Interview Tuesday: January One
Hello, friends, Tara here. Before we get started today, I wanted to thank you all for the fantasic feedback on last week’s interview. I’m so glad you enjoyed it! This week I was excited to interview Cara of January One: photographer, knitter and spinner extraordinare. I discovered Cara’s blog a little over a year ago and was immediately captivated by her gorgeous photography and honest, funny writing. In the knit-blog world, where so many choose to keep their private life quiet and only discuss their current projects, the openness of January One is refreshing and appealing. Her photography continually inspires me to improve my own skills and, I have to admit, every time Cara starts a blanket, I start searching for (yet more) yarn for my own blanket projects.
Cara has been blogging for about 2 ½
years and in that time has become adept at inspiring community amongst fiber artists.
Her Jaywalker Knitalong inspired 174 people to knit (and finish) the wonderful socks (yes, me
too) and the spinning meet-up she organized, Spin Out, raised $18,936 for Heifer International. You can read an article she wrote for
KnittySpin on Spin Out, here.
When she’s not knitting, spinning or
organizing other fiber artists, Cara has her own photography business, where she specializes
in candid portraits of children. Her photography portfolios can be found at http://www.cdcphotography.com and http://botanica.cdcphotography.com.
What prompted the beginning of your blog?
I met my first real life knitting friend and she had a knitting blog. It was really my first introduction to blogs. I decided to start one because I wanted a catalog of all my projects and I thought it would
be a good way to keep track of everything with pictures and commentary. It’s turned into much more than that.
Do you consider yourself an artist?
Yes. I guess. I don’t think of myself
that way – or at least I don’t label myself that way – and I’m honestly not
sure why. When I was regularly writing
fiction, I definitely thought of myself as a writer – but not really an
artist. With the photography – it’s a
lot different. I don’t have any formal
training as a photographer (not that you need formal training to be an artist)
and I’ve often felt like a fraud, so maybe that stops me from giving myself the
artist label. I have to say, in terms of
knitting, there are certain projects that definitely make feel like an
artist. Specifically the blankets I’ve
been thinking about knitting and have knit. I see them like a canvas where I can throw color around. This satisfies my more traditional views of
“artist.”
When you think about what you do,
which comes first: writer, photographer, knitter, spinner?
LOL – depends on what I’ve done the most of
that day. Really, though, most days I’d
love to call myself a knitter because that’s probably what I’d rather be doing. If someone asks me what I do, I say I’m a
photographer. But deep in my heart I
want to be a writer. I’m not writing
fiction the way I used to when I called myself a writer. My “job” is photography. That’s what I get paid for. I have said, though, that if someone told me
I’d never write