Knit Doll Workshop

knit simon dolls by larry.

The knit Simon doll by larry. has been a favourite, among both kids and adults, since I made the first one two years ago for my niece Brooke’s 2nd birthday.  Best described as a weird ‘creature,’ Simon is cute, cuddly and loves taking part in photo shoots.  As one faithful fan put it, you can often really relate to Simon.  The more drinks you have, the drunker Simon also seems to look, what with those spacey wooden eyes.

knit doll kits: bulky wool, double pointed needles, buttons

We scheduled a workshop here in Frutillar at the Meli Kitchen & Garden cafe for Patagonia Style, and made 6 kits ready with instructions and all the materials needed to make a Simon doll.  Most of the class participants knew how to knit, however I did have to show the basics to a few new students.

larry.designs workshop at meli cafe in frutillar, chile

It as my first experience leading a workshop, and despite the language barrier it was a lot of fun seeing other people make their own version of Simon!  3 scheduled hours stretched into 4, but by the end of the night we had five new Simon dolls finished -what a great achievement.

simon dolls lounging at meli restaurant

A few of the ladies were experienced knitters, but they hadn’t worked with double pointed needles before and were not familiar with one of the techniques used in the pattern, so they learned something new, which was all I could have hoped for.

demonstrating how to cast-on

As a teacher, I noted how different tensions and styles of knitting affect the finished product.  It was my first time creating a pattern (translated into spanish!) for public use, and while it was referred to, most of the ladies preferred to have verbal or demonstrated instructions rather than read step by step.  It was a more spontaneous process than what I expected, which was really cool to see.

I reminded myself to give up the urge to ‘correct’ the work of others, and in the end we had some different looking dolls than my model, but that just makes them all the more endearing in the end.  I did have a moment of intense pride, watching everyone working so hard and enjoying themselves, and thought – this is why teachers do what they do.

Thank you to everyone who attended the workshop, and I hope to do more of these in the future!

 

Published by Terri on May 6, 2012 in Arts & Culture. 0 Comments

Road Trip from Puerto Montt to Chiloé

The island of Chiloé in Southern Chile is famous for a number of things: architecture (palafitos, world heritage churches), penguins, mythology, a rain forest, shellfish, and potatoes.

on the ferry from pargua to the grand island of chiloé

We set out from Frutillar, stopping in Puerto Varas to rent a car and zipping past Puerto Montt about 30 mins to the Pargua ferry, on May 1, which is a national holiday in Chile.  At just past noon we said ‘salud!’ and clinked beer glasses over lunch with some locals of Pargua, who tried to pass a young man off to me – he apparenly had the nicest eyes in the region, and so in their opinion was my ideal match.

palafito 1326, boutique hotel in castro

After a beautiful drive from Ancud to Castro, we checked in to the Palafito 1326 hotel, which had stunning design features and eked out over the water on stilts.  The hotel is heated entirely by a massive wood fireplace, which is next to a sitting area and open kitchen, adjoining a large deck, and much of the interior design relates to wool in some way, so I was endlessly diverted.

paz caillet store in castro, chiloé

One main purpose of the trip was to investigate yarn sourcing, so we stopped in many stores featuring knitwear and asked for leads.  Paz Caillet had some great designs, but no leads on wool.

huiñe maulín tejedoras in castro, chiloé

We lucked out with the  Agrupación Huiñe Maulín shop, though – they were able to sell us a big ball of yarn, a natural grey colour and right from the island.  I also found a great silver ring with broom straw woven on the face, so I left very happy.

beached boats in castro, chiloé

Castro was a nice little town, but we really didn’t think ahead by arriving on a holiday.  Nearly everything was closed.  We tried one restaurant, ordered a seafood platter, and left most of it on the table (strike one for Chilote seafood).  After accidentally stopping for a beer in a “red-light” bar, of which I will spare you the ugly details, the Hostería de Castro addressed our persistent hunger with an excellent cheese platter and avocado salad, and our waiter was a model in attentive service.

cast iron cocina in abandoned farmhouse

We could not dwell long in Castro, and hoped that the sunshine and rainbows would follow us along our route through the long country road to Dalcahue (plan ahead for the extra time it will take to navigate a pot-holed gravel road at 40km/h..)  We diverted off the main road to investigate a sign that simply said ” <— Historia” and figured the abandoned farm house behind barbed wire must have been what the sign was referring to.  We poked around without having the place collapse on our heads, and I liberated a big iron circle thingamajig from the rubble that I will use for a woven wall piece.

note my pretty new ring

Somewhere along this dirt road we passed an older woman, and stopped to ask her if she needed a lift.  When she said that was ok, we asked about yarn.  Turns out she had some at home, so she hopped in and invited us in to her little place around the corner.  I got one big skein of a black & white blend.  The design of the yarn is typical of the artesanal markets here in Chile, but I knew this woman spun the yarn herself so it holds special value for me.

