Last year we opened a TAFA Shop on Zazzle. Members donated images of their products which were then added on to mugs, t-shirts, cell phone covers and other Zazzle choices. A percentage of the sales go to help support our TAFA programming. It’s not much, takes a long time to amount to anything, but it helps and is a great way to give a longer life to these wonderful creations that take to long to make. Almost everything we make is one-of-a-kind and being able to use the images again in this way allows us to enjoy them further.

Our most successful items were our two calendars that we put together and this year, we have done it again! Our Roots Calendar celebrates ancestors who have encouraged creativity along with our feelings about “home”. People and place often define who we will become in future years, either embracing the feeling of love and acceptance or reacting against abuse and insecurity.

If you enjoy the textile and fiber arts, you will certainly like the selection we have put together for our TAFA Calendar 2014! It holds a nice variety of techniques and cultural traditions. Click on the images to visit the member profiles and learn more about each contributor. Our members often talk about how a grandmother, mother, aunt, father or someone in their family taught them how to knit, sew, or create when they were still little children. Visit The List to see our other profiles and as you explore, you will see this mentioned over and over again. Or, they will talk about where they lived as children and how that informed their later work.

As you explore these twelve and other stories, take to heart how important it is to expose children to the arts at a young age! Each of us has the ability to pass that on to the next generation and to spark that interest in them, too. Maybe someday we will be the honored ancestors, the ones who made a safe place called home.

TAFA 2014 Calendar Front Cover: Roots

January

Karen lives in Pennsylvania in the US. Her work is often minimalist, exploring shape, movement and color.

February

Indira Govindan is a mixed-media artist from New Jersey with her roots in India. Here she honors her parents who encouraged her to develop fully in every way. The journal pictured was made using one of her mother’s saris.

March

Nisa Kiley lives in Hereford, United Kingdom. Her quilts are intensely quilted, creating deep textures and rhythm, often inspired by Nature. Her mother is honored in this piece.

April

Anni Hunt is a mixed media artist, a Canadian from British Columbia. She uses a wide range of surface design techniques to create textures and images on her textiles, often transforming them into vessels. This nest is part of a series. She also offers video tutorials on many of her techniques.

May

Peggy Wright lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. For many years she worked with bead weaving jewelry, but moved her focus to textiles a couple of years ago. She often incorporates beads into her quilts and textiles.

June

Ann Ridge lives in Malaga, Spain, and creates a variety of functional textiles and wearable art, from pillows to quilts to exquisite garments.

July

Aliona Carpov landed in Rabat, Morocco many years ago, but explores her Moldovian roots through her weaving and mixed media works. See this weaving in a post she did as a part of our Decorating with Textiles Series.

August

Anton Veenstra lives in Sydney, Australia. His parents arrived there as migrant workers from Holland and Slovenia. He was born in a migrant camp and he has done several tapestries about his mother and childhood. This textile is made up of old buttons.

September

Cindy Grisdela lives in Great Falls, Virginia, USA. Her quilts are bold explorations of color and shape. She also makes home accessories which are just lovely.

October

Meta Heemskerk lives in Eindhoven, Netherlands. She documents her work avidly on her blog, always exploring new techniques. Her peg people featured here are a part of a wonderful series. 

November

Karen Miller is a rug hooker from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. She often incorporates weathered wood in her work. Her inspiration comes from the landscape around her, Iceland, and people.

December

This year I took part in the calendar, too. My parents were missionaries in Brazil (1962-1980) and my father was especially supportive of my creative learning. He was mechanical and built things, picking up carving for a few years. My mother taught us how to read and write and took us to movies on Sunday afternoons. Both are originally Minnesota (USA) farm kids. I now live in Kentucky, USA. I made each of them an embroidered scarf for Christmas.

Back cover

I love learning about the stories behind the work and hope that you do, too! Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments area on ancestors and home and how they inform what you do, too.  Each story, joyful or painful, forms a part of the tapestry that is life!

You may purchase the calendar and other TAFA products in our Zazzle shop:

http://www.zazzle.com/2014_tafa_calendar_roots-158600962546896913

The calendar is $24.40. Zazzle often has promotional discounts going on, so make sure you take a look at the top of the site for a promo announcement. At the time of this posting, there is a 20% discount using 2014NEWYEARS as the code at checkout. You can use that towards anything that you might want to purchase in our shop.

I was very pleased with the quality of the calendars last year and have enjoyed seeing TAFA up on my wall all throughout the year. It will be fun to have that opportunity once again. When you look at our pages, know that you are supporting an amazing group with wonderful stories!

Happy 2014!