Soul woven in the threads

 This year my son celebrated his thirtieth Birthday and I wanted to give him a personal gift, something unique. You can go to the store and buy anything these days; hoewer, I wanted him to have something special, something that you can not buy.  

I have been contemplating his birthday gift a great deal, and then I came up with the idea to make his portrait Using his recent photo, I went to work. My first attempt was not good. I did not realize how small it was and the final product was just decorative. I starved for expression, I wanted his portrait to be talking to be expressive.I chose black threads with different thickness and just a few different stitches, which allowed me to create the illusion of shading . Of course when you take the piece down from the pillow it looks a little bit different. After all, the final product is a kind of fabric and fabric has its own life. But I was satisfied. This portrait captured my son's energy, his inner power, his kindness, and his positive outlook at life.

I stayed in the Czech Republic for six months and worked on my lace. I did not want to create larger pieces; therefore, I stayed with portraits. My next piece I did for my friend . She is a very kind, very spiritual person, and I thought she was a very quiet person until I started to work on her portrait.To make a portrait in lace is little bit different than to draw it or paint it. Actually it takes more energy, and I think this way you discover more and connect more with the person on a totally different level. While portraying my friend in lace, I discovered how much wild energy she has hidden inside her, how much passion she holds under her calm appearance.  

 I wanted to take my adventure a little bit farther. My father is a talented artist himself; his portraits are sensitive. I like his work very much and this was the reason why I asked him to work on a few portraits with me. It was very interesting to see how he sees the same person. I know it is impossible to compare bobbin lace and drawings, but still to collaborate and compare the two techniques in college was a very interesting venue for me.

This time I started to work with colors. I really like the result of using two contrast colors; it brought more life in the portrait and more closely corresponds with expression of this person. The second portrait I did with my father was our long-time friend . I hope I will be able to work on more projects with my father; it was fun and I learned a lot. 

My last two portraits are my father and my husband. For me it was very interesting to see that each portrait I had to do in different colors. I wanted to create a portrait of my husband in blue colors. I put blue thread on the bobbins, but I was unable to start. I saw orange and brown colors in my strong feelings and vision; therefore, I could not continue with blue. I had to start over with different colors.

I told my husband that I am making his portrait with orange color. He panicked asking " Am I some kind of clown?" No, I smiled. You are not but your soul is speaking in those colors. Yes, I understood his concern. Orange hair, yes, it is a little bit strange. But when lace developed a little bit farther, it was not orange that was so significant; it was an imprint of my husband's energy, his strong will to live, strong will to overcome any difficulties, his fighter spirit, but also his spiritual side, something magical, something archetypal inside him. Maybe I even saw a glimpse of his previous life.

When I did a portrait of my father. I had to use lighter colors. I was not sure if it was the right choice; hoewer, when I was finished, I realized how much this color composition reflects my father's kindness, his inner spiritual life and his stillness when it comes to matters in which he strongly believes .

These bobbin lace portraits are examples of how you can capture the essence of a friend or lover and have them come to life. I would appreciate your comments! 

If you are interested in having your own bobbin lace portrait made, or having a portrait made for someone special, please contact me danielabanatova@gmail.com

Tiamat Cosmic Dancer

By the old legend there is a cosmic dancer.

Dancer is consuming energy in order to move,

Dancer takes all energy , she needs to move , if she

would stop dancing she would die. She is not bad or good,

she just must dance,

When she moves to another plane, she leaves empty space, vacuum behind her

In this vacuum, something new,something precious can arise.

Not so long ago I come across slow-motion photos of dancers. I was mesmerized, I had to think about those pictures all the time .                                      ,https://www.pinterest.com/pin/438819557413981077/

I could not push them out of my mind . Especially photographs of Sufi dancers radiated very strong energy . These images capture incredible energy, incredible power, spiritual wisdom and the moment of transcendental changes . We can feel very same power from religious dances of Native Indians, ritual dances performed by African or Aboriginal and many others .

