Booth 807
(See map below)
About the Artist
As a Foreign Service Officer traveling the world I was exposed to many fiber-arts traditions and studied them during my overseas assignments. I've always loved creating things. Growing up in Africa, from a very young age I made objects using limited resources and my imagination. But my creative tendencies were thwarted by the necessity of studying other things and finding, as determined by my family and peers, a real job.
My retirement from the State Department coincided with the onset of the COVID pandemic. With new-found time on my hands, I started experimenting in earnest with dyeing and felting. I rediscovered my old creative passion and the unique joy of making and sharing art. After a while, though, with items accumulating in my home, Mara Homemade was born as a way of sharing my art with more people.
I love the feel of handling and placing the fibers, a state of calm attentiveness that is guided more by intuition than by conscious effort. Along the way, often through trial and error, I learn more about my materials and techniques. I appreciate objects and manual skills more than words I like to see the colors, feel the textures. It brings me joy to choose the materials, put things together, and see how they look. It's positively addictive.
I am always foraging and collecting anything I might be able to use in some way. I'm passionate about wet felting, eco-botanical printing, using both natural and synthetic dyes to create truly one-of-a-kind pieces, and this forms the basis for my business. I like to keep my art simple, natural, classical but crafted. I love to share how an item was made and I love meeting kindred spirits who appreciate the unique qualities of the individual pieces.
Based in Falls Church, Virginia
