Textile Gems TM

http://www.textilegems.com

Self-employed, together with my husband in our business Textile Gems TM, our handcrafted arts business--founded in 2002--creates jewelry and home decor items from vintage ethnic textiles.  Generally, we sell
wholesale to museum shops but we also do a few retail shows during
May and October each year, here in New York City.

We are also avid collectors of unique vintage and and antique ethnic textiles from around the globe. 

Our newest venture is Textile Gems TM Greeting Cards, and our card lines currently include 32 blank cards showcasing some of our favorite textile crops photographed from our collections.  You can see them on this page.

Artist statement:  Our mantra is:   "Celebrating the Fibers of our Multicultural Lives."

This can be literal or interpretive.  We love presenting uniquely beautiful textile crops in close-up formats which both showcase their artistry and also act as charming visual portals to learning about other cultures.

Location:  New York, New York, USA

Online shop:  textilegems
Social media:  LinkedIn
Languages spoken:  English, Spanish

Textile Gems: preserving damaged textiles in jewelry, home decor, and cards.

Tags:   ethnic textile jewelry, ethnic textile greeting cards, kimono, japanese, embroidery, asian, oriental, floral, birds, hmong

Tracy Hudson

 

http://einesaite.blogspot.com

"I am a textile collector, researcher and artist who has lived in various parts of Asia and the U.S.  My eyes are always open to details of pattern and texture, my mind always absorbing the influences of my surroundings.

Any opportunity to discuss textile topics with others is a boon to me.  Our work with textiles can encourage the prominence and prosperity of this invaluable heritage in the world.

My own manifestations take the form of handspun yarns and garments created from them, in addition to quilts and dyed fabrics.  My designs are featured on Ravelry.com, and my blog shows a more personal (if sporadic) glimpse of my work ."


Artist statement: I am driven by textile-related dialogue and discovery.

It astounds and thrills me to touch cloth that has been worked by another's hands, in a distant culture or time.

To learn with my own hands, to produce original craft, within this global textile vocabulary – this is my life work.

Meanwhile, to continue the study of traditions, to document the textiles in context, to appreciate their role in the growth and perseverance of peoples – this is an ongoing fascination.

The two move hand-in-hand, the material study and execution; the intellectual reflection and research.

I dream of the time when the true value of textiles is acknowledged, when people and institutions revere this aspect of human culture and promote its study.


Location: Doha, Qatar
Blog: eine saite
Memberships/Sites:
   Textile Society of America
   Spin-Off Magazine
   Ravelry
Languages spoken: English, Hindi, Ladakhi, French, wee bits of several others....

 "Court Jester", an original design made by Tracy Hudson 

with her own handspun yarn.  

Pattern available on Ravelry.

TAGS:  tribal, resist dye, research, spinning, spindle, art, yarn, hands

Miao Baby Carriers

www.miaobabycarriers.com

Miao Baby Carriers is my personal collection of over 5,000 vintage embroidered Chinese baby carriers.  These beautiful creations of the Miao (Hmong), Dong, Zhuang, and other minority cultures are available, at no cost, for study or exhibit.

Read my article, "Collection Seeks Soul Mate" for more pictorial examples of the baby carriers and for history on why I began to collect them.

-Mark Clayton

Location: Long Beach, California, USA

Memberships: 

   Textile Society of America
   American Council for Southern Asian Art
   Ethnic Arts Council of Los Angeles

Languages spoken: English

Miao Baby Carrier, Mark Clayton Collection

Tags: embroidery, antique, ethnic, folk, traditional, tribal, carrier, Guizhou, Yunnan, Zhijin