Interview with K of Fog and Swell

 All images this post belong to K.V. Pederson and are used by permission.

This week I'm very pleased to be interviewing K of Fog and Swell. I first discovered K's beautiful whales on Etsy and then discovered her blog. There are also more images of  her work on her flickr account and her Facebook. If you are a knitter, K has designed a couple of lovely hat patterns which are linked in the right sidebar of her blog.

Elizabeth: You live on Vancouver Island (which I visited last summer and have to say is now on my list of favorite places). Can you tell us about the island and some of your favorite places on it?

K: Vancouver Island can sort of be divided into sections, with the south and east parts of the island being the most developed and populated, while the north and west sides are where it gets a bit wilder, more isolated, in large part due to the increasingly rugged landscape and difficulty of access. Those wild parts are my favourite: the wave-scoured open beaches of the west coast areas such as Tofino and Cape Scott, and the maze of islands and turbulent tidal waters that make up the Johnstone Strait area. When I feel the lure of the mountains, Strathcona Provincial Park has many trails to explore. Once you get outside the larger centres, there are lots of neat small towns too.

I live in the Comox Valley on the east side, which has a nice balance of arts and culture (and let's be honest, more amenities and work), but also offers easy access to to wilderness areas for hiking, mountain biking, skiing, boating and more.

Elizabeth: Sea life is obviously a big inspiration for your work. How and when did you start sewing sea creatures?

K: I started making the sea creatures last summer. I was already making art quilts showing west coast landscapes, and I started thinking about bringing some of those coastal elements to life in a three-dimensional way. There are many amazing soft sculpture artists out there, but I thought maybe I could bring a unique perspective to the animals of the coast that I call home. My first one was a humpback whale, which is somewhat my signature creature and definitely the one people seem to respond to the most. I hadn't seen anything like it, so I thought I would see where it would go.

Elizabeth: You seem to work within a fairly disciplined color palette. What draws you to the color blue?

K: The many shades between blue and grey kind of capture how I view the exposed and weathered coast that inspires me. I am also inspired by traditional Japanese boro textiles, the layers of indigo fabric blended together through the intensive stitching. I think this is partly what got me started using old jeans in my work - the myriad of blues reminds me of the traditional indigo, and I love the feel and look of the well-loved fabric.

Recently I have been trying to branch out a bit more with colour - what looks like a wash of grey-blue when looking at the larger coastal landscape reveals a bright rainbow of colour when peering into tide pools and under rocks.

 

Elizabeth: You use a lot of recycled textiles in your pieces. How do you choose your raw materials and where do you find them? 

K: Boro is also in line with my desire to use what i have.  Over the years I have accumulated lots of little treasured scraps, and I start there first. I might go to the thrift store with starfish in mind and luck out with a purple wool skirt, or get leftover silk or linen scraps from another maker.  I love natural fibres - linen, cotton, wool, silk - and while I try to use repurposed textiles or scraps that might otherwise be thrown away, I will also buy new if there is something that jumps out at me.

Elizabeth: Can you tell us a little about the process of designing your three dimensional pieces (they look so realistic!)? 

K: Thanks! I am lucky enough to have seen a lot of the animals I make in real life, but I find my stack of reference books to be infinitely helpful in getting a good idea of a creature and its particular characteristics. I also use Google images to see different views and variations. After that I usually sketch out a rough profile, and determine how best to break it into pattern pieces to create a three dimensional item. With something like my barnacles, I just had a really clear mental picture of what I wanted and so I started cutting and sewing with no pattern at all. But others take a bit more time; a recent dolphin I made has three failed prototypes preceding it - it took a while to get a shape I was happy with.

Elizabeth: Other than textile art, what other art or craft mediums do you enjoy?

K: It's been speculated that my camera is permanently attached to my hand, especially when out exploring, so photography is probably my biggest interest. I also knit a lot, quilt, sew clothing, weave, draw...unfortunately I'm never short of hobbies and ideas, just time! maybe someday I'll be able to do handmade art full time, but for now I also work full time as a graphic designer.

Elizabeth: What is your idea of a perfect day?

K: Camping on a beach in the middle of nowhere with my boy, listening to the waves crash, exploring a remote stretch of shoreline with camera in hand and shells jingling in my pockets, watching a bear and cubs explore the beach or looking for whale spouts on the horizon, listening for the calls of ravens and eagles in the treetops...

Thank you, K!