Freeform Crochet Challenge
By Veronica Smith – 16 CommentsThe book I, and many others have been waiting for has been published! Several months have passed since 48 people, including myself, participated in the annual “Freeform Challengeâ€. The results are published in the book “Insipired! Music and Art in Fiber”.
I belong to a group of people who do various Freeform works of art, wall hangings, clothing, home décor or anything else you can think of. The group I am with is for discussions on crochet related Freeform only, however many practice other mediums as well.
For the last several years, the group has issued an annual Challenge. A theme is voted on and all are encouraged to participate – veteran or a newbie. There are contributions from all over the world. No language or skill barriers. The given theme is then interpreted as the persons feels inspired to do. Photos of their work are exhibited in an online gallery and published in book form.
The 2012 Challenge theme is to “Interpret a work of art or piece of music. Any media may be used but the piece must contain some knit or crochetâ€.
Every year the profits are donated. 100% of the profits from this book (2012) is being donated evenly between Doctors Without Borders and Souls of Somanya.
Freeform is fun, expressive and an excellent way to use up your tiny bits of yarn and luscious balls that are in the cupboard with no real purpose waiting to be born into something wonderful. Mixtures of yarn, mediums, textures and stitches are used. Like working with a MAGIC BALL there are no rules. In fact many people use MAGIC BALLS when they start out.
No Patterns, lots of freedom. Freeform is definitely not for everybody. In fact I would assume it is a limited audience – most don’t thrive on perceived chaos. I do.
If you are interested than the 2012 exhibition the book version can be found HERE and an on-line version can be found HERE. All exhibits are listed alphabetically by first name, so as usual I am second last…
In case your curious, the “model” in the picture is my youngest that just turned 15. As you can tell, she really didn’t want to be photographed.
Also see the Freeform post “Freeform Crochet Interview with Renate Kirkpatrick†by Linda Cee.
Ooh, fantastic work!!
Thanks for this! I am just starting freeform and feel I have found ‘my thing’…no rules, just happy surprises! It really helps to look at images for ideas on color/texture combinations.
Keep ’em coming!
:o)
I find the patterns a ridiculously ugly collection of scribbling. Similar to what a two year old might do with crayons or an elephant with a paintbrush. Unless one were ‘high’ on psycho drugs there is nothing artistic here. An affront to all the supposed inspirational pieces of art or music.
Doris: If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing.
I am intitled to my opinion even if it is not complimentary. Just so you know, not everyone is impressed with this collection. I struggled through all 48 submissions and only found the Snowy Scene by Nancy Delvecchio to be pleasing…in MY opinion.
Nancy LoVecchio’s Snowy Scene. Sorry for the error in spelling her name.
Doris, You are most definitely entitled you your opinion about any subject… given that what you actually did was just mean spirited and small minded. If you look at a childs drawing (scribbling) there is real beauty there also. Artists may not always agree with someone elses style but they don’t go out of their way to denigrate them.
As a creative person, I see the freeform patterns in your book as absolutely alive, and vibrantly bursting with creativity! I had no idea one could create such pieces of art from our little skeins of yarn (and scraps to boot!). I’m inspired now, and thinking I could even do something like this.
Thank you so much for sharing!
Daria
What beautiful projects!
Freeform crochet absolutely appeals to me, and I like most of the projects in this book.
Good job, Veronica!
Hi Everyone, Earlier I commented on Doris’s opinion… I was really put off by the mean spirit of her message and I hadn’t even looked at the collection at that time. Afterwards I did have the time to visit this collection online and found it mesmerizing. Not everything was exactly to my taste either but I could definitely see, in most cases, the music or artwork that inspired them. I really love this collection and applaud all the artists who contributed.
Love it, would love to join and maybe do it next year….
Beautiful! Thank you for sharing.
Hello Doris,
It is unfortunate that you feel the need to comment harshly on the work of others. You are most definitely welcome to find freeform work unappealing – as i said in my article – it is not for everybody. Art, in any media, is a subjective thing and i really like that it is. If we all liked or hated the same thing life would be very dull.Some of the contributors in the book are well established crafts-persons that are respected in the art community and have authored many books, write for magazines and make a very healthy income from their art alone. Others like myself just do it for the joy of it.
Thank you to those of you who have shown an interest in freeform. If you are interested in pursuing this art-form the group i belong to is a Yahoo Group found at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FFCrochet/ This is the group that supports the book each year. There will be information on the next challenge probably before Christmas so come and join now. There is no need to feel you have to do anything, you can just read other peoples posts.
The group is comprised of established artists through to people who have only just picked up a hook. You will find the group to be helpful and supportive with all your questions, no matter how basic they may be, taken seriously. It is easy to set up a Yahoo account if you don’t have one. It is free. Hope to see you there.
I’ve been an admirer of Prudence Mapstone’s work for some time and inspired by her have even attempted some freeform myself. It is a lot more difficult than it may appear and this exhibition has some amazing work.
Veronica, thank you for sharing. What an beautiful exhibit of art!
It’s interesting to see how each person’s idea of free form is expressed as more or less “free”.