Crochet As An Addictive Art Form

The most recent meeting of "Layers", my small art quilt group, led us on a field trip to The Wayne Arts Center in Wayne, PA to see a calligraphy exhibit, called "The Artful Letter". It definitely was not your wedding invitation type calligraphy. Many of the pieces were truly works of art, taking a quote, handlettering it and then somehow enhancing it with a drawing/painting.

The big surprise was when we walked down the hallway to get to the next gallery. There was a dinner table set with everything crocheted. And when I say everything crocheted, I mean everything. (Click on it to enlarge it.)
We all stood there with our mouths open. It was quite a sight. Then there came the identification. First it was, oh look, the utensils are crocheted with metallic yarn. Then, look it's a hamburger with fries. Chocolate cookies, 2 eggs sunny side up with bacon .....and orange juice. Lasagna, pancakes, a half peeled banana. It was crazy. There was a green tossed salad, ice cream sundae, a piece of layer cake. It was such fun as each new item was identified.

Behind us were a few lucite display cases with more items. My favorite was the Thanksgiving turkey. I can't tell you why this exhibit intrigued me. But it was one discovery after another. Even though I haven't crocheted since I was a kid, I can imagine, perhaps, making a crocheted lemon. Then saying, that was fun and pretty easy, how about if I try creating an apple, then a banana and on and on until I was creating a Thanksgiving turkey! I could see it being addictive. I guess that is what is so intriguing to me. (I even brought a non-quilting friend back the next day and she was equally enthralled.)

The creator of this display is Joy Kampia O'Shell. Check out her website if you want to see more of her work.