Hello! The sun is shining, spring is finally here! And oh, it’s not just outside, but right here in this Getting To Know You as well! Maybe you know iHanna already? If not, I think you are going to love her work and her blog. There is lots of colours and she writes beautiful posts about creativity and her creative process. Well worth checking out if you’re in need of inspiration to do your own creative thing!
I agree with everything iHanna says below, I feel like I could have written the same answers – except she puts it so much better than I ever could! Tack, Hanna! :-)
All images copyright iHanna.
Your name
iHanna
Blog : : Shop : : Twitter
Where in the world are you?
Sweden
Briefly describe yourself and what you make
I am a introverted person who loves to share my creative life online. I enjoy all kinds of craft; like knitting, embroidery and book making to name a few. I will try anything once because my curiosity is huge. I am also an artist, mostly because I want to be one. I do mixed media, painting and collages. I fill art journals, write in my diary, blog about my experiences and experiment with materials. I see myself as a creative adventurer; always curious, ready to try new things and wanting to explore the world of art. The more I do the more I want to do!
Who or what inspires you?
I am always inspired by beauty; beautifully composed photography, sparkling colour combinations, well written texts, the magical wonders of nature and awesomely designed books. The combination of words and images that you find in great blogs often awakes and tugs at something within me. Inspiration comes from everywhere if we keep our eyes, ears and mind open. So to be inspired you really need to be mindful in your life. Mindfulness is important, always!
To me it is very easy to be inspired but a bit harder to act on that inspiration and do something to follow up on the feeling. The most important step we as creative people can do is to use the inspiration we find and channel it into something new! When we combine different ideas and inspirations we create our own unique world, and make the world a more beautiful (and better) place.
When / how did you learn?
I started to learn the day I was born and I hope I will keep learning until I die. There is so much to try that we can never do it all, but still we try. For me it is important to be open to new opportunities to learn. I learn by reading, doing, talking to others, creating new things, copying others and experimenting. And by playing, allowing myself to be free to not plan or think too much. Playing is the best way to learn; by playing you learn about yourself and what you like/dislike.
Why is making things by hand worth the ‘effort’?
In terms of money for example creating a scarf is very seldom worth it, but when you start crafting you already know money is not everything. Money is a very stupid invention, but today it is a necessary thing in our life. The benefits of creating though, like happiness, balance and health, is beyond measure, and often effortless.
What is your craft ”philosophy”?
Just do it? ;-)
Can you reveal a little about your creative process?
In my Art Journal I often have no agenda or plan, I just start with whatever papers or colours come up in my head. Maybe that is true for most things I do. I guess my creative process is very unconscious and flow oriented. I quickly fall into a flow when I start working and can stay there for hours. I love to be in that feeling!
While I create I love listening to a podcast or a audio book, and sometimes I watch a movie while knitting or sewing. I let my hands move without thinking and it just works out. Somehow it does. I come up with the best ideas when I am not trying to, like when I’m in bed trying to sleep. I don’t like to sketch out ideas or make (or even use) patterns so often times I will just start a project and see where it leads me. The bags I make are always a bit wonky but to me they are perfect because I made them. When I make collage art it is very associative. The first piece of paper I grab will decide the next one and so on, building layers and colours that looks good together.
Favourite book(s) or craftbook(s)?
Like I said I am very inspired by beautiful books, and I also read a lot of novels. I adore books, text, and words! I have a nice collection, and it is always growing although sometimes it shrinks too. I like to give away books that I will not read again. For example I love the colourful books of Kaffe Fassett, his style makes me happy. I sometimes review inspiring books on my blog, there are many good books about writing, crafty businesses and art journaling there.
Do you make art or craft? Is there a difference?
I do both art and craft, and I love both. I do believe there is a difference, but where that line is drawn is up to each one to decide for themselves. Craft is often possible to reproduce and often we are encouraged to do that with tutorials, patterns and kits. I often call something art if it is an item made to hang on a wall, that is unique and only can be made once. But like I said, there is no specific rule so you have to decide for yourself what you think is art.
If you could make any project without limits to cost, materials or skill, what would it be?
One of the best things about the way I create is that I love using recycled materials and low-budget paints etc. This helps keep the cost down, but of course time is always an issue. There is so many fun things to try, and so little time… I think I do pretty much the things I like, but if I had time and money at the same time I would take more classes and workshops, go to creative retreats and decorate a huge studio space where I could teach and invite you all to play dates!