Princess YellowBelly Designs is all about celebrating the most unique and creative ways that fabric can possibly go together – and if these artistic creations happen to be useful as well, all the better! From quilts to wall hangings, from table toppers to mug rugs, from patterns to printed photo panels – we’re all about the magic in the art.
Which is why we’re so excited to welcome an incredibly unique artist that we just met on Facebook!
Please give a warm welcome to our wonderful guest star:
Marijke van Welzen!
The Art
Marijke does something with the basic idea of quilts and fabric art that we’d never considered – she creates mesmerizing art that you can wear!
Her amazing long coats and jackets look as if a field of flowers, or butterflies, or dandelions decided to wrap themselves up in silks and watercolors and grace a quilt. Everything, from the stunning overall effect, to the unbelievably perfect fine details and embellishments, to her picture-perfect stitching make Marijke’s art2wear creations beyond stunning.
What inspires you to make wearable art?
Marijke van Welzen is an amazing and truly unique textile artist. Under the label art2wear she makes high-end wearable art and accessories with a story to tell. From her home in the beautiful Netherlands she works at combining multiple fabric art disciplines and techniques to create one-of-a-kind show-stoppers. As if that wasn’t awe-inspiring enough, she also makes quilts and teaches.
Read to the end of the article to see a video of Marijke creating this art!
“I love the 3D aspects of Wearable art. I’m inspired by:
- Art
- Other artists
- Fabric
- Fibers
- Fashion
- People
- Fairy-tales
- And the natural world
I like to participate in contests, I pick the ones with themes that inspire me. When I read the theme it has to be catchy at once. I start thinking about it, doing research, reading articles, looking at images at Google etc.
An idea comes to my mind, has to whirl around in my head for some time, then I start working.
The rest is very intuitive, once I start, it works like a kind of puzzle, I find another piece, or I just have to wait until some more pieces turn up. I never know exactly beforehand what the end result will look like.”
Was there anything in your life story that led to you making these beautiful works of art?
In the year 2000 I found a book by Rosemary Eichorn, “The Art of Fabric Collage.”
I already made a lot of my own clothes, but I had not done something like that, I decided to try it out.
I now have made more than 50 jackets and coats.
Why do you enjoy making these jaw-dropping creations?
I love working with textiles. I love the tactile aspect (to feel the different textures, soft, rough, hairy, smooth etc.) the flexibility, the unlimited color range and the visual texture (shiny, muted, glittering etc.). I usually work very intuitively, sometimes I use a Mandala drawing I made for inspiration.
Daily life can be very hectic, my art helps me to balance my life; it gives me a way to escape everyday life, relax my mind.
I occasionally work on commission. The garment is tailor-made for that particular client. I keep in mind wishes like favorite color, design, shape etc.
I start with an interview with the client, we talk about their life, pets, work, that way I get an idea about what they would like in their jacket. Then I take measurements. It is a time-consuming process, which make the garments quite pricey.
Did you start with a standard pattern or design, or was this all your own creation?
I learned how to draw patterns. I use basic patterns which I adapt.
Do you make a lot of different designs or variations of a basic one?
I make one-of a-kind garments. Each one is different.
What is your process; design, prep, work, completion, etc.?
I love to use fabric collage. Using many tiny pieces of commercial fabric prints and colorful machine threads I ‘paint’ my designs.
I usually work very intuitively. I collect fabrics around the theme I want to work on and things like ribbons, lace, buttons, charms, beads and anything else I think I can use.
Sometimes I use stencils or stamps and fabric paint to enhance the piece.
Is there anything you can tell our readers about how to integrate so many different techniques and materials into one piece of finished art?
I work on a base, like interfacing, or thin quilter’s batting. Everything is pinned to that base.
1. Click on the double “CC” button to turn on captions.
2. Click the gear icon settings button & select “Auto-translate”
3. Select your language from the drop-down menu that appears
Video credit goes to the late Jacques van Herten – media used with permission
I work on a base, like interfacing, or thin quilter’s batting. Everything is pinned to that base.
I love to use all sorts of materials, mixing and matching cotton,silk, synthetics. Then I stitch it all down. After that come the embellishments.
I like to explore and use other techniques as well for my garments e.g. working with water-soluble fabric to make lace-like effects or using wet and dry felting in combination with the textile collage.
How long does each finished design take to complete?
I work a couple of months on one large coat. I do 1 or 2 large ones a year. In between I make small quilts or other things.
How many have you made in all (or a rough estimate)?
I think around 60 jackets and coats in all in 20 years. And about 20 quilts.
Do you do a lot displaying at fairs?
I try to have expositions regularly. I had solo exhibits in 2019 and 2020 of my coats in the Netherlands and Germany. Many of my pieces are shown in quilt shows and museums worldwide in group exhibits.
I like to take part in calls-for-entry, I find on the World Wide Web. These are calls for exhibitions. The artwork is juried. Sometimes there are prizes to win, sometimes it’s only a ribbon.
I also teach workshops in the techniques I use. We work in small groups, the sewing machines are ready and waiting. On request I teach on location too. I am looking into teaching online, as travelling is not an option now.
What’s the best place for our readers to find and/or contact you?
How-to Recommend Another Unique Artist
Being able to showcase unique artists like Marijke is one of the best parts of being Princess YellowBelly Designs. We love discovering new artists, learning about their techniques, and getting to experience their amazing works of art. If you know of someone – or are someone – who practices a unique form of fabric art, please use the form below to let us know!
When some one searches for his required thing, therefore he/she needs to be available
that in detail, thus that thing is maintained over here.
Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems
as though you relied on the video to make your point.
You obviously know what youre talking about, why waste your intelligence on just posting videos to your site when you could be giving us something enlightening to read?