Sunday, February 21, 2016

World of Inspiration

I am in great danger here of sounding like I am stooped over and creaking out, "when I was young..." I will try to keep it in check!

But I do think it is older generations who can best appreciate how dramatically different, and improved, life is now. Personally, I love the "United Nations" of stitching that we have available to us these days. It is so interesting to see what stitchers around the world are making, and get a glimpse into how they live.

Clicking through some of the blogs I follow, I came across the brilliant work of Russian quilter Ksenia Shlyakova:

"Snow Queen" by Ksenia Shlyakova
used with permission
It is a long time since I've shown other people's work on my blog, but Ksenia's quilts inspired me so much. And so does Ksenia! She is 22.

Here comes that creaky voice. What were you doing at 22? I was coming to the harsh realization that after four years of grinding through a science degree, the last thing I wanted was to spend the rest of my life in a lab. Several more years of "finding myself" ensued. Ksenia studied lace making at her art school, but realized after graduation that her passion was making these stunning art quilts, and she dove in and works on them full time.

I still can just hope that I may do something as good some day, but the thing that inspires me the most is Ksenia's commitment and focus. I love to read about people who are completely committed to their art or craft, and when that art is quilt making, that 's even better! It really motivates me to dig in deeper.

Click here to read the whole article, and see several more of Ksenia's quilts.

Don't read Russian? I certainly don't. Google's Chrome web browser will translate it for you. After the web page has fully loaded on your computer, you will see two small dark squares appear in the upper right corner:


Click the squares and the page will magically translate for you. Brave new world! (...creak...) Some pages translate better than others, I've found. Ksenia's name is spelled a few different ways, and the gender shifts around (the author's name is Alexandra), but it's still relatively easy to understand.

Don't have Chrome? It is a free download here. Blogger works best with Chrome. But in any case, the photos are universal.

I am always interested to see where my photos end up as well. My favourite is this South Korean website, which used my very first practice bullion rose, done on scruffy muslin and a little unravelled at the top, in their stitch dictionary! Well, I was pretty proud of it, I must admit. And I appreciate all the traffic. :D

12 comments:

  1. Thanks for introducing us to this young talent. Lacemaking? Who knew there was a school for this in the 21st century? I can see why she jumped ship to quilting. I think you are too harsh in your critism of your own talents. That bullion rose looks pretty darn good to me.

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  2. I am in total agreement with you; the way the world has opened up for us through the "webisphere" gives us the opportunity to personally experience people from just about anywhere and learn from each other in a way we could never have expected to "back then". It's fabulous when someone as young as Ksenia knows exactly what she wants to do and goes after it with conviction and passion. Wish I had had the confidence at that age. (creak!)

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    1. For me, it was not a lack of confidence (lol, everyone I knew would confirm that!), but a lack of passion or direction. But, I have to believe that our paths were still right for us, even if they were different. And yes, it sure is nice to see someone with such a clear focus, and to see what that focus can achieve!

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  3. Wow! What fabulous work and a great story. Thanks so much for sharing. There is so much to take in and to comment on (even given the Google translation- a topic in itself!). What I really love is her visual storytelling. I was pretty focused at 22, but my focus has shifted. For me the challenge has been how to obtain balance and accommodate competing interests and needs. Some of Ksenia's work seems to incorporate some lacemaking - I wonder where it will take her in 10, 20, 30 or more years?.

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    1. You're welcome! I agree, the translation is an interesting topic too. I had not really considered the storytelling apsect of Ksenia's work, but you are right, it is a big component too. So many levels to appreciate!

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  4. Enjoyed your post today. What wonderful opportunities we have just peeking at others work and passions which can lead us in all kinds of directions.

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  5. what a very talented young lady this is a super quilt off to check out more about her.

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  6. Thanks for sharing this: her work is fantastic. Like you, I jumped from thing to thing for a while when I was younger, but I don't regret most of it and it led me somewhere I am happy to be.

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  7. Wow!! What beautiful work. I was gob smacked! At 22, I was just out of college, thinking I was going to be the next big name journalist. . .then a wonderful man came into my life. . .I've never looked back! --Terry

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    1. That is a wonderful story too, Terry! I don't think anyone can go wrong when they choose happiness. :D

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  8. Monica, thanks for the link to our website I love patchwork! Thank you for the kind words addressed to Ksenia. I am familiar with her, she is a wonderful young woman and very talented.

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    1. You're welcome, Alexandra! It's a great article, and I really enjoyed all the background about how Ksenia lives and works as well. Happy quilting to you both!

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I'm told Blogger has been bouncing some comments, so if it happens to you I'm sorry! But the settings look right so I can't explain it. In any case, thanks for reading!

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