MAD HATTERS THURSDAY cerublu stocking caps

Mad Hatter's March

continues with its third installment

featuring one of my favorite Etsy stores:

Cerublu and its creatrix, Lisa Wiseman.

Click HERE to tune in to the first installment

and HERE for the second feature.

Cerublu, aka Lisa Wiseman, lives in rural NSW Australia, near Barrington Tops a national park in the Hunter Valley region. "It is a very beautiful and unique area with World Heritage listed areas nearby. My home high on a ridge looks out over the most incredible view- at times I watch eagles flying below me- I can't help but be inspired by what I see every moment. The forest around my house is of two main classifications, rainforest and sclerophyll, so there's a great amount of diversity in the flora and fauna."

Lisa's home is deep in the wilderness where she lives with her equine and canine family in an alternative way, off grid and powered by solar energy. Living in a mindful and respectful manner of this environment, Lisa incorporates her values and articulates the joy she finds there in all her creative work. Color, shape, texture... all find a new pallet of expression in Cerublu's fine crocheted accessories.

'Bush Orchid', above, is a fine example of this concept and lifestyle... here's what the artist's original introductory description of this gorgeous hat shared: "Now is the time of year when bush orchids bloom in the forest while my potted Australian orchids adorn the house and tiny ground-growing orchids pop out all over the paddocks ! Beautiful mauves, muted Australian bush greens, deepest burgundy, warm golds and delicate creams make a bold yet subtle statement in this super warm stocking cap tribute to these gorgeous plants ! Tiny amounts of sparkling yarn evoke the natural, miniature glitz of morning dew on petals."

'Ravishing Reds", pictured below... "Unashamedly vivid reds, from scarlet to burgundy are spiced by accents of purple and orange in this elegant and fun long stocking cap. Accents of glitzy red yarns touched with orange and purple edge and enliven this hat."

TODAY'S FEATURE is on CERUBLU's STOCKiNG CAPS

Continuing in Cerublu's finest tradition of unique one of a kind art wear... Stocking caps incorporate one of Lisa's favorite hat elements... a tail. "I adore making tails for hats and what could be more fun than extra long stocking caps ?" she says gleefully.

The climate where she lives sees cold winters and in that respect the tail's existence is purely practical as it can be wrapped around one's neck for warmth. Not only does it double as a scarf but it also secures the hat to the body and saves having to stow it away should one want to remove the cap momentarily. Lisa has misplaced many a hat... until she found this creative solution.

For me, as well as for Cerublu, the tail is also a tremendous opportunity to celebrate and expand the canvas of expression...

Spring Spectacular, above, is one of my favorite Cerublu Stocking Caps to date. "This beautifully soft, fuzzy stocking cap boasts a veritable rainbow of tones- teal and sky blues, hot pink, vivid orange, sunny yellow and delectable fuchsia- with the strong spring greens and royal purples which predominate in the spring forest also making a bold showing in this lovely crochet hat." Shifts in the seasons and how the natural environment changes is another big theme in Lisa's artistic work.

Icy Blue, below, is hot off the press features deep indigo, mysterious blue-gray and clear azure tones and accented by soft snowy whites. yum !

"I adore colour, especially pure, bright colour and texture. My freeform style crochet work very much reflects that in areas of colour with regularly placed, widely varying textures. In the freeform style work, I do use regular stitches including some which I haven't found in books yet. I don't believe that I'm the first to use some of these, because crochet has been around so long, but my favourite "personal" stitch is the high relief bobbles I make so much use of. These are not crocheted traditional "bobbles"... mine actually stand out a lot more than those."

Saucy Sarsparilla, above, is a mighty example of these bubbly bobbles erupting on the surface of this hat's crown. Inspired by Lisa's favourite native plant... the purple native sarsparilla... this stocking cap features shades from lilac and pale pinks at the tail tip.... up to deeper pinks and mauves... and finally to rich, warm purples. Simply divine for those of us who adore those colors !

