My mother taught me to sew. She learned sewing from a Portugese woman who taught her to cut patterns precisely and efficiently. My mother once told me that during the period she was learning to sew, she made one new frock for me every week. For a long time, she sewed clothes for the entire family and as we grew older she taught us to make our clothes. It was not until our adulthood that we revolted and started getting our blouses and petticoats sewn by professional tailors! Sewing your own clothes had become quite unhip.
I got my first sewing machine as a wedding anniversary gift from my husband. Like my mother, I made dresses for my daughter till she revolted against feminine dresses for blue jeans upon entering kindergarten!
I left India a long time ago but India has not left me yet. My work is grounded Indian aesthetics, especially that of the Tamil culture. I use the colors, materials that were part of my life growing up in India and which have informed and shaped my own idea of beauty in my artistic creations. If you have a taste for Indian culture, artwork and colors, then Dharmakarmaarts is for you. I donate all proceeds from the sales of my products to aid physically handicapped children and adults through Sukriti Social Foundation. For more information about Sukriti, go to http://www.sukriti.org.
Location: Summit, New Jersey, USA
Online shops:
dharmakarmaarts on Etsy
dharmakarmaarts on 1000 Markets
Blog: dharmakarmaarts
Languages spoken: English, Tami, Hindi
Recycled silk scarf by Dharmakarmaarts
Tags: sari wall art, kanchipuram silk, recycled
No comments:
Post a Comment
“Drive a nail home and clinch it so faithfully that you can wake up in the night and think of your work with satisfaction,- a work at which you would not be ashamed to invoke the Muse”
-Henry David Thoreau
In our case, it would be the needle or other fiber tool. Drive it home! And, we all thank you for your words, left here to these good folks. Invoke your Muse!