Studio Mavrikos

I’m not in the habit of making resolutions for a new year.  With that said, a little seed was planted in my head many months ago while watching the brilliant machine knitting videos on https://www.youtube.com/@KnitFactoryImpl.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.  Let’s rewind many, many moons and talk about knitting.

The idea of taking yarn and weaving it into something wearable using hands and two sticks, along with a few other notions, blew open a creative door or two in my brain.  I learned to hand knit quite a while ago and have been at it on and off again for many years.  Translating a ball of yarn into a three-dimensional object is challenging and exhilarating.  Muscle-memory begins to develop with constant repetition.

Practice never makes perfect.  Practice makes permanent.

It’s slow and methodical work, with the pacing set by your hands, your skill, and the time you give it.  I’m not a great knitter.  I’m a functional knitter.  My needles have made a number of objects, most wearable, some decorative, all translating ideas out into the world.  Call it what you like, but when I have a creative idea and figure out a way to make it exist outside of my mind, that’s art.

Enter circular knitting machines, specifically the Addi King Size (46 needles) and the Addi Express (22 needles).  They’re great pieces of hardware that help you create knitting projects at a substantially faster pace than by hand.  Simple tubes or flat panels of stockinette are their output.  They have their limits, but coupled with creative planning, they really do produce wonderful wearables in a relatively short time depending on the project.  If all you want is a beautiful scarf, grab some variegated yarn size US 4, cast on, and crank away.  In about an hour or two, you have a wonderful wearable.

Some hand knitters call that cheating.  Cheating what, exactly?  Did I knit it?  Yes.  Did I use a machine?  Yes.  Did it take skill to use the machine?  Yes.  Does it make my art inferior to yours?  Hell naw.  Low and slow may be good for stew, but if I can reach my end goal using new skills and technology, I’m gonna do it.  Hand knitting has its place, and I celebrate it regularly.  However, critiquing machine knitting or machine knitters is not one of those places.

OK, so here’s where I’m at.  Hand knitter for a while, circular machine knitter for a while, and now it’s time to level up.  Only it’s a big level up.  Next week, I should have a used flatbed knitting machine in my studio.  Honestly, I have no real experience with these machines.  There’s so much to learn, and looking around the internet, there are many great resources out there.

So here’s to walking through a new creative door.  Is it time to go yarn shopping yet…

Journaling is something I’ve been doing digitally for years. Recording thoughts in the digital ether is comforting, easily accessible (for me, by me, to me), and thoroughly enjoyable. Even photography is a way of journaling in my life. Capturing a moment in a photo can whiplash me back in time in an instant.

Physical art is another thing entirely. As I continue to explore new mediums, making a photograph is not enough. Enter the art / junk journal. A place to store bits and bobs I’ve made, try out techniques, and even explore new craft supplies, which I never seem to get enough of. Seriously. My tiny apartment is awash in crafty tools and materials. The organization struggle is real.

This particular journal creation was heavily inspired by Natasha at Treasure Books. Her YouTube channel has taught me an vast range of techniques and tricks to make journals. Truly, without the guidance and inspiration, this particular journal would never have materialized.

The fabric cover is cotton from a fat quarter set I purchased during the initial mask-making days at the onset of C19. Various Tim Holtz stamps, background wallpapers, dies, bits of paper ephemera, embossing folders, and inks all work together to embellish lots of tea dyed papers. Some sewing, lots of glue, and a thread binding holds it all together.

Even the tea dyeing technique is courtesy of a video by Natasha. Never considered it before now and I’m absolutely in love with the results. The aged and distressed look of tea dyeing fits right into my style. It’s just typing paper, some notebook paper, and a handful of large sheets of the always-sturdy-when-wet deliciously wonderful Yasutomo rice paper. Seriously, that paper is dreamy.

This journey into journals (journal journey? journal-y??) is only starting. Thrilled to explore this more in the future.

I’m a fan of creative outlets. Photography has been a big part of my life for many years. Recently, there’s been a new creative path I’ve found, and it’s making greeting cards. The interwebs provides a plethora of tutorials, guides, expertise, and noise when it comes to card making. By no means am I an expert, but I do enjoy the planning and making of cards.

Not many people send me cards. That’s not a bad thing, but when I do receive one, it makes me smile. That’s my goal; to bring a smile to someone. During the ongoing C19 pandemic, I think we all could use more smiles. So I decided to learn how to make cards. And I did. And I continue to do so.

Deep in the bowels of this website, nestled in the cobwebs of time away from public view, are the archives of a blog that began in 2003 and was last updated in 2012.  Can’t claim to remember the exact reason I stopped updating this lil nook of the interwebs, but I’m certain it had something to do with tryna make it through life right then. 

Ya see gentle readers, I’d decided it was a good idea to become a nurse. After many years in financial technology, I was laid off in 2009 because… well… let’s just say the world made some interesting financial choices. As someone on the receiving end of those choices, my time in that business had drawn to a close. And another adventure began to open.

Fast forward to mid-2012. I was a little less than a year away from sitting for my nursing boards. Loved the experience to date, enjoyed many of my cohorts, and figured out that nurses, well, good nurses, are adept project and program managers. I’d been refining my PM skills for many years, so organization and prioritization were nothing new.  Medicine isn’t easy, but the learning and doing was exhilarating, and I was good at it. 

What you permit,

you promote

What I wasn’t good at was working three weekend overnights and going to school. Financially, I didn’t need to work. When I was laid off, the severance was lovely. Rent, food, and all the etceteras were taken care of, but I wanted to work my way into healthcare to learn. And I did, clerking in hospitals where I had the opportunity to absorb a ton of information going on around me.

Met some absolutely horrible people who hated their jobs, and met some incredible caregivers that made their intensely complex work joyful and seemingly effortless. Note: It’s never effortless to work in healthcare.  Some people are just so good at it that the behind-the-scenes business of engaging, assessing, deciding, and treating is seamless. The good ones never need to be told how good they are at their job. Everyone just knows it. Everyone also knows the bad folks. Time and time again I meet them, and a favorite quote rolls around in my head: “What you permit, you promote”

Those three overnights began to take their toll. I quit my job and became a full time student. Absolutely loved every moment of it. After taking my nursing boards, I felt good about the exam. When the news of passing came, I was happy and sad. I needed to get back to the reality of work. But damn, I was a nurse. Then it crept into my foggy noggin; oh damn. Dafuq did I just do?