Lisa explains that Australian "Native Sarsparilla is a fabulous, climbing vine with tiny purple flowers. It is delicate looking, but is actually quite a robust climber and one I love to see as it is capable of battling introduced weeds sucessfully. In fact, native sarsparilla always strikes me as a rather cheeky plant. If ever a plant was "saucy", this is it ! So its namesake hat includes stunning color, bold style and robust construction."

Wild Woodland above, features a more traditional design usage of the bobbles that can be found on so many of Lisa's hats. The simplicity of those shown here are celebrated through contrasting colors.

"Clear blue skies peep through the forest canopy. Rich brown tones, warm golds and burgundies in textured, variegated and single-coloured yarns echo the ever-changing movement of the forest canopy across the winter sky. Accents of spicy red reflect the cheeky highlights of woodland fungi and flowers in the branches while palest, delicate blue-teals add a soft impression of green leaves wafting gently against the sky."

And now... for a viewing of my favorite stocking cap... The Rainbow Serpent, pictured below, is currently part of my own Cerublu collection. This gorgeous hat is absolutely marvelous... the array and festival of colors and textures rendered by 'mere' yarn and stitches... its softness and perfect fit with its extra long undulating tail, which even my dogs delight in, is a true testament of this artist's ability to 'grok' a fine design into a unique one of a kind art wear piece.

Earth based spiritual traditions and myths are usually very much informed by the natural environment that surrounds its people... so for mythology lovers such as Lisa and myself... we very much enjoyed discussing the Rainbow Serpent.

In a book that I own, Dreamtime Heritage: Australian Aboriginal Myths in Paintings by Ainslie Roberts... the author wrote the following about the Rainbow Serpent: "Most myths describe a huge snake that spent the dry season resting in a deep waterhole. In the wet season, it went up into the sky as a rainbow. It was immense in size, brilliant in colouring, and often had a mane and a beard". " In some myths, Rainbow-serpents appear as Ancestral Creators. Their bodies contained not only the first Aborigines, but all the natural features of the land in which in that remote time was flat and featureless. In others, the appearance of a rainbow meant that the serpent was traveling from one waterhole to another. Sometimes it was linked with the rainbow colors of quarts crystals, which the medecine-men of many tribes used as objects of magic."

The aspect of the Rainbow Serpent that most fascinates Lisa are weather related because for those of us who live close to the land understand what an enormous impact the weather has in our day to day lives.

In our discussion, Lisa sent me this quote from Journey In Time by Reed: "The belief in the Rainbow Snake, a personification of fertility, increase (richness in propagation of plants and animals) and rain, is common throughout Australia. It is a creator of human beings, having life-giving powers that send conception spirits to all the waterholes. It is responsible for regenerating rains, and also for storms and floods when it acts as an agent of punishment against those who transgress the law or upset it in any way. It swallows people in great floods and regurgitates their bones, which turn into stone, thus documenting such events. Rainbow snakes can also enter a man and endow him with magical powers, or leave 'little rainbows', their progeny, within his body which will make him ail and die. As the regenerative and reproductive power in nature and human beings, it is the main character in the region's major rituals."

It is such an enormous treat for me to have met Lisa

and to enjoy a long distance friendship with her.

Although we are continents apart,

it is a pleasure to be privy to Lisa's artistic processes

and laugh at our life experiences.

To behold, wear and enjoy one of Cerublu's creations

is an experience not to be missed !

HATography

1. Bush Orchid

2. Ravishing Reds (available for purchase HERE)

3. Spring Spectacular

4. Icy Blue (available for purchase HERE)

5. Saucy Sarsparilla (available for purchase HERE)

6. Wild Woodland

7. Rainbow Serpent

8. Rose Tinted

9. Ribbon Gum (below)

Artist statement:

"While each of my items is unique,

if you would like a variation on anything you see here

or have a new idea you'd like me to realize, just ask,

I love making original creations for individuals !"

CLiCK HERE to visit CERUBLU's Etsy store

image DESiGN content copyright

ownership remains with the artist

Lisa Wiseman from Cerublu Studio