|
Serving the Oxford Hills Area of Maine, and Neighboring Communities Return to Front Page |
| Items Matching Request | |
|
Imaginative fiber designer's works lend gusto to 'Cool Crocheted Hats' by Aranka K. Matolcsy NORWAY - Take form, function, and fine craft, mix it with fiber, fun and frivolousness and you get the artistic expression of Jonathan James. Also known as the Woodstock Hooker, James has married his inherent curiosity with imagination and creativity to come up with unique crocheted hat designs which have recently been featured in a hard-cover, full-color book entitled: "Cool Crocheted Hats." Three of James' designs appear in the book, which is published by Lark, a division of Sterling Publishing of New York. Editor Linda Kopp found James' web site and approached him to include his designs. Considering it quite an honor, one of James' design is even featured on the dust jacket. The book can currently be found at Barnes and Nobles, according to James. "Crocheter is such a crunchy word. Just call us hookers," said James with a smile, emitting his characteristic sense of humor explaining the common reference to artists and crafters who use hooks and yarn. While James has lived primarily in Woodstock, New York for the last 12 years, his ties to New England and the Oxford Hills are life-long. James was born in New Hampshire, where his mother, Judy James, owned the Berlin Reporter. James moved to the Oxford Hills at the age of four, when his father, Howard James, former owner of the Advertiser Democrat, wanted to bring his family closer to a better educational system. Whimsical, Dr. Suessian, maybe even absurd are discriptions of James' intricate designs, which are not just hats, but complex and sensitive artistic expressions with yarn as the medium. James has no fear treading into the realm of unknown or unconventional ways of hooking yarn into colorful, textural shapes. Bold in design, each of his hats are highly dynamic and have the ability to be changed into multitudes of shapes and styles, ranging from conservative to down-right wacky. Some are even designed to be flung as Frisbees or to be shifted into multi-angled structures operating under the principle of drive shafts with U joints, as well as other architectural and mechanical shapes. Still other designs apply complex mathematical and geomentric theories like the Gordian knots, Moebius strips, and Klein Bottles (which are one-sided, three-dimensional objects which travel through themselves). The names of the 40 completely unique designs are as colorful are the hats themselves: Flying Flower, Knoddin' Noggin, the Sproinga, Mr. Wander's Top Hat, Julia's Cobalt Blues, the Klein Bunny and many more. He also designs pieces with different regions and activities in mind. For example, his Snowboarder's Hat has open spaces for ventilation during warm, sunny and highly-active times, which can be fashioned into a closed, warm hat with ear flaps if a storm blows in, and then into a cap with a visor when the sun comes out again. The possibilities seem to be limited only by the wearer's imagination. James has created a humorous, animated spoken routine which helps people understand the dynamics of just one hat, in particular, the Puzzle Hat, which has seven completely different forms. James, as the hat-wearing character, takes the viewer on a journey from California with a hippy-vibe cap, to a Holly-Hobby inspired bonnet in Kansas, to a Woodstock, New York Rasta hat, on to a side-sloped London-style cap, to a skier's hat in the Swiss Alps, to a French beret, back to the U.S. through Asia with a mid-evil renaissance troubadour hat. "By wearing one of my hats, I live in a happy world. People have trouble not smiling," he noted. James admits that necessity is the mother of invention. Part of the reason behind the multi-color forms is economic. Starting out James found scrap yarn at rummage sales the most convenient and affordable to use. Seeing no need to change that philosophy, James creations are still the combination of many scraps. "Yes, I choose color, but color is often irrelevant. I am an artist using rummage sale bin yarn. I am inspired by what resources I have," he said. "In the beginning, I didn't know you were supposed to buy new yarn and follow a pattern." James' journey into the world of custom crocheted designs began eight years ago with the gentle guidance of a friend, Jenny, he met on the West Coast during a cross-country, soul searching adventure. Visiting friends one day in Vermont, James noticed that the guys were all grouped "twiddling" their thumbs while the gals were all enjoying crocheting together. Deciding to get in on the action, James asked his friend Jenny to show him how to crochet, or hook as it is also known. "She put her arms around me and held my hands [on the hook and yarn]. I think I probably figured out the basics in the first half hour or so, but I didn't tell her," James said cracking a smile. That first trip into a crazy, colorful design world ended up with a five-foot, two-inch long hat. It was then, James realized that he was hooked, no pun intended. This adventurous excursion into works of exotic colors, shapes and textures he says has been accompanied by friends all along the way - whose touch and influence is evidenced in each creation. Jenny started him off with the basics, another friend and kindred spirit, Jill, helped advanced his knowledge of different stitches starting with single and double crochet. A good friend, Lucia from Portugal, guided James on technique and professionalism - how he picked up a more European way to hold his hook, which is upside down to most American hookers. Finally, his ex-wife, Dr. Heather Johnson, a mathematician, helped him apply complex math and geometry to his work. James admits that the main difference between him and most other hookers has been training and guidance. His free-flowing movement into the world of hooking has left challenges in that he admits to not being able to write the patterns. James out sources the pattern writing to a woman in Texas who analyzes each design and writes a complex and intricate pattern, so that others may reproduce the design. "When others follow my patterns, they often think that they are doing something wrong," he said of the innovative designs. Most of the time, James constructs his designs at a local coffee shop in Woodstock, which generates a lot of interest and helped propel his yarn art endeavor into a real business. "Rich Manhattanites were wanting to buy my hats," he said of the first sales opportunities, which built the springboard for his business today. Now, James markets his hats, which range from under $100 to over $250, on the web domain he has owned for two years and through retail venues and galleries like the Elements Gallery in Woodstock. He is currently devising a wholesaling strategy and will be featured in some additional publications in the future. Even though James has entered the female-dominated world of hooking in an unconventional way, when asked he says he finds no gender-based challenges. "Yeah, grandmothers tend to grope me. Only joking. Usually people will think that someone else made them. I actually get very respectful responses from other men," he said, noting that men actually do have tendencies to be tense and pull yarn tighter than women, making it squeak. "Yeah, I was squeaking in the beginning." He is eager to share his knowledge and has even mentored other people. His best advice: "If you make a mistake, you make it bigger, brighter and huge and figure out how that mistake works." James has a simple goal for his artistic yarn creations: "To make the world bright and happy, " he concluded. For more information on James, his designs or to obtain a copy of Cool Crocheted Hat, visit: www.woodstockhooker.com. You can also view some video clips of James and his work on his www.MySpace.com page. NORWAY by Aranka K. Matolcsy Thursday, November 9, 2006 front |
|