me with blondina cardenas of chiloe

When asked if she had any thicker yarn, Blondina led us to another building next to her house and we walked into this scene:

large scale loom in chiloe

Words can’t describe how nice it is to be in a place where you stop a random lady on the side of a dirt road, and she brings you into her home and unveils this.  The heddle bar is suspended from the ceiling, and she said she could finish this project in about 2 days.  Simply amazing.  She gave me a ball of cream yarn as a gift, to boot.

world heritage church in dalcahue, chiloe

Dalcahue was a quaint little town, but I experienced strike #2 for seafood at the Cocina Dalcahue, which was a large building along the waterfront with numerous little domestic-looking kitchens with countertop seating inside.

kelgwo arte textile in ancud, chiloe

We drove through Quamchi and then back to Ancud, where we made it to Kelgwo Arte Textil, a very well-established store and organization that works with numerous indigenous artisans to create beautiful garments and decor, both knit and woven.

To sum it all up…

Architecture: fantastico.

Penguins: didn’t find any, but didn’t really look either.

Mythology: I saw a t-shirt with the goddess of Pincoya, spirit of ocean and shore, on it – but otherwise, no ghost ships, witches, unicorns, or dwarves presented themselves.

Rain Forest: is on the Western side of the island, but I can attest to the lush and bountiful landscape on the Eastern side.

Shellfish: bust. Never accept microwaved shellfish, ever.  Being a polite tourist just isn’t worth the tummy-ache.

All in all, well worth the visit!

Published by Terri on May 4, 2012 in Arts & Culture and Lifestyle. 0 Comments

Spotlight on Artists in Chile

Derek Way of Chester Beer

We got a tour from Derek Way of Chester Beer brewery this week, located on a farm just outside of Puerto Varas.

This craft beer is brewed in two repurposed stainless steel refrigerated shipping containers, and efforts towards waste reduction, recycling, and upcycling are incorporated throughout their entire brewing process.  The leftover malt doesn’t even go to waste – it is fed to the cows on the farm!

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Weichafe Recycled Jewellery

Derek’s partner, Jenny Gonzalez Assis, makes a line of beautiful jewellery out of recycled aluminum cans, called Weichafe.

The interior of her pieces are filled with a variety of found treasures; seaweed, traditional woven textiles, yarn, copper wire, merken (a common spice in Chile), the list is vast and potentially limitless.

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Fundación Artesanías de Chile

The Fundación Artesanías de Chile in Puerto Varas is a great non-profit organization and store that sells items made by artisans in Chile, who are fairly paid for their work.  On each tag is information regarding who made the item, where it was made and with what materials.

Woven textiles at the Fundación Artesanías

Many of the crafts are made using traditional methods, and these methods are also outlined.  Here you will find fine woodwork, jewellery, textiles, knit and woven garments, dolls, and more.

Mapuche weaving class

The Foundation brings in skilled artisans for workshop series as well; I was lucky to be invited to sit in on a Mapuche (an indigenous group within Southern Chile) weaving session one morning.  The process requires incredible attention – strands of yarn are warped around a rectangular stand-up loom, which could easily be homemade (here in Chile, homemade looms would be the norm).

Mapuche weaving students at work

A heddle bar rests towards the top of the project, and the only other tools are a shed stick and your hands.  I had to really dig deep to where what little I know of weaving was stored inside my brain, but after two hours of concentrated attention I mostly pieced it together and now have a strong resolve to pull my second-hand frame loom out of storage when I get home and try my hand at this craft once again.

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cranberry harvest with Osorno Volcano. credit: Macarena Acuña Schmidt

One beautiful sunny day, I had the opportunity to watch a cranberry harvest with the lovely photographer Macarena Acuña Schmidt .  The 350-hectare farm was so vast – each field was about 1.6 acres, dug a few feet into the ground with a trench around so they can flood the field for harvest.  The cranberries are rustled from the low-laying plants, then the field is flooded with water (which they recycle) and the berries corralled to one end and up a conveyor belt, into a waiting truck.  Such an interesting process, and so well documented by this great photographer.

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More to come!!

Published by Terri on April 30, 2012 in Arts & Culture and News. 0 Comments

Cape Town Arts Residency Wrap-Up

After four weeks nestled deep in the city bowl of Cape Town, sheltered by the walls of Table Mountain and rustled to life by howling summer winds and the not-so-distant crashing of waves along an endless procession of beaches, my residency with A Word of Art came to a close.  Here’s a few photos of the works I made during my time there. Click image to enlarge.

