#hocftg

“...[2/2] At some point in November 2020, we decided we wanted some plant hangers for our living room and Alex thought he'd try and make one himself. He ordered some macrame cord, he watched some tutorials, he tried, he liked it, and kept making plant hangers, wall hangings, Christmas ornaments, etc. He got pretty good at it in no time. We showed them to a few of our friends, and they wanted to buy some from us, so we thought, why not take it up more seriously and open up an Etsy shop? We love crafting anyway, so why not try and turn it into a job? So here we are, two months into doing crafting more professionally and we are enjoying it so much! The feeling of creating, of turning raw materials into something beautiful is amazing. We are heavily inspired by nature and incorporate nature motifs into our branding and into our products as much as we can. And I am enjoying the photography side of it too, as I get to style and photograph all of the products we make. :) [2/2]” —— ✎ Images + Content © Siyana and Alex, @knotatreecrafts ✎ #humansofcrafting #HOCFTG #crafting #meettheartist https://www.instagram.com/p/CMzgVnzrKOc/?igshid=fm6c7nll6xn1

[1/2]. “Hi, we are Siyana and Alex. Here's how our crafting journey began. I have always been drawn to art in different forms. I used to do drawing and painting in middle school, then took up photography at age 13 and later graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Photography. I've been into it for over 14 years now. Since having kids we've been doing lots of crafting with them - playdough and clay projects, making paper cards, planet carousels, rockets, castles out of cardboard. Expressing myself through art and crafting is something that comes naturally to me. It brings me joy. Alex loves creating and building things. He built our kids a wooden playhouse and a sandpit in the backyard, planters for the garden, shelves for the kitchen, etc. He loves working with his hands and fixing stuff. He's a chef by trade, so he's been off work during the lockdowns and he was constantly taking up craft and upcycling projects at home. I am currently learning to do woodworking, inspired by him. I am more interested in wooden toys and home decor, so I am practicing in our new woodworking shed.” ...[1/2] —— ✎ Images + Content © Siyana and Alex, @knotatreecrafts ✎ #humansofcrafting #HOCFTG #crafting #meettheartist https://www.instagram.com/p/CMuPke2L7mr/?igshid=phkgy6fs3nll

[2/2] “I have always loved to paint. I have also always had an ability to scale drawings, even as a kid. I didn't actually paint seriously until I was in my early 30s. I had been engaged to a designer and we used to go to art museums together. She would always get mad when I would look at art and say, "I could do that," telling me that I had no idea what went into creating art. So she gave me an airbrush for Christmas and soon after we broke up and I decided to begin painting. I bought a book on airbrush which detailed the masking process which I tried my best to learn. I found that I liked the combination of airbrush and acrylic paint so pursued that path for several years, continuing with the masking process. When my painting room was converted into a downstairs bedroom, I went on a 17-year painting hiatus. At that point in time, my oldest son challenged me to paint again, but without a true painting room, I had to opt for smaller canvasses and I dropped using airbrush altogether. But my process of continuing to mask things off has resulted in the clean lines that make my painting style somewhat distinct. As to my subject matter, just like a prefer fiction over non-fiction when it comes to reading, I prefer the imagined versus the real when it comes to painting. Early on, I discovered the work of Rene Magritte, the Belgian surrealist who quickly became my painting inspiration. I loved how he depicted what seemed to be impossible things in such a realistic way. I became enamored with his work and began pursuing many of his explorations - the man in the bowler hat, day and night in the same setting, giant floating objects. Like Magritte, I wanted to paint the impossible, or at least the highly improbable - and that is what continues to be my quest to this day.” “I think it's awesome to think of painters as craftsman. Every painter has their own process for creating, that ultimately becomes their own means of craftsmanship. Thanks for the opportunity to share a bit about what I do and why I do it!” —— ✎ Images + Content © Tom Blood, @tomblood_art ✎ #humansofcrafting #HOCFTG #crafting #acrylicpaintingartist https://www.instagram.com/p/CMj_FKCr-iG/?igshid=mthrfbavrvwi

“ [1/2] It's interesting to think of my painting process as a form of crafting, but in essence, it most definitely is. As an artist, one of my strongest skills is my ability to scale. All of my paintings begin as a sketch, most no larger than maybe 5" x 7" (or whatever dimension I'm creating). I then scale that sketch onto a blank canvas, breaking it down into four quadrants. Once I have the pencil sketch on the canvas, my painting process begins, often through the process of masking off. For example, if there's a sky in my painting, I'll mask off everything but the sky - trees, flying birds, whatever reaches into the sky area. I then proceed with painting the sky. When finished, I remove the mask to reveal the sky. Then repeat the process, as I craft my painting. ... [1/2] —— ✎ Images + Content © Tom Blood, @tomblood_art ✎ #humansofcrafting #HOCFTG #crafting #meettheartist https://www.instagram.com/p/CMe28P8rsby/?igshid=1w2hsdv53iibt

