Dressember is a movement to fight human trafficking. Each December, teams come together to raise money for the cause. They do so by committing to wearing a dress or tie every day of the month, sharing it on social media along with information about human trafficking, sex trafficking, and slave labor, and asking people to donate. I’ve decided to join the Namaste and Crochet team this year, which has an additional component: raising awareness about the power of crochet and knitting as slow fashion, sustainable, ethical antidotes to fast fashion which is one major contributor to slave labor around the world. My personal fundraising goal is $1000. Ready to donate?…
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Flamenco Dance Interview: Sintonia Presents “Tattooed”
There’s about to be a flamenco performance at the newly-renovated Presidio Theatre here in San Francisco. The performance looks powerful. The group performing it looks fascinating. And I’m excited to be able to share a dance interview with you below so you can learn more about all of it. But first, let’s discuss the performance and the group behind it … The Performance: Tattooed Tattooed is “an experimental flamenco dance performance about survivors’ strength and resilience.” Tattooed is a flamenco dance performance by Sintonia. The performance consists of “theatrical vignettes that utilize each dancer and musician as a player in the narrative.” It is about trauma and abuse. It explores how…
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Videocracy: Forms of Collaboration on YouTube
I recently read the book Videocracy. There was so much rich stuff in there about collaboration. Here are some of the things I learned and thoughts I had while reading this book. Videocracy: About the Book First I’ll tell you a little bit about the book Videocracy. It is all about YouTube trends. The head of the company’s “Culture and Trends” department is the author. Naturally, he has a lot of interesting insight into video watching trends. I think there’s some bias on his part to see YouTube as a mostly great thing. However, in spite of that there’s tons of interesting information in the book. I’m currently working on…
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Creative Duo Interview: Orange Barrel Industries
A portion of the interview about this creative duo was originally published in Happily Hooked digital magazine. Orange Barrel Industries is the collaborative art business of creative duo husband-and-wife printmaking team Hannah and Blake. They are a witty pair who got married in a series of art events. They share on their website, “At first, Blake thought Hannah was some kind of itchy, excitable midget and Hannah found Blake to be an uppity ascetic. It turns out, they were both right, but they learned to love each other, anyway. They bonded over their shared passions of printmaking, drawing, cooking and hard work.“ I had the opportunity awhile back to interview…
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Recommended Essay Reading: The Artist as Culture Producer … and Thoughts on Creative Collaboration
The Artist as Culture Producer: Living and Sustaining a Creative Life is an essay collection edited by Sharon Louden in an effort to combat the stereotype that artists are working in studios alone, toiling away in solitary – even self-absorbed – pursuits. The essays are each by an artist who “reaches outside of the studio to extend creative energies and pursuits into his or her community.” She goes on to say she chose these artists for many reasons including their generosity and that “they inject creative culture into the cracks of society, where they alter the direction of small towns and large cities”. Each of the essays is as different…
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Interview With Crochet Artists Alyssa and Liz of Threadwinners
This interview was first published by Fempotential in early 2017. Since then I’ve had the opportunity to work with these great women in a number of ways. I’m thrilled to re-share this original article here. Threadwinners is a collaborative crochet art team based in Southern California. It’s made up of two awesome women: Alyssa Arney and Liz Flynn. They each took their own journeys to identifying as artists. They found their way to fiber art on their own. However, their visions really came to life when they joined up as a team. Together they: work to fight against patriarchy and the status quo by using art forms traditionally considered “interior /…
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Interview with Artist Miss Marley
Marley Myles, better known as Miss Marley, is a self-taught artist from New South Wales, Australia. Her work is inspired by fairy tales, mythology, and symbolism. She works across different mediums including hand embroidery and ink drawing. She’s always bringing a combination of whimsy and humanity to each piece she creates. In this interview, she shares: how tattoos played a role in her development as an artist what she has learned from her son and how activism and art intersect for her. On a Creative Childhood As a self-taught artist, have you ever taken art classes? I was lucky to grow up in a childhood home that was essentially a…
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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…
