"I promise to get to know you", I silently spoke to the overflowing box of offcuts spilling out onto the floor around me, my hands dug deep into the tangle of fibres.
Not that you need to be concerned about the fact that I appear not just to be speaking to--but actually reflecting on the emotional capacity of--entirely inanimate objects. You don't.
It's a promise that matters, not least because the whole reason I keep these offcuts (yes, every inch trimmed off every plant hanger, tapestry, bag, earring -- you name it) is in the name of sustainability and keeping pacie grews a zero waste business.
While, in the short (okay fine medium) term that results in ridiculous collections of scrap fibre boxes littering my house and workspace, it means the most wholesome of things in the long term.
It means mindfully selecting the perfect shade of chartreuse that ties the whole piece together, where otherwise that piece of cord would be "waste".
It means consciously flipping the perspective of what qualifies as waste, and turning it into something functional and beautiful and meaningful.
It means reminding myself, daily, of the morbid reality that everything we throw away and think "away" means gone but it actually means festering in a landfill somewhere and poisoning the earth.
It means making the delicious, anticapitalist decision to really reeeeally fucking slowly select fibres from a disorganised box of scraps to make the perfect tassel. Orwrapping knot. Or giant technicolour wall hanging.
'The Ever After', as I've named her, is a piece to remind you of all that, whilst also reminding you of those badass unicorn warrior mermaid vibes that you just KNOW you are gonna embody in 2023.
Hung on a lush length of mahogany, she measures 92cm wide and 72cm long at its lengthiest point.