Member of the Month - Sara Aires - In my Studio

by Sara Aires
In my way of working there are several aspects which I can say are not very "by the book". As a former Arts student , in a quite traditional school, one was taught how to plan and project every aspect of an artwork... Let me make this clear: my creativity is an expression, is something that comes out of me quite naturally and sometimes unexpectedly and against my will.

Since very tender age, i was told "draw in pencil first, then you can use the ink, so you make no mistakes". This has always annoyed me, as well as the idea that if one draws directly in ink, or in this textile context, goes directly to the use of noble materials, is because one is too confident or pretentious, and implying an almost certain error.

I know sometimes it is too risky to damage a good piece of fabric, or precious paper... we can't afford it. But, when we want to reach a certain expertise working with a specific media, we must experience as much as possible with that material. Drawing with a pencil is completely different from drawing with a pen.
I also find myself as too impatient. Maybe because I never plan the piece I'm constructing, maybe because I do it as I go, I tend to be very anxious towards the final result. But for me this is one of the most thrilling parts of creativity: to surprise myself on what I'm unraveling.

So, I'm sorry to disappoint some of you, but although I madly love drawing and painting, there is no planning process, or documents in a traditional form, to show. I guess that was a problem for me when I attended sculpture lessons: my teachers would be very demanding of those. I always felt that a work of art shouldn't be and end itself, but it didn't also have to explain itself. As a creator, one should be able to produce continuously, experimenting, making mistakes, and that is the process, altogether.

 
To me, my crochet hook is like a pen and the thread is the ink. I like to let it flow, careless of what it will bring, but curious of it.

My place of work, specially with crochet, is a bit of everywhere... Although i have a nice little corner at my home, I usually take whatever little 5 min I get to make a little crochet. But to be honest, the bigger part of time is spent watching tv while crocheting/ knitting. Julieta, my dog also loves to lean back to my legs while I crochet. :)

Text and photos by Sara Aires.