When you can watch those dancers from close distance, you are taken to the vortex of this strong cosmic energy.

Those slow motion images have been in my mind for sometime, they have been coming back during my mediation and I had to transform my feeling , my thoughts in the language of strings.My effort was to capture the movement, which also
its point of rest. Stopped in the whirl of flickering, this resting position is invisible to the human eye, we are not capable to notice it, yet in a hectic dance full of emotion and savagery we find a moment of sacred peace, which sows the seed of new creation.
Tiamat is the Sumerian goddess, the mother of God, the mother of all creation.
Very seldom I would use such a strong contrast like red, black and yellow color . This time I chose this combination, for me it is a combination of joy, strength, new birth, but also a symbol of the mystery of the ancient Maya, Aztecs and the original population of Australia. All of them are united by a similar legend about our creation. When I close my eyes I imagine how Tiamat danced through the cosmic plane, with powerful blows from her wings,stupefying breath, breathed life into her imagination and created beauty and pain at the same time. Tiamat created life .
Every artist has its own way how to express his / her , feelings , emotions, philosophy . For me colorful threads are helping me to reflect mine inner world.

Desert Rose

Desert Rose

 Inspiration for this lace I found in Cappadocia, magnificent rock

formation in Turkey . Since I was 16 I wanted to visit Cappadocia.

I learned about this corner of the world in the history of art

class and I was taken by its beauty , its mystery.I was studying  travel, historical and art books

about this

place and dreamed that once I will travel there

I dreamed about going there, touching, seeing and

inhaling the energy of this place .

Last year, when husband and I were wondering where we were

going this time, Stan said."Why not Capadocia?"

Coming here was like arriving to different planet, rock

formations with emmental look, it looked like each of the rock

was telling different story had its own life , its own story

The landscape has surpassed all my expectations and it is really

impossible to describe its beauty and atmosphere with words.

How to describe something that seems unreal,
emmental-like rocks,dust, the smell of desert grass,
the subtle shades of color that changes
every hour of the day. How to describe this
experience into imperfect words?

After all, even the best photograph will not capture the energy of
this place. We spent over a week in Goreme ( tourist center of Cappadocia).
We have been lucky, we could  sleep in a rock hotel,
our room was hollowed out in a rock. It was a very unusual
experience.
How people have lived here in earlier history; these hard
conditions, harsh winters, extremely hot summers,and incredibly strong
spiritual energy which radiates from nature here.
What were their lives, their stories? All this  you can
hear when you listen quietly , it is inscribed in this region.

How else could I convey my feelings, my experience, different
way than by weaving it into lace?

I chose the red tones because they best correspond to the energy
of Cappadocia. My intention was to capture the intersection
of spaces, 

The Desert Rose Lace is a reflection of all my feelings,
experiences and my spiritual knowledge of this mystical
landscape.

Silence of Consciousness

Everybody who knows me , knows how much I love to travel . Traveling is not just brightening my horizonts but also during my travels I am finding inspiration for my art work . I could say that all my artwork is reflexion on my travel .

8 years ago my husband and I discovered beauty of Vietnam . For me Vietnam is not natural beauty , but also I found purity in Vietnamese people . I always love to return there.

It is a very special place with deep spiritual energy . It is fantastic place for meditation . I love to swim during sunrise and sunset and  to watch changing colors of the sky and the sea at those moments . Those moments are very magical in spiritual sense .Mind can flow to the different world , it is very quiet moment , and in this moment I can feel strong connection to my inner self . In a sense I feel home here . This is my little paradise . I am finding here my inner balance , I feel my spiritual guidance .It is place like no other.  Still not polluted with big hotels chains and still has local character and charm . But I am afraid this is changing rapidly .One day we went for snorkeling . Have you ever tried that ? Is in it fantastic ?  World under the water has its own dimension.  It looks like underwater world has its own time , you sink in the deep silence . Did you ever watch corals ? They are alive, they are moving , they have so many colors . Fish living in this fantastic world are also so  colorful . And here I found inspiration for my lace Silence of Consciousness. Inspired by the colors which I saw around the corals I choose bluish green and yellow.For contrast my choice was black. I started to make drawings for actual lace  I wanted to capture beauty of corals, their lighthes a vibrant energy . I started to work first with yellow and black colors I wanted to get feeling of joy , lightness and then I continued with other colors combination.

