thin, beautiful mother a college date rape the death of a beloved grandmother and the many other nuances that make up a woman’s life. This is all set against the backdrop of navigating her relationship with food. Moreover, it’s about dealing with her own body…
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Interview with Fashion Founder CeliaB
Celia Bernardo is the founder of CeliaB, a Spanish fashion brand that she created after spending a decade working with large brand names in fashion. She loves to travel and collects textiles and patterns from all around the world. Additionally, she loves incorporating inspiration from everywhere into her texture-rich clothing designs. In this interview, she shares her inspirations, motivations and the story of her brand. Launching The CeliaB Brand Q: You have worked with some big businesses in the past. What inspired you to start your own brand? I worked with brands like Zara, Pepe Jeans, and Asobio for ten years. After that, I thought it was time to set up…
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Interview with Weaving Artist Maryanne Moodie
Brooklyn-based Australian weaving artist Maryanne Moodie combines her innovative work in textile design with teaching fiber art workshops, curating weaving kits for beginners and authoring a book. Her all-around creative (and sustainable!) lifestyle is inspiring to women around the world who wish to live their artistic dreams, and especially to mothers of young children as she sets an example for being a caring, working mama. In this interview, she gives us a glimpse into this colorful world. On Weaving Q: Let’s start by talking about your weaving work. Why did you select this as your primary medium? A: Something about weaving just spoke to me. I found a loom and taught…
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5 Therapeutic Ways My Rescue Dog Improves My Life
There is a saying in the rescue dog community that goes, “who rescued who?” My story with Katara isn’t quite like that but the sentiment holds. She has improved my life in myriad ways that go beyond just being an awesome four-legged companion. Katara is a really special rescue dog, a unique mixed mastiff breed that was rescued from the dog meat industry of South Korea. You can read Katara’s story here. When she came to me, she was very shy and scared and a little shutdown but she and I bonded immediately. I aim to do well by her. I believe she is happy in her new rescue dog life. In…
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How Sharing My Depression Story Helped Me Help Others
In 2012, I published a book called Crochet Saved My Life, in which I shared the stories of two dozen women who had used yarncrafting to heal and improve the symptoms of a diverse array of mental and physical ailments. The first story I shared was my own. It is a story of living through 15+ years of chronic depression without knowing or naming it. It is a story of nearing the depths of suicidality. Additionally, it is about pulling myself out of that depth. I did that with help from therapy, medication, yoga, a strong support network and, yes, crochet. Sharing my story was relatively easy by the time…
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Hello world! (Again)
I first launched Diary of a Smart Chick in 2009 as a way to share links to a variety of things I was writing elsewhere on the web. Later it evolved into a personal blog, sometimes a photo dump spot, and more recently a place that I shared reviews, academic writing, and general thoughts. In Fall 2017, I sold my crochet blog Crochet Concupiscence. Unfortunately, there was a technical error when I handed over those files, and I accidentally gave over the old files from this blog as well. When I got them back, I made some mistakes; sadly I lost a lot of that original content. But, when one door closes,…
