May 1st is just around the corner and it’s time for a new Artist of the Month! In May we have the pleasure to have Tina from Bittersweet Woolery. We featured her back in October of 2007 when she was dyeing under the Phoenix Fiberworks name. 3 years later, she’s back, with a new name, new yarns and new colorways! We picked her Guilty Pleasures sock yarn, a superwash merino blend, which would be perfect for socks, shawls, and baby items. All the colorways are semi-solids and would look great in all those projects. You can for now have a peek at the colorways on Flickr but tomorrow night at midnight EST the yarns will be available right here at yarn4socks.
Here’s our interview with Tina:
What is your name, company name and which city and state are you from?
My name is Tina Martinez, and my shop is called Bittersweet Woolery. The name has a few connotations, one being my love for gourmet dark chocolate, another is a nod to my practical view on life. I live in Athens, NY. It’s a tiny, “historic”, rural village on the banks of the Hudson River where my husband and I bought our first house in December of ’09. It’s so small we have no stoplights, no “stores”, and consider ourselves lucky to have a Stewarts gas station for milk and bread runs. Our house, which we call Tiny House, is directly across the street from a family vegetable farm. Hence the tractor in the background of my photo.
How long have you been dying yarn?
I’ve been dyeing since 2004, starting (as so many of us do) with Kool-Aid and jumping very quickly to professional washfast acid dyes. It was magical, watching the colors interact, seeing how I could make what was in my head become yarn I could use.
Bluebells
How did you get started?
Shortly after I began dyeing I knew this was something that I really enjoyed and I started selling under the name Phoenix Fiberworks. For health and personal reasons (no, I didn’t fake my own death) I chose to shut down and take a break. Being diagnosed with Fibromyalgia really put things into perspective for me. I needed to rethink what my vision was, and I really needed a new name. It’s hard to be excited about what you do, even when you don’t feel like arse on a regular basis, if your shop name doesn’t ring true. The truth is, I have an *awful* time coming up with names. Fast forward a year and a half to late summer of ’09 and I was refreshed, excited, with a name I love, and a vision of what I wanted to do with yarn.
What motivates you?
Color. Hands down. Well, color and customers. That’s why vending is my favorite part of the whole shebang. When I have my booth set up and customers start talking to me about the colors they like, about the yarn, and what they see themselves making out of it… it’s like chocolate and an adrenaline rush, a completely energizing exchange between them and myself. I come home bursting with ideas and completely recharged.
But back to color. Right now I’m very motivated by color, how the dye and yarn interact, how I’m trying to influence how the yarn will look like when it’s worked up. I’m really into creating tonal and “tonal variegates” right now, with no more than one or two mother-shades in a skein. There’s so much you can do within those limitations and the end result is yarn that you can do anything with. You want to do cables? Knock yourself out! Lace? Absolutely! I still dye variegated colors, and always will, but my mantra is “color that works with you, not against you.” What good is yarn that’s beautiful in the skein, but fights you tooth and nail when you get home?
What is the favorite product you’ve ever made?
Ohh… that’s easy. “Concubine”, one of my signature colorways. It’s this deep, rich red with darker red (almost maroon) tonal variations. It’s sexy, mysterious, and does all the talking for you. A lace shawl knit out of Concubine, the little black dress, and a pair of … ahem … “special” heels? You don’t need to say a word. As you can probably guess, I have a thing for this colorway. Yeah.
Concubine
Do you have any advice for other fiber artists?
Pace. Your. Self. Seriously. In my previous incarnation I overextended myself trying to meet wholesale orders. It was a lot of work in large bursts, and health-wise I just wasn’t up to it. After I met my obligations I had to shut down and pass out for a while! Working full time, being a wife, working a fiber business, and trying to manage a stress triggered health condition may not sound like much compared to people who have kids too, but for me it’s a careful balancing act. I would caution anyone who’s looking to start (and grow) a fiber business that they should consider very carefully what their limits are, how much help they have at hand, and how many hours there are in a day.
Also, I would strongly recommend looking into small business resources in your area. Where I live there’s a bureau that has counselors who work with small business people to help them get their ducks in a row, get training, funding, and advice on their particular needs. If they have this in the boonies where I live, I’m pretty sure larger areas have something similar. It’s low to no cost, and a fantastic resource!
Earl Grey
Are there any designers, fiber artists or any other artist you consider your role model?
Absolutely! For sheer artistry in color I would say Ruth of Knitting on Impulse (http://www.impulse-of-delight.com/store/hand-dyed-yarn/cat_19.html, figured you might want the link?) I am awed by her photography and how she translates her images into yarn. And she doesn’t just lay down colors, she lays veils of color, somehow, in a way I’d give a year off my life to know. It’s utterly inspiring, what she does, and she does it with two young children.
When we’re talking designers, I’m head over heels for Connie Chang Chinchio. (http://conniechangchinchio.com/blog) Her designs are classic yet timely, clean but with a flair for just the right amount of detail. While I love over the top complicated lace shawls and ultra feminine patterns, Connie’s work is truly WEARABLE, even on a plus size woman. And when you’re on the far end of Rubenesque, that counts for a lot. I am eternally grateful that she upsizes her patterns so big girls are not left out in the cold.
Pressed Petals
Please share with us a zany or interesting thing about you. It does not have to be fiber related.
I may have shared this last time, but as a kid, if it was a warm rain during a thunderstorm, I would be found running around outside on the lawn. As an adult I could be found on the 40 feet up on the top level of the metal fire escape of our apartment building, umbrella in one hand and camera in the other – taking pictures of lightning. My parents stopped being terrified long ago, they were quickly inoculated against my particular brand of crazytrain weird.
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