Blog #24 fiber and fabric show

November 10, 2014


We ventured to the Chicago Botanic Gardens for their annual Fiber and Fabric Art show.  This was a huge show displaying many artisans works from quilts to clothes, to baskets and masks. The colors and textures are so inviting to the senses, they call you to look at them deeper, and pull you to touch them. I am always amazed by what people can do with needles and yarn. I can’t even sew in a straight line! Arianna did want to make matching aprons a while back, so we did. She also has an understanding of how involved the quilt stitching really is. What she took in more than anything, though, was the self expression created in each piece. Every single piece had a story. Every piece was unique to the artist that created it. There was no right or wrong, there was only an ’ heart. I was watching her pick out her favorites, watching her being taken in by certain styles and stories, and I realized I am the mommy of a true artist. I am an artist, so she has always been around creative artistic venues, but she is now appreciating art. What a blessing.

Even more fun than viewing the art was the hands on learning she and I got to do. We did get to meet many of the artists. There were weavers with their huge looms allowing us to try looming. What a skill! We learned to make yarn bracelets with looming tools. We also got to experience felting. The vibrant colors of dyed sheep wool are fabulous. We learned about how the artist raises her own sheep for her art. After that we walked into an art room entitled Masks We Wear. This was an art group challenged to make a mask representing themselves and the masks they wear in life. The most incredible brilliant conversation came from this room. The one where my 11 year old asked what mask I would have made if I were in this group, and revealed to me her mask. Allowing her the freedom to learn about WHO she is, and who she wants to be in this life, has always been one of my driving forces for unschooling. It happened today in the most colorful way. “Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.”

― Oscar Wilde