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Wednesday, December 1, 2010

A Tale of Two Els(es?)

I have two friends named Els.  Both are Dutch - one lives in the Netherlands and one lives about 6 miles from me.  Both are incredibly artistic and gifted.  And both are beautiful, inside and out.  Do you think it's the affect of the North Sea?  Or, Noordzee?  I'm still trying to decide.  I am just happy that they are my friends and in my life.  They inspire me every time I think of them, but I am not a sculptor and I'm JUST learning to weave.  They inspire me so much that I've named all my Barnevelder pullets "Els".  I am sure the Els(es) would be thrilled to know that....

My Els in Holland is a sculptor.  I have watched from afar as she went through four years of art school - while holding down a full-time job.  I watched her progress from talented to amazingly talented.  You can see her beautiful work here.

My Els from Holland is a weaver.  She weaves many lovely things, but she is most well-known for her transparencies.  These are woven from fine linen threads and hung in your window.  They are so amazing - she does most of them to order, weaving in everything from farm animals (I am trading for a sheep!) to birds and trees.  You can see samples of her work here.  She donated transparencies for our town library's children's reading room - all in Winnie the Pooh designs.  I can look at them for hours.

Now, is it the name?  The rarified air in the Netherlands?  In the genes?  I am guessing that it's all of the above.  Do you have artistic friends that inspire you?

4 comments:

The Apple Pie Gal said...

Hmm, my MIL inspires me. She is a supreme 'sewer', or seamstress/quilter, knitter, crocheter, scrapbooker and whatever else she can get her hands on.

What an interesting name. Els plural or El? Well either way, maybe it's all in the name because that is random!

Susan said...

APG, it's Els, but I am not sure what the plural would be. In any event, they are both amazingly talented and so, so nice. Your MIL sounds amazing - one of those multi-talented women that I admire and envy.

Jen (emsun.org) said...

A plethora of bloggers inspire me, but sadly I don't have any crafters or artists in my local area or friends.

Susan said...

Hi Jen! There are some very inspiring bloggers out there, indeed. I love the blogosphere for that reason.