Jess Wrobel: Textiles and Decor

IndieArtisans has released its newest collection, Handmade for Winter.  This follows its previous beautiful collection, Handmade for the Holidays.  But Handmade is not just for a holiday or for a season.  It is something to be embraced as part of our everydays.  While I understand and respect – and even rely on- the need for factory produced goods, it is lovely to include something in my daily life that has been touched by another person.  Whether it is home cooked, baked from scratch, or stitched by hand, I love knowing the people and the stories behind the pieces in my home.  We have a particular penchant for flea markets and antiques around here.  Again, I think it is the subtleties of variations in handcrafted pieces that makes them so special.

Made by Hand is a way of life for some of us.  Every day I wake to tackle projects that create something from nothing, or at least from an assortment of previously unrelated parts.  I bring the bits and pieces together and somehow make them into a new whole.  Is it transformative?  Maybe.  Is it just a matter of allowing each piece to blossom in its own identity?  Possibly.  I frequently listen to books on tape while I work.  Currently, I’m listening to Son of a Witch, by Gregory Maquire.  There is a wonderful line,  “One + One = Both”.  I love that.  Parts or partners come together not to be one new thing but to be the entirety of everything that came together to create it– every little bit to be respected and appreciated for its history, contribution, and individuality.  That is a concept I can wholly embrace to apply to my marriage, my friendships,  and my art.  Handmade is the perfect representation of the concept.  Everything that is made by hand is a story that begins being told by one, and then the tale is picked up and carried on by each new person whose life it touches.  Generation to generation.