First up, the series of woven materials and text on antique window frames:


do great things in this space – terri potratz 2012.


come to life – terri potratz, 2012.


lots in translation - terri potratz 2012.


there is space between the walls - terri potratz, 2012.

The macrame chandelier – diameter about 3 feet, uses mixed fabrics and baubles salvaged from the original chandelier:


the world is what you think it is – terri potratz 2012

One of the dreamcatchers – these were very large, 16-20″ diameter. Used alpaca yarn, twine, waxed thread, feathers, and salvaged chandelier baubles:


how to climb a fence at night in the dark - terri potratz, 2012.

The poster card series – paper, collage, text and other bits on poster board:


poster cards by teapot / terri potratz 2012.

Some of these pieces are still available for sale, and there are additional pieces that are not pictured here.  For sales inquires please email info[at]theconveyorbelt[dot]com.

Photos of the knit larry. pieces I made in Cape Town are still forthcoming!

Keep checking in, there’s many more exciting updates on the way.

Published by Terri on March 15, 2012 in Arts & Culture. 0 Comments

Univeristy of Saskatchewan: Art Found

I took a stroll through the University of Saskatchewan campus in Saskatoon the other day, and browsed the magnificent rock, mineral and crystal collection on display in the Department of Geology before heading on to the Arts building, where I stumbled across a couple of interesting projects.

First introduction is to Michael Campbell and his work Field Recordings of Icebergs Melting.  Campbell has earned numerous badges of achievement in the Canadian art landscape – BFA and MFA in art, teaching position with the University of Lethbridge, and exhibitions of his work all across Canada.  This particular project is sci-fi meets West Coast – the artist constructed a fleet of imagined spaceships using found objects on shore:

Daily I walk the shoreline and pick through the changing collection of eroded iron, rock, wood, bits of aluminum, nets, nails, spark plugs, two by fours, boat engines, boat fragments and crates.  I am interested in the objects built to withstand the ocean’s energy;

In conjunction with the exhibition of these crafts, a fine little book was printed featuring detailed photographs as well as two essays on the works.  I was really drawn to these photographs based on my first-hand fascination with beachcombing and the wonder of found objects, and appreciated the artists ability to re-purpose these items in a skillful, creative and thought-provoking way.

Coming up in Saskatoon is an opening event that I wouldn’t miss for the world – but will have to, unfortunately, as I won’t be in Saskatchewan any longer at this time.  Robin Lambert presents the project Searching for Us (alt: All I Know is That While You Are Looking for me, I am Looking for You), a month-long “relational aesthetics” project in which two people were relocated to Vancouver with the goal of finding one another.  Through a series of clues, placed objects, placed ads, or whatever means necessary, these people spend a month trying to locate eachother in a foreign city.  The presentation is a collection of photographs, ephemera, receipts, journal entries, and other collected items from their scavenger-hunt journey.

Here’s the artists giving a TEDxRedDeer talk based on his previous work, and introducing this particular project.  It’s an interesting watch and gives a great explanation of this very engaging project:

Don’t miss Robin’s exhibition on March 24 at the Dunlop Gallery.

Published by Terri on March 1, 2012 in Arts & Culture. 0 Comments

A Word of Art in Cape Town


intense sunset over arizona

I’ve just arrived in Cape Town, South Africa for a month-long arts residency at A Word of Art in the Woodstock region.  After a nearly two day journey through six airports, walking out of the airport to 34 Celsius sunny weather was a shock to the system.  I had packed my suitcase with a fresh assortment of summer clothes, but unfortunately it was lost along the way – fingers crossed that it arrives within a couple of days.  The one bonus to being in such a climate is that you don’t need to wear much.  Emphasis on clothing that is cool and doesn’t show sweat.  You wake up in sweat.  You shower and two minutes later you’re sweaty again.  Get used to it.


straight outta the airport, on top of lion’s head

After a nice long sleep (thank you, melatonin), we started our first day having avoided serious jet-lag and set about canvassing the area around the residency checking out walls to paint, previous artists’ work, and walking along main street browsing cheap clothes and footwear.


look yonder to table mountain

Last night we had the house meet with all the residents (there are currently six of us here), everyone introduced themselves with where they’re from and what they are and hope to be working on while in Cape Town.  Warnings that things happen a lot slower here, due to both the head and the laid-back lifestyle – the only rushing I’ve seen since my arrival has been on behalf of vehicles flying past.


artists’ show and tell

So far the trip has been amazing and there’s no shortage of inspiration.  I have a few ideas of some of the work I’d like to produce while here but over the following week I will be scouting materials to weave with, taking in the landscape (and, ahem…beaches), meeting folks about town and allowing the nature of this place to dictate what direction I take.  Thumbs way up for a beautiful first day.

Published by Terri on January 17, 2012 in Arts & Culture. 0 Comments
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