“Weaving has definitely become my life’s work,” she admitted in an interview with The Project for Women. “I started weaving in February 2013 when I was visiting my family in Michigan. I took a scarf weaving class and was completely hooked. Ever since I have been taking as many weaving classes as I can and reading books and trying out different techniques.”

Since dedicating herself fully to fiber work, she has studied tapestry and Navajo weaving, rigid heddle, and floor loom weaving, developing her own signature weaving style over several years. Exploring organic movement, Shimek’s weaving style allows the fibers to fall into an indeterminate pattern that reveals the beauty and vulnerability of her materials.

“I am extremely inspired by nature,” she says. “Since I began weaving I have met so many incredibly talented artists, both weavers and in other disciplines,” she adds. “I wasn’t an artist before I started weaving and honestly felt pretty intimidated to jump in and meet all these people who have been working in these fields for years! The weaving community especially has been amazing. All these wonderful people sharing their work and explaining techniques, it really resonates with me.”

With more than 60k fans on Instagram, the weaving community definitely accepts her as their own. Today, Shimek exhibits her work, creates commissions, and teaches weaving workshops across the world. You can also follow her creative journey via Instagram.

The post Meghan Shimek Makes Large Woven Wall Hangings appeared first on PlayJunkie.

Her fascination with color sparked at a young age, and she remembers sorting her colored pencils into pleasing sequences as a child. After a degree in communications design and a career as a graphic designer, Kingswell discovered her second love, that of textiles.

Combining both passions for color and textile, she now creates quilt-like textile art which reminds of stained glass. Her work is characterized by vibrant colors and strong, geometric shapes through which she seeks a colorful physical expression of mathematical ideas. “I want my work to lift spirits and make people smile!” she writes, “And also intrigue them a little!”

Using mainly solid color fabrics in bright and saturated hues, her patchwork is very precisely sewn and contains no embellishments (“it has to be that way so there is no distraction from the colors and sequences,” explains Kingswell). Depending on the work, she sometimes stretches the finished design over a canvas stretcher. Other pieces are left flexible.

What emerges often appears random, but is actually very far from random. “I get pleasure from creating things – things that are so much more than the sum of their parts – finding new patterns by exploring the beauty of color, number, sequence, and proportion through the medium of fabric,” writes Kingswell. “Starting with a harmonious color-scheme, sometimes inspired by a poem or other text, or a special number, I impose a mathematical sequence, cut, rearrange according to the sequence, and see what happens.”

Take a look at her delightful results:

The post Creating Drama with Color: Alexandra Kingswell’s Textile Art appeared first on PlayJunkie.

She also teaches monthly rug hooking workshops in and around her home in NYC. “Rug hooking with a punch needle blends artistic expression with tactile material,” she explained in an interview with Making. According to Pearlman, it’s a simple technique that creates looped stitches of fiber onto a cloth surface. “The medium can easily be controlled and designed,” she says. “Hooked rugs can be used for a variety of home accessories and objects.”

With a background in fine arts and a love of well designed functional objects, Pearlman took to rug hooking as a way of staying creative while staying at home with her young children. While painting involved a separate studio space with long stretches of solitude, rug hooking took little space, made little mess, and was easily picked up and put down throughout the day – making it the ideal medium for her.

“Finding a way to do what I love and make an income, and not burn out is still a struggle to balance,” admits Pearlman. “I know trying to produce enough products to sell would eventually take away from the love of creating. While making a business of rug hooking removes you from the actual process, teaching workshops feeds my creativity and passion. I am able to share my love of rug hooking, create work at a comfortable pace and stay true to my vision.”

Follow her work on Instagram:

The post Rose Pearlman Blurs the Line Between Art and Craft appeared first on PlayJunkie.

Having studied painting, she began embroidering and sewing with no prior experience outside of doing cross-stitch projects and watching her mom hand-sew Halloween costumes when she was a child. “I‘ve always been attracted to the medium of textiles,” she admitted in an interview with Textile Artist. “I think primarily because of the sense of nostalgia they hold for me.”

