Each week I bring you amazing artists and this week is no different. I'd like to introduce you to Catrin Maier, or "Cat" for short. She is the designer and artist of Cats Wire. Cat hails from Germany and while was a knitter in the beginning, a little crochet and the discovery of crocheted wire dawned a new expression for her.
I hope you enjoy reading about her journey and her art as not only does she have a wonderful story, but she is a talented artist too!
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Martiel @ Sewmantra Blog (Martiel): What is your art and how did you learn it?
Catrin @ Cats Wire (Cat): I make jewelry and
sculptures, mostly in wire that is crocheted or knitted with a crochet hook, but also made on a loom from tiny seed beads.
On
a German TV show about news in computers and internet I happened to see
a report about Etsy. I went to check out the site and came across a
pendant, a crystal in a wire crochet setting. I can't even tell you why
exactly I was so fascinated about it and I forgot who the artist was who
made it. All I know is that I kept coming back, looking at it and
wondering if I could do that. Although I have been knitting for years, I
never enjoyed crocheting much.
There was a book
recommendation in the listing and I ordered the book. Before it even
arrived from the USA I had gotten out my only crochet hook and bought
some crafts wire at the local bead store. I still had a few beads
around, too. Then I started playing and never stopped again. The book
was interesting for
me mostly to learn about wire gauges and hook sizes. Although I looked
through the projects which were interesting and even more through the
artist projects in a separate chapter (oh, that wonderful Elizabethan
wire crochet dress!!), I didn't look at the instructions. I just went
ahead using the crochet stitches that I still remembered from elementary
school.
I bought a
tutorial for wire knitting with a crochet hook, but gave up after three
rows. Beginning of this year when my forum did a blog ring with the
theme "New techniques" I decided to try it again and just went for it.
Since then I use both techniques.
Thanks
to an insistent forum friend I started looming with beads about a year
ago. I had always been sure I wouldn't be able to do that, all those
tiny beads and me, hm .... we ended up to be a better team than I would
have
thought.
Martiel: What do you think is the most interesting thing about your creative expression?
Cat: I
think it's interesting to take a look inside my head. A bit weird
sometimes maybe, but nevertheless ;-) And there seems to be no end to
what you can do, it's a long journey that I enjoy immensely as I hope
others do as well.
Martiel: What circumstances led you to sell your art/creations online?
Cat: Shortly
after I started to make jewelry, I stumbled upon a forum for jewelry
artisans, back then called The Starving Jewelry Artists. I felt at home
there right away and even shared pictures of my first pieces which was a
big step for me as there were so many beautiful creations posted in the
forum. They encouraged me and not long after I registered for my first
online
shop secretly. It took more than a month until I finally listed
something in there. That was just over three years ago.
Martiel: If you could use only 5 words to describe your work, what would they be and why?
Cat: That's
a tough one. Although I have been told that I have a distinctive style
in what I do which people who know me always recognize, I don't follow a
strict line.
I guess I'll choose unique, whimsical, elegant and
"anything goes". Actually I almost just put down the last one. Although I
am of course restricted by my abilities, supplies and tools, as we all
are, my brain is not per se restricted in what it can come up with. One
day a wire crochet snail, the other day a bead loomed cuff with a wild
pattern, and after that maybe a pair of earrings inspired by the
Elizabethan era.
Martiel: If you
could be any precious or semi precious stone, what would you be and why?
Cat: I
like to think I'd be an opal, not only because I love those stones so
much, but also because of all the beauty that is hidden within, all the
colors.
Martiel: Anything else interesting you'd like to share?
Cat: Most
of the time I don't plan my pieces. It's always possible that what
started out as a pendant will end as a ring or that a wire crochet bowl
will turn into a pig sculpture along the way. I think that is why I
sometimes have a hard time with custom orders at first. I have to tell
my mind it's not allowed to run wild this time. It's okay once I get
into the flow and working, but in the first stage I often feel the wire
and hook are trying to take over. - - That's also the reason why I don't use tutorials or
make them myself.
The very few tutorials I got I
read through once, then put them aside and started fiddling, with a lot
of trial and error granted, but usually successful in the end.
Techniques I can't master that way tend to get neglected eventually.
That has nothing to do with the tutorials, it's just that I'm a
librarian and used to work in a structured way which is why I constantly
seem to have the urge to throw that overboard in my creative work.
As
I don't plan pieces, I obviously also don't count or measure during
creating something. Sometimes I feel sorry myself that I can't recreate
an item, but then I think that leaves me room to try something new
instead, so that's fine with me.
Martiel: If someone wants to buy something from you, how do they find you?
Cat: I can be found in different places
online.
My shops are on
Zibbet,
DaWanda and
VonDir with Zibbet being my main shop and the other two being my foot in the European and German market. My English and German blogs are at
Cat's Wire and
Cats Draht. That's where I not only share business information, but where you can also learn a bit about me. My Facebook page is
Cat's Wire.
You can find pictures of my pieces there, random snippets from my life,
cat pictures, links to other shops and my favorite songs, just to name a
few things. My
Twitter account is very neglected as I find it
hard to keep up there; and of course you can contact me through all those pages.
Did you enjoy reading about Cat? Share your thoughts in a comment, she would love to hear from you!
