SHOP LOCAL, AND WHY IT'S SO IMPORTANT TO AN ARTIST'S SURVIVAL

This week's blog was written by Karin Kaufmann of Nadelwerk.

Many of us have already heard the phrase “shop local” but what exactly does it mean to buy from local artists? To start with, buying from local artists is essential to support their creativity and provides them with much needed support and encouragement to continue creating art. 

Creating art can be a time consuming process which at times comes with struggle and even failure. Personally, I have gone through a lot of struggle in regards to my art. I create with fiber so I’ve unraveled a lot of hats and scarves. It might happen that I discover a wrong stitch at the beginning of my almost finished work. This may not seem like a big problem because for the untrained eye it is barely visible. However, in my opinion, when you buy something handmade it should be flawless! When you purchase one of my pieces, you will also receive a part of me, the artist.

You will receive something so special, something that took hours or days to create. Something you can love and care about as much as I did creating it. It most certainly was created with lots of patience, passion, moments of failure, frustration and experimentation; but when it turns out the way it is supposed to, you will get the pure joy and love as well!

From roving to yarn, as pictured above, to a finished shawl pictured below!

Note from the editor: Below are more examples of Karin's amazing work. She not only creates hats and scarves, but she also creates stuffed creatures and a myriad of other wonderful, fun and functional items! Karin's imagination is limitless!