“I did a lot of craft projects as a kid and it seems like there was always some kind of textile-based project, from sewing Halloween costumes to doing cross-stitch samplers,” she recalled. “The tactility of the material really makes me feel connected to those memories of my first discoveries of making things and I think this is part of what makes the material so evocative for me.”

Aside from embroidering, her artworks also include sculpting. To make each piece, she works from the inside out, starting with a handful of stuffing and a square of felt, and building shapes and gestures that are determined by the material and her own instinct. After a coherent series of structures develops, she then carefully upholsters, embroiders, wraps, weaves, felts or embellishes over each form individually until it has developed its own identity. Take a look at some of her unique artwork in the gallery below:

The post The Thought-Provoking Textile Art of Lauren DiCioccio appeared first on PlayJunkie.

Inspired by the intricacies of vintage textiles, traditional costuming, modern art, and the natural world, she loves applying unexpected color combinations to her overall nostalgic designs. And other people seem to enjoy her work just as well! With over 120k followers and features in New York Magazine, Anthology, and O Magazine (to name a few), her work is sold both on Etsy and through online shops and boutiques around the country.

But her true sense of fullfiment comes from the work itself. “I feel real meditation while I weave,” she shared with Created Here. “A stillness and a presence that often gets lost when we are often staring at our phones and screens. It’s addictive! It reminds me that I am human and living in this moment.”

“I love what I do,” she says. “It has evolved so slowly that I have been able to make small movements in the direction that felt right at the time. I have brought on people who are invested in the vision, and we work together to make sure everyone is feeling happy and secure at each point of change. We really feel like a family.”

“Weaving is really a therapy for me,” she adds. “It allows me to explore emotions that I otherwise don’t give myself time to fully appreciate and explore. I like to return to the same moment or emotion a number of times to delve deeper, weaving the same emotion from different angles.”

Follow her Instagram page for a pop of color.

The post Maryanne Moodie Treats Weaving As a Form of Meditation appeared first on PlayJunkie.

“Weaving has definitely become my life’s work,” she admitted in an interview with The Project for Women. “I started weaving in February 2013 when I was visiting my family in Michigan. I took a scarf weaving class and was completely hooked. Ever since I have been taking as many weaving classes as I can and reading books and trying out different techniques.”

Since dedicating herself fully to fiber work, she has studied tapestry and Navajo weaving, rigid heddle, and floor loom weaving, developing her own signature weaving style over several years. Exploring organic movement, Shimek’s weaving style allows the fibers to fall into an indeterminate pattern that reveals the beauty and vulnerability of her materials.

“I am extremely inspired by nature,” she says. “Since I began weaving I have met so many incredibly talented artists, both weavers and in other disciplines,” she adds. “I wasn’t an artist before I started weaving and honestly felt pretty intimidated to jump in and meet all these people who have been working in these fields for years! The weaving community especially has been amazing. All these wonderful people sharing their work and explaining techniques, it really resonates with me.”

With more than 60k fans on Instagram, the weaving community definitely accepts her as their own. Today, Shimek exhibits her work, creates commissions, and teaches weaving workshops across the world. You can also follow her creative journey via Instagram.

The post Meghan Shimek Makes Large Woven Wall Hangings appeared first on PlayJunkie.

Her fascination with color sparked at a young age, and she remembers sorting her colored pencils into pleasing sequences as a child. After a degree in communications design and a career as a graphic designer, Kingswell discovered her second love, that of textiles.

Combining both passions for color and textile, she now creates quilt-like textile art which reminds of stained glass. Her work is characterized by vibrant colors and strong, geometric shapes through which she seeks a colorful physical expression of mathematical ideas. “I want my work to lift spirits and make people smile!” she writes, “And also intrigue them a little!”

Using mainly solid color fabrics in bright and saturated hues, her patchwork is very precisely sewn and contains no embellishments (“it has to be that way so there is no distraction from the colors and sequences,” explains Kingswell). Depending on the work, she sometimes stretches the finished design over a canvas stretcher. Other pieces are left flexible.

