Winter Solstice 2023

Dec 21, 2023

Long winter nights are conducive to retrospection, and this year I have a lot to reflect upon. In recent months I moved my lace studio to a smaller space, and in the process of downsizing I went through all things accumulated over the last thirty years. Shelves and drawers and boxes full of sketches, drawings, prickings, samples, notes… and so many wonderful memories!

A photo of a small sculpture called “Skating Free” propelled me back in time, to the end of the previous century (and millennium). It was such exciting time! Borders and boundaries fell, and many people in Europe experienced freedom for the first time in their lives. The historical change released huge amount of positive energy, and people were eager to share it. As internet made connections easier and communication faster, it seemed that the western world became one big creative lab. 

In the lace world, after the centuries of closely guarded secrets amid fierce competition and trade wars, lacemakers who started to freely share their knowledge realized how much we all have in common – our passion for the craft, appreciation of its history, our enthusiasm to learn and to preserve the traditions for future generations. Inspiring each other we envisioned a brilliant future that our fine craft could play in modern textile arts. This spirit of unity sustained many international lace events which were attended by lacemakers from all over the world. The unique opening created space for new ideas, and lacemaking with wire was one of them. Not everybody was enthusiastic about it, and some traditionalist were strictly against such sacrilege, but the number of interested adventurous lacemakers was enough to allow the young seedling to take root and grow. 

“Skating Free” was one of the small works I designed to explore wire lace possibilities. And also to revel in the freedom and natural beauty of my new country, Canada. I created several figure skaters, each with a different dress, all of them with long free-flowing hair. As the women/fairies skated away, one of them found home in the lace collection of Lia Baumeister-Jonker, a Dutch lacemaker, designer, researcher and educator extraordinaire. I met with Lia at various events and I admired her work, her teaching style and her outstanding accomplishments in the lace field. Lia’s support has meant a lot for me and encouraged me to continue with wire lacework.

Looking back, I think that “Skating Free” truly represents the spirit of one era, perhaps short-lived, but  important for the modern lace art. It showed the potential of fine lacemaking techniques which can and will meet the needs of artisans and artists in the future.
Watching the world getting faster, and its evolution cycles shorter, the next impetus to live, love and create freely might not be that far away…

Cheers to the Solstice and happy creating to everyone!