 This time I had supervisor nd very useful helper. This is why it took so long to finish this piece . .   . 

Many people are traveling to India for spiritual enlightening . For me is Vietnam my spiritual place.  I have found  my inner guidance here . Every year we spend time in Phu Quoc, tropical island south of Sai Gon .

Spirit of Uluru

Spirit of Uluru

Anyone who travels to Australia will be astonished by the nature. Especially landscape around Uluru.

 Many people are coming here to find spiritual enlightenment .  Yes this place has very strong energy and special feeling.I am not sure if its red color has something to do with it  or it is something else. In any case people can experience here different energy , new vibration.  I do not think that living here is too ideal . Harsh winters, awfully hot summers.  I can not imagine that spiritual wisdom would come to everyone for just being here a few hours. Rock formations in Uluru are creating beautiful structures , it could be very interesting  inspirations for lace .  They can tell some many stories ..... But I am meet here my magical tree . Tree is telling me story of this place, story of people, of spiritual beings who are interacting with  the nature . I am taking this tree with me back home . Of course not in  my luggage . This tree is in my memories, in my mind, it made  huge imprint in my soul. His song became part of my song .


I could not wait to start to make first sketches . I wanted capture story, song of this three, I wanted capture his spirit , spirit of the place, mystery of this special tree soul, mystery of Uluru.
I chose red, pink and black color of thread . Those colors allow me to create deep contrast.  Same contrast which is in Uluru nature;between harsh winter and very hot summer , is something fragile,

something poetic,  something mystical .
I was looking forward to start to play with colors. It is interesting how just a few colors can create many different accents of colors by mixing threads . 
I love to work with different thickness of thread.

This very fine sewing thread gives lace something poetic, it creates different illusion of different space, of different dimension. 
Lot of people are asking me , why I do not just paint, it would be faster. Yes it would be. I what can be nicer than clicking bobbins. Their clicking is my meditation .
I would like to invite you to my new website , where you can see more of my works . Danielabanatova.com 




 

Secret Guardian

I did not realized how long I did not posted anything. 
Anyway between traveling I created a few pieces. Yes just few, I can not make small lace. I would be unable to express my self  in small piece , Of Course larger piece takes longer time. This year I was invited to exhibit in  New Jersey in Hunterdon Art Museum. Curator Devon Thein put together very interesting exhibition of contemporary lace .  From 28 lace artist from all over world, she exhibited 4 Czech artist. Milca Eremiasova, Lenka Suchanek and Dagmar Beckel. 

Meanwhile I created a few pieces . All of them are inspired by my lates traveling to Asia and Australia. 

                               Salome 

                   

                      Secret Guardian 

Flower of Creation 

          
                                                                                   

I am so proud to be selected for this exhibition 

I am so proud to be selected to be part of this exhibition.
Jin Choi and Thomas Shine's The Urchins
Choi+Shine, The Urchins

Major Lace Exhibition Opens at Hunterdon Art Museum
Show Includes First-Ever U.S. Appearance of the Urchins,
Life-Size Carriage Four Decades in the Making
A ground-breaking exhibition highlighting how lace makers are expanding the traditional boundaries of their art form to create exciting work that investigates contemporary themes, materials and forms opens at the Hunterdon Art Museum on Sunday, Sept. 23.

Lace, not Lace: Contemporary Fiber Art from Lacemaking Techniques, reveals how contemporary fiber artists are applying bobbin and needle lace techniques to a multitude of fibers and filaments in unlimited colors and textures to interpret their world.

