Lisa, aka Cerublu, is a woman of many talents... upon further investigation one can discover that admist those many gifts... she is an artist that works in a multitude of medias... is a musician in a variety of styles... an accomplished horse woman: rider, teacher & trainer... a motorcycle maniac... and a wilderness girl !
Brizel Handcrafts' feature series will be focusing on Cerublu's fantastic freeform crochet work... Lisa explains that "Freeform is a very broad description for a huge range of methods and techniques and can be defined in a lot of ways. One is "a technique that allows the crocheter to explore the creative and artistic possibilities of the craft in unexpected ways."
When I asked Lisa how she had gotten started on her hat making adventures... she replied: "Some years ago, a neighbour and friend told me about a "cool" beanie she'd seen, so I surprised her on her birthday with an even cooler one. A friend of hers saw that hat and wanted one too... and since then I've been selling hats."
Lisa exhibits and sells her crochet work in several galleries. She has sold her work privately and in a variety of venues... then she found Etsy.com and spearheaded the Cerublu shop there. She has recently opened another store on Zibbet.com which she feels is "looking to be a great site for buyers and sellers of handmade items".
"Doctor Seuss was my favourite childhood author and there's always a Seussian influence in my hats ! A sense of the ridiculous and a love of whimsy are two of my strong character traits and I have a deep admiration for the landscape, flora and fauna of the amazing and unique wilderness in the area where I live in Australia. This has all come together in my crochet work."
The hat below is called The Playful Parrot... "Parrots of many types abound here and I love to see them frolicking about, chattering and shrieking. They are so beautiful, and can be such clowns. From the tiny, strutting grass parrots to the darting, swooping rainbow lorikeets and the large, exquisitely-colored king parrots, all seem to have a real sense of fun. Inspired by the colors and patterns... this hat is a wearable art tribute to some of my favourite birds."
"Juxtaposing strongly contrasting colours and textures is just plain fun ! Doing it in a way which draws on my experiences and inspirations is what makes me keep crocheting. That and coming up with new ideas, variations and improvements on designs, giving homage or acknowledgement to influences all comes out in my work."
Scarts are a combination of hat and scarf, hence its creative name.
Lisa explains the origin of her widly innovative design: "I had been making and selling various types of hats as well as other garments when I came up with the idea for the scarts. I love making things which are different and being able to solve a problem in a non traditional way..."
Whilst Cerublu's creatrix enjoys wearing hats and scarves... "my problem is that I have a tendency to take them off and lose them... and... wide scarves always seem to let in the draughts somewhere. "What if the scarf was attached to a hat ?" I thought."
"So I combined an earflap hat with two narrow scarves which dangle from where the earflaps of an earflap hat would be. They keep the ears warm, hold the hat on in high winds, wrap elegantly around the neck... duel scarves provide better coverage of the neck than a single traditional scarf would. Voila! the scart hat was born... a wonderful solution to one of "life's little problems".
The hat above is one that I personally commissioned Lisa to make for me. It is called Winter Solstice... and is a hat that was especially designed for me to wear during the longest coldest night of the year.
Since I keep an all night vigil celebrating & waiting for the sunrise... I wanted a hat that would keep me extra warm. Lisa extended the hat's rim at the back of the hat and choose extra soft yarn to keep my face & neck warm. I also wanted a hat that would exude the symbology of the winter solstice, so we discussed ways that she could integrate the qualities of the sun and the night. The result, as you can see is absolutely superb, and it is now one of my most prized hats !
"Iris, personification of the rainbow and a messenger of the gods, is often represented either as a rainbow, or as a young maiden with wings on her shoulders. She is associated with communication, messages, new endeavors, the sea and of course the rainbow. This exotic and fluffy scart's vivid crown shades from violet around the face up through deep ocean blues to paler sky-teal blues, vibrant green, golden yellow, warm oranges and vivid hot pinks."
"Vividly colored, festive helium balloons soar into a clear blue sky !
... The forehead section of this scart, called Balloon Skies, features a definite, deep point or widow's peak, drawing attention to the wearer’s eyes and excluding draughts. The entire hat is edged in a row of sky blue moda vera "medley" yarn with its own pink, yellow, blue and purple bobbles. With this lovely edging and its feathers and eyelash feature yarns this hat is very soft..."
Oh my goodness... my head is spinning, where's my Cerublu hat ? lol
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WOW! Thank you so much Nicole! It's fantastic for me to see my work together like this and read your wonderful words. Your "take" on my work is very much true.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Lisa