“Crafting is like a teacher that taught you to have patience, to wait, to listen, to accept it when things do not come out as you wanted, and to produce again without giving up.” “With my architectural education, accumulation, and interest, I try to bring together new material, texture, form, and surface possibilities that the art of ceramics introduces me. In my works, I investigate the interpretation of urban texture and contemporary architecture with the flexibility/brittleness and color/texture variations provided by ceramics.” “The figure-ground study we do when starting an architectural project, to follow the traces in the city, to understand the relations and urban scale has always been important for me. For İstanbul -the city I live in- especially in the Historical Peninsula, these figure-ground studies provide us with much data on both the formation and development of the city in time. I also presume that the study graphically itself -I prefer to call it "the image of the city"- has a meaning and value for the viewer.For these reasons, as I learn the ceramic technique and improve myself, I wanted to realize my idea of study on the city maps and urban scales to interpret them on clay. Starting from three districts of İstanbul, selected due to their impact on my personal memory and visual significance to me, I use regional maps showing the existing urban texture to create patterns in order to give the audience a different perspective. My personal ceramic journey started like that continues with my studies on many other cities of the world.” —— ✎ Images + Content © Dide Dinç Üstündağ, @ddseramik ✎ #humansofcrafting #HOCFTG #crafting #clayart https://www.instagram.com/p/CMUgs53jDVK/?igshid=77qurezzrwwf

[2/2] “I've been crafting and creating art as long as I can remember. I was always inspired by my mother's ingenuity and quirky creativity as well as her ethic of "using what you have." She's always had shoeboxes and drawers full of everything you could imagine that she cleverly salvaged from wherever she went - buttons, ribbons, doorknobs, hammers, clothespins, bricks, harp strings... “ “My favourite challenge has always been to breathe life into something old and make it into something new. Turn a bare wall into a mural. Take the plywood from an old torn out cabinet and build a playhouse. Cut up a pile of sweaters and make them into a twirly coat. Right now I'm working on a quilt using the fabric from my daughter's baby clothes, some hand me downs, and my old beloved torn sheets.” [2/2] —— ✎ Images + Content © Aprille Soons, @aprillesoons ✎ #humansofcrafting #HOCFTG #crafting #quiltersgonnaquilt https://www.instagram.com/p/CMM7cRvjIJA/?igshid=scrfhtkr28ne

[1/2] “Creating art is an expression of beauty and fun for its own sake. It doesn't have to be good. True flow in art is the ultimate freedom of the mind and the hands. There are no rules and the possibilities are limitless.” “When I was five, I sewed a piece of torn doily to an old woven belt with long, loose, awkward stitches and magically it became a skirt. I was hooked.” “I've been crafting and creating art as long as I can remember. I was always inspired by my mother's ingenuity and quirky creativity as well as her ethic of "using what you have." She's always had shoeboxes and drawers full of everything you could imagine that she cleverly salvaged from wherever she went - buttons, ribbons, doorknobs, hammers, clothespins, bricks, harp strings...” ... [1/2] —— ✎ Images + Content © Aprille Soons, @aprillesoons ✎ #humansofcrafting #HOCFTG #crafting #makersofinstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CMHjcPGD9wO/?igshid=1c42fe8oocoqi

“Crafting is a creative expression.” “I have always been a passionate crafter. I get so excited about all of the materials, especially paper, glue, scissors, and paint. I come from an artistic family who encouraged me to work with all kinds of materials. As a kid I was obsessed with papier mache, collage, drawing, and painting. I went on to get a university degree in Visual Arts which was an amazing experience. Since then, I have developed my art career over the years and it has led me back to paper sculpture, particularly creating paper botanicals and flowers.” “I chose paper as my medium because it is readily available, super easy to manipulate, lightweight, and most easily replicates the delicate forms of flowers and leaves.” “I have a deep passion for flowers. I worked for many years on a flower farm and then as an event florist at a big wedding venue. Flowers have always appeared in my artwork. I started out creating giant paper flowers as a part of a trade show booth and I got hooked on it! Eventually my house filled up with giant blooms and with two small kids I decided to switch to life sized flowers instead. Over the years my flowers have become more and more realistic. I am so inspired by all of the beautiful work I see on Instagram from artists who are really pushing the craft of paper flower making to new levels. I love replicating plants and flowers because people have an emotional reaction to flowers that I get to explore when I present my finished pieces. I love hearing people's stories, too, when a certain flower reminds them of a special moment in their lives.” —— ✎ Images + Content © Linda Hamilton, @daydream_flowers ✎ #humansofcrafting #HOCFTG #crafting #paperartist https://www.instagram.com/p/CL9ZHI0jdPT/?igshid=1loaz73zuoshl