“This is the first show in the United States to focus on contemporary art made in bobbin and needle lace techniques,” said Devon Thein, an internationally known lace expert who is curating the exhibition.

The show’s opening will be celebrated with a reception on Sept. 23 from 3 to 5 p.m., which everyone is welcome to attend. The opening features gallery talks by Thein at 4 p.m. and artists Jin Choi and Thomas Shine, at 5 p.m. Festivities will follow with live music and a food truck, and and the lighting of the Urchins at dusk.

The exhibition features a special two-week engagement of the Urchins, two lace orbs, each 15 feet in diameter that will hang above the Museum’s Toshiko Takaezu Terrace, which overlooks the waterfall on the South Branch of the Raritan River. This exhibition marks the first United States appearance of the Urchins, which has been shown only in Singapore and Australia.

Created by Jin Choi + Thomas Shine, Architects, the Urchins will be suspended from thin, almost invisible cables spanning trusses that are 20 feet high. More than 50 people dedicated three months to meticulously hand craft the lace shells that are held in tension over an aluminum frame.

Gently guided by the wind and the touch of the visitors, the Urchins interact with natural light to create ephemeral shadows during the day and glow when illuminated at night.

Lieve Jerger’s Carriage of Lost Love

Another showstopper is Lieve Jerger’s Carriage of Lost Love, which the artist has spent four decades creating. The work is a life-size carriage made of copper wire using bobbin lace technique. The Carriage of Lost Love began with just one panel, the Traveler window. But that sparked Jerger’s imagination and compelled her to build a complete ceremonial carriage that has been a labor of love for decades.

“I never thought of giving up, not even when wires kept breaking when I pulled them too tight,” Jerger noted. “Even heavy gauge copper wire must be handled gently and kinks are unforgiving, but the strength and brilliance of copper wire is what seduced me.”

The exhibition features 41 works of lace art by 28 artists from around the world. Thein said she sought to create a show that demonstrated the versatility of bobbin and needle lace techniques.

“I wanted to include artists who had been major figures in the lace revival of the 1970s, as well as younger artists who had benefited from their innovations and discoveries,” Thein added.

The show also marks the debut of Penny Nickels’ piece Jersey Devil, which employs a variety of needle and lace stitches to achieve different tones. “It’s exciting because there aren’t too many pieces of art that celebrate New Jersey’s unique folklore figure, the Jersey Devil,” Thein said. “Penny Nickels spent 1,500 hours making this peon to the mythic demon of the Pine Barrens.”

Other artists in the show are: Manca Ahlin, Jane Atkinson, Daniela Banatova, Dagmar Beckel-Machyckova, J Carpenter, Jill Nordfors Clark, Milča Eremiášová, Pierre Fouché, Laura Friesel, Alex Goldberg, Maggie Hensel-Brown, Ágnes Herczeg, Ros Hills, Veronika Irvine, Nava Lubelski, Dorie Millerson, Wako Ono, E.J.Parkes, Lenka Suchanek, Lauran Sundin, Olivia Valentine, Nicole Valsesia-Lair, Denise Watts, Louise West, and Ashley Williams.

Thein hopes the exhibition will introduce the public and the art community to needle and bobbin lace techniques that aren’t widely known.

“I suppose I would like it if people could differentiate between the popular conception of lace as a white substance with holes, a textile that is simultaneously erotic, virginal and grandmotherly, and the fiber art techniques that were used to construct lace historically,” she said.

The exhibition runs until Jan. 6, 2019. The special limited engagement for Jin Choi + Thomas Shine’s the Urchins ends Oct. 7.

The exhibition Lace, not Lace: Contemporary Fiber Art from Lacemaking Techniques is generously supported by The Coby Foundation, Ltd. Support also provided by the International Organization of Lace, Inc. and Holiday Inn Clinton-Bridgewaterhttps://hunterdonartmuseum.org/future-exhibitions/