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Gelme Vaitkuniene

Specialty: Fiber

In my life I did it all – I knitted, crocheted, sewn, braided, did macrame, weaved. However, many years ago, I fell in love with felting. There were practically no information and teachers at the time I started, so I made a lot of discoveries on my own and developed my own felting methods and styles, and that is the beauty of creation–to find something new. I like to express my own perspective of seeing things, and because of that, I like to put my own twist in repeating nature (like flowers, plants, scenes) in my creations. Creating for me is the discovery of myself, expressing things that resonate with me, and how I want to see the world. Felting gives absolutely no boundaries for the expression of ideas, and therefore it is so versatile and forgiving. I have made clothes, vases, pictures, and household items over the years, but decided to develop idea of the “simple” scarf and see how far metamorphoses of it can take me. Why not?

Gelme’s Biography

Gelme was born in Lithuania and came to the US 17 years ago. She has been making her own clothing since she was 7 years old when she knitted her very first vest. She always wanted to express herself in unique ways and stand out from the crowd, to be noticed as an individual in the masses. Many years ago she fell in love with felting. Wool became just the right material for her in making beautiful things. Felting was invented thousands of years ago, and done in many cultures, but was forgotten over the years. Gelme has attempted to try to adapt these methods to the present, using and mixing different techniques in producing truly amazing and beautiful textures and “painting” with wool. Every piece of clothing Geme makes is truly handmade because the fabric is literally made from raw wool fibers which are combined with silk, linen, or other materials. All her work demands patience and skills as every fiber has to be hand placed in the right way and direction. Felting demands a lot of personal handwork and time as well as energy and a part of the soul in every piece. But most important, it is so UNIQUE. Not one piece can be repeated. Every piece will always be a little bit different, even if you try to copy it, because the creation of each piece depends on so many different factors, including the love Gelme puts into her work.