Passionate about life and expressive in her art work, Dolores Broberg is offering a class in Paper Beads (but they’re so much more) on Saturday morning. Use what you learn to embellish jewelery, clothing, quilts and anything else that stays still long enough for a needle and thread or a drop of glue.
Her responses to our e-mail interview give you a peak into this wise woman’s mind.
- We know that interest in textiles and fibers evolve over time. What is your currant passion? Did you start directly with this form of the art or did you progress through a series of interests? I have probably tried most fiber art techniques over the years and have taught many. A lot of the techniques I have mastered have appeared in my tapestries in one way or another. That is my main love, although I am a fiber junkie and enjoy them all.
- What or who fired your initial flames of artistry? My grandmother, who looked after us kids while our parents worked, initiated me into the mysteries of knitting and crochet when I was 5 – no doubt to help me stay put for a few minutes. She taught me on raveled onion sacks, figuring that yarn would be sturdy enough to endure my learning tribulations. A few years later, some of the “big girls” on our block adopted me and allowed me to sit in on their knit/crochet/ gossip sessions. Was I proud. Was I hooked.
3.Where do you find your inspiration? Travel, gardens, museums,
children’s paintings… Inspiration is to be found everywhere. If a set of colors, or a picture strikes sparks in my spirit, I tuck that idea away until it matures and I find a way to decant it into fiber. Sometimes it is a product of work with a client to bring an idea of theirs into life.
4.What’s your biggest challenge? Time, studio space, money, recognition… These days, it is the condition of my hands. I suffer tendinitis and have had to tailor my activities to the needs of my body. The ideas still flow freely and I do a lot of work in my mind. Fortunately, I can still do a lot of small movements, so fine work is still possible for me.
5.What’s the biggest payoff? When my work touches someone else’s spirit.
6.Emotions are a major driver of our passions…does your art make you satisfied from the moment you start or are there moments of anxiety as the process evolves…do you see the finished product differently as time passes? Often, I start with my heart in my mouth, not knowing if I will be able to produce what I am aiming for. When I get into the rhythm of the work, then it tends to flow and it tends to inform me where to go. Somewhere along the way, I will find the “real” reason I am doing the work, as the message contained with in it becomes clearer.
7.What best describes your personal learning style? Your personal teaching style? I am good at giving direction to basic knowledge. However, then, I encourage each individual”s creativity to take over. My favorite way of learning and teaching is through discovery. If I have done a good job I will have learned from my students
8.What would a perfect fiber shop look like? My only requirements are that the products be available to eye and touch. Do you have any favorite haunts that come close? There are lots of them and a list would take too long.
9.How will those who wander through the Fiber College grounds best recognize you? I don’t know. I’m pretty non-descript till I open my mouth.
10.In a perfect world, how would you spend your time? Where would your passions take you if there were no restraints? I am blessed to be able to live in a perfect world, for me, renewed, each day, with new challenges and sweet surprises. When things do not fall out as I expected or desired, then I seek what it is that the disjuncture can teach me. Life is a continual adventure.
Fiber College of Maine 