knitcroblo3

DAY 3 - One Great Knitter

"Write about a knitter whose work you enjoy."

I crochet. So when I look for careers to covet and art to drool over, I like to wander the web for "crochet as art".

I of course mean that "I search for inspiration and concomitantly seek vindication for the presentation of crochet as art via perusal of the internet." ;-)

I think the first real example of crochet art I stumbled across in my daily surf hunt was Joan Dulla. She is a talented and visionary crochet artist that works in wire and creates great sculptural pieces including the brilliant:

Emily's Fine / Spinal Cord

Her work currently incorporates both floppy and hard money into the crocheted matrices of jewelry and purses, respectively. I've seen examples of her "money series" published in official "fiber is art" magazines. She is a ***Real Artist*** and she crochets stuff that kinda looks like stuff I might make.

When I first started exploring crochet art for myself, I focused on doing my own thing because I couldn't find anyone whose work even remotely resembled mine. Plus, I love the high drama associated with the idea of being unique - even when it is at the expense of being successful or reasonable:
"t-pot""pins & needles w/a zipper"


Thinking I was the shiniest thing in the tool shed, I found Ms. Dulla's site and some vaguely familiar themes that pre-dated and out-classed my meager little knottings:


"T-Pot" "Keeping the lid on"

D'OH

Fortunately I am pretty fond of myself and decided to chalk up this suspiciously awkward coincidence on my part to vindication that my vision is indeed artistic in that it is similar to that of a professional artist.

Being a study in contradiction, I also have a miserably dim view of myself and finding this kind of parallel brings to light the fact that I make tinker-toy sculptures out of stiffened thread that don't hold a candle to the wonderful wire sculptures of a ***Real Artist***.

Ah, well.

What doesn't make us kill ourselves only makes us stronger - to misquote a famous optimist.

At least I have found an artist that is inspiring, witty, successful and well-respected that also happens to use crochet as the main focus of her work. Knowing this makes me happy and keeps me keeping on even in the face of questionable brain chemistry and unwieldly personal circumstance.

So thank you Joan Dulla in all your magnificent glory.

Hook On!
C