What emerges often appears random, but is actually very far from random. “I get pleasure from creating things – things that are so much more than the sum of their parts – finding new patterns by exploring the beauty of color, number, sequence, and proportion through the medium of fabric,” writes Kingswell. “Starting with a harmonious color-scheme, sometimes inspired by a poem or other text, or a special number, I impose a mathematical sequence, cut, rearrange according to the sequence, and see what happens.”

Take a look at her delightful results:

The post Creating Drama with Color: Alexandra Kingswell’s Textile Art appeared first on PlayJunkie.

She also teaches monthly rug hooking workshops in and around her home in NYC. “Rug hooking with a punch needle blends artistic expression with tactile material,” she explained in an interview with Making. According to Pearlman, it’s a simple technique that creates looped stitches of fiber onto a cloth surface. “The medium can easily be controlled and designed,” she says. “Hooked rugs can be used for a variety of home accessories and objects.”

With a background in fine arts and a love of well designed functional objects, Pearlman took to rug hooking as a way of staying creative while staying at home with her young children. While painting involved a separate studio space with long stretches of solitude, rug hooking took little space, made little mess, and was easily picked up and put down throughout the day – making it the ideal medium for her.

“Finding a way to do what I love and make an income, and not burn out is still a struggle to balance,” admits Pearlman. “I know trying to produce enough products to sell would eventually take away from the love of creating. While making a business of rug hooking removes you from the actual process, teaching workshops feeds my creativity and passion. I am able to share my love of rug hooking, create work at a comfortable pace and stay true to my vision.”

Follow her work on Instagram:

The post Rose Pearlman Blurs the Line Between Art and Craft appeared first on PlayJunkie.

Having studied painting, she began embroidering and sewing with no prior experience outside of doing cross-stitch projects and watching her mom hand-sew Halloween costumes when she was a child. “I‘ve always been attracted to the medium of textiles,” she admitted in an interview with Textile Artist. “I think primarily because of the sense of nostalgia they hold for me.”

“I did a lot of craft projects as a kid and it seems like there was always some kind of textile-based project, from sewing Halloween costumes to doing cross-stitch samplers,” she recalled. “The tactility of the material really makes me feel connected to those memories of my first discoveries of making things and I think this is part of what makes the material so evocative for me.”

Aside from embroidering, her artworks also include sculpting. To make each piece, she works from the inside out, starting with a handful of stuffing and a square of felt, and building shapes and gestures that are determined by the material and her own instinct. After a coherent series of structures develops, she then carefully upholsters, embroiders, wraps, weaves, felts or embellishes over each form individually until it has developed its own identity. Take a look at some of her unique artwork in the gallery below:

The post The Thought-Provoking Textile Art of Lauren DiCioccio appeared first on PlayJunkie.

Inspired by the intricacies of vintage textiles, traditional costuming, modern art, and the natural world, she loves applying unexpected color combinations to her overall nostalgic designs. And other people seem to enjoy her work just as well! With over 120k followers and features in New York Magazine, Anthology, and O Magazine (to name a few), her work is sold both on Etsy and through online shops and boutiques around the country.

But her true sense of fullfiment comes from the work itself. “I feel real meditation while I weave,” she shared with Created Here. “A stillness and a presence that often gets lost when we are often staring at our phones and screens. It’s addictive! It reminds me that I am human and living in this moment.”

“I love what I do,” she says. “It has evolved so slowly that I have been able to make small movements in the direction that felt right at the time. I have brought on people who are invested in the vision, and we work together to make sure everyone is feeling happy and secure at each point of change. We really feel like a family.”

“Weaving is really a therapy for me,” she adds. “It allows me to explore emotions that I otherwise don’t give myself time to fully appreciate and explore. I like to return to the same moment or emotion a number of times to delve deeper, weaving the same emotion from different angles.”

Follow her Instagram page for a pop of color.

The post Maryanne Moodie Treats Weaving As a Form of Meditation appeared first on PlayJunkie.