Working with living material

“I experience it as blissful to touch fabric. Fabric can be soft or stiff. Each fabric has its own individuality. I like working with natural materials. I don't like touching synthetic fabrics, they feel uncomfortable on my hands. Natural fabrics are alive.

When I see silk, I see not only the silk but also the whole path the spool has taken. I see the butterflies that made the silk, the people who harvested the silk and made it into a thread. I find it incredible then to be able to work with it. When you work with living or natural material, you also never know how it will react during the production process. Every time I start working with new material, I have to do a lot of testing and get to know the material well, but I really enjoy that.

Flow and focus

I often feel that I get lost in what I am doing, I become exactly one with it. When I am really engaged in something, my attention goes to nothing else. And it doesn't cost me any effort at all. It feels like a flow. I sometimes even start talking to my loom or to my fabric.

The gaze of the soul

If, during the work process, you always think that the result has to be perfect, you cannot connect with your own soul and creativity. Constantly looking at your work from the outside during the creation process is pernicious. Your work only gets a soul when you put a piece of yourself into it. Your own view is crucial.”

— Martine Eechaute mazoetti.com