Fiber Artist Profile- Renate Kirkpatrick

I have really enjoyed getting to know more of the fiber artists (members of the International Freeform Fiber Artists Group) who contributed to the book: Somewhere in my World,

I am so pleased that all the proceeds of the book go to the following 2 charities:

Kiva.org and to Mercy Corp for Haitian relief

Today, I am profiling Australian fiber artist, Renate Kirkpatrick.   Link to her page in the book.

As always, my questions are in GREEN and Renate’s answers are in black.

1. Can you tell us a little about your piece for ‘Somewhere in my world’?

It depicts the sunny place where I live, sub-tropical Queensland, Australia

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2. What was your inspiration, and has it lead to further explorations for you?

when I first discovered Freeform & started playing around with it, long before I saw the wonderful array of Freeform artists that I know of today, I kept coming up with coral-like motifs & in the end decided that I just had to incorporate them into creative pieces that would stand on their own

3. The International Freeform Fiber Artists Guild is primarily focused on crochet, but includes so many other fiber techniques. Do you do other things other than crochet, and if so, what are they?

Oh yes, my first love is handmade paper (made from plant fibres & recylceled) & although I’m no longer in a position to play with this medium anymore I have never given up hope of returning to it again one day.

I enjoy hooking Rag Rugs (made from old clothes & rags) & have spent many happy hours creating a wonderful collection of wall hangings.

Felting & hand dying are techniques I also like to explore from time to time & I enjoy finding ways of incorporating them into the freeform pieces

4. What part of creating your piece for ‘Somewhere in my world’ was the most challenging for you?

Time. It’s always time… so many ideas but never enough time to explore them all

5. What part of creating your piece for ‘Somewhere in my world’ was the most inspiring and fun for you?

just choosing a yarn or colour & letting the hook lead the way

6. What triggers your creativity?

Colour, texture & form – whenever I find a new yarn, I can’t wait to get it home to see where the hook, needles & yarn will take me

7. Which of the fiber arts speak most deeply to you?

At the moment I would have to say, Freeform Crochet/knitting/felting – every new piece I create leads on to another new idea & the proverbial freeform question ‘I wonder what will happen if I try this or that’ – I think it will be a long time before the question is answered, if ever…

8. Does where you live influence your work in any way?

Absolutely… Australia is a kaleidoscope of everything that I love – rich colours, unusual fauna & ancient earth formations. Here in Queensland I have the added influence of the ocean & wonderful beaches

9. Can people buy your work?

Yes they can…

I sell my freeform pieces & patterns on Etsy

http://www.etsy.com/shop/rensfibreart

& my patterns are also available on Zibbet

http://www.zibbet.com/rensfibreart

Artfire

http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&seller_id=37918

& Ravelry

http://www.ravelry.com/people/rensfibreart

10. Do you have a blog, etsy shop, ravelry shop or website? If so, what are their urls?

My website/Blog showcases my Paper work, Rag Rugs, Freeform & traditional crochet

http://rensfibreart.wordpress.com/

I love Ravelry, my stepping stone into the cyber world, where I have meet so many interesting people & been inspired by the tremendous collection of talent – my Ravelry user name is rensfibreart

you can see a collection of my work on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rensfibreart/

I also have a Facebook fan page

http://www.facebook.com/pages/rensfibreart/143714202533

& I’m a member of the TAFA list

http://www.tafalist.com/2010/02/renate-kirkpatrick-rensfibreart.html

11. Do you have a crafting or arts community that influences you and is important to you? (online or ‘real life’). Is it important to you to be in touch with your peers?

Oh yes, being in touch with other ‘yarn nutters’ is wonderful – who else understands the excitement of finding yet another beautiful yarn, discovering a new stitch or just drooling over a textured piece of freeform?

I owe most of my success to the lovely ladies who support my classes, I’ve learnt so much from them & their constant questioning always spurs me on the try new things

& of course, Ravelry groups & Freeforn Yahoo group

12. Is there anything that I have missed that you would like to share with the readers of Tottie Talks Crafts?

I often hear people say ‘ Oh, I’d love to be able to do that but I’m not creative…’ however, I’m a firm believer that everyone harbours creativity within them & it blossoms through ‘the doing’ – talent isn’t always enough, without the doing how will that talent shine – I say, ‘You’ll never know unless you give it a go….’