This month Felter Skelter has a visit with Canadian textile and mixed-media artist Tanis Alexis Laird.
With a combination of techniques and materials (including wet felting, stitchery, painting, screen printing and more) and a passion for compassion, sustainability, and exploration, Tanis’ work can be playful, comforting, and challenging as well as beautiful.
Felter Skelter: What attracted you to fiber art in general and felt-making specifically?
Tanis Alexis Laird: Well, to be completely honest. It was the affordability. Wool isn’t particularily expensive, thank goodness, & in terms of wet felting all you need is wool + water + friction/time = felt. With such a simple equation it made the alchemy of producing my own natural textiles even more magical & empowering!
Once I became hooked to those sorts of thrills, I began to realise how versatile & experimental of a medium it is, and that took me to a whole other level & continues to do so.
FS: Can you tell us a little about your process? How do you take a mixed media concept from spark to completion? When do you decide what materials you need to express your ideas?
TAL: I think my process varies greatly depending on what I’m working on. There’s a lot of experimenting, which is where I retain my interest in making things. I do know myself enough that I have to keep the process loose & improvisational, so my mind doesn’t create traps for me, or expectations I can’t fufill. I try to maintain my focus on the bigger goal, but if it’s light & experimental along the way, I can feel as though the energy is fresh & interesting.
I have written some “rules” for myself that I try to follow while I’m in the zone.
Such as:
-Always sketch thumbnails before executing a large idea.
-Unsure of an idea or material? experiment and always give yourself room to play.
-Don’t take yourself too seriously.
-Trust yourself.
-Time is never wasted.
-When it gets difficult, push. When it gets uncomfortable pushing, push a little harder.
-Take your time.
-Walk away & come back with fresh eyes.
FS: What kind of fiber do you like to work with the best? Why?
TAL: Superfine merino is the filet of fiber to me. I do believe it is what clouds are made of.
I use a lot of undyed white polwarth batts for my large pieces (especially if I am printing or using mixed media) because it’s like a fibery canvas or blank page in my eyes.
FS: One of the themes in your work seems to me to be about connectivity. What does being connected mean to you?
TAL: I like to think that everything is connected, right down to a quantum level. There’s a lot of magic going on around us, that we don’t always see with our eyes. I also like to think that this place or level is responsible for the manifestation of ideas.
FS: What can you tell us about thought bubbles?
TAL: I think this is in the same realm of connectivity. What do peoples’ dreams, ideas, hopes, wishes, prayers, & thoughts look like? I think we all have some sort of thought bubble over our head, don’t we?
FS: Do you have any examples of your work that demonstrate a statement you are trying to express to the viewer? How about one that embodies a question/concept you’re exploring with the viewer?
TAL: With my process being what it is, I’d like to think that the majority of my work is a concept I explore alongside the viewer, but surely that’s not always true.
Here’s one example of expressing a feeling to the viewer:
Feelings of anticipation, curiosity, excitement, hope & wanderlust. These were all places I was visiting with myself during a pivotal time in my life. That same year I married my best friend.
The ‘we shall live here’ series is a great example of exploring with the audience. What is a home?
The answer is subjective to the viewer.
Additionally, as I continue to work with the concept, the meaning of ‘home’ continues to transform with society. Elevated interest is geared towards urban farming & homesteads, unconventional handmade housing, green living, self-sufficiency, tiny homes, nomadic living & even off-grid or slow living! So I’m gathering more & more dynamic variations on what a home is. I also gather a lot of input from the audience, I’ve made a few custom pieces for people who want a physical representation of their dream home. It’s all been really inspiring to me.
FS: Have you ever been surprised by or had an epiphany from, your own work?
TAL: I am always learning, that’s kind of like little epiphanies in my world.
I took a painting course at the beginning of this year. It was great to get back into the painters seat after taking a break from it for the last few years, creating textiles and mixed media pieces. Throughout the whole class I kept experiencing a lot of surprises about my style that I hadn’t consciously realised through producing mixed media work. I realised that a lot of it translates to the other work.
It was like a bright light coming on, after being in darkness. Or a hard slap in the face from a loving friend.
FS: Do you have any thoughts/frustrations/wisdom about fighting fear/lizard brain while working creatively?
TAL: Did you know that most brains nowadays come equipped with a really cool feature?? Yeah! Sometimes, it’s hard to find in there with all that stuff going on, but when you luck out, you’ll stumble upon a shiny volume knob. Use that to turn down the suck, as the kids say these days. Filter the bullshit, as I say. It can take time and a bit of work to find it some days. But it’s in there. I find that it works for a lot of other things in life.
I use have a bunch of various strategies that have worked for me in the past. Like I mentioned before, in regards to my process, some days it just takes tricking myself into creating art.
FS: Other fiber artists that you are inspired by?
TAL: Here are just a few of the fiber art (& artists) that I admire, there are so many amazing pieces of work, I can find myself often getting lost viewing work from around the world online:
tiny toadstool, cocoon designs, bennylove, beatjuice
FS: What excites you about your future creative life?
TAL: Infinite Possibilities.
FS: What’s next?
TAL: I have a art exhibit of my “we shall live here” series opening this month at the Port Moody Arts Centre. I’m getting a bit excited by it all now, and looking forward to seeing all the pieces together in one happy family.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you Moxie, Mr.xstitch and the whole dang family for having me here. What a treat! what a pleasure! what a thrill! xoxo
Just spectacular work. I love the creative use of mixed media and the way she seems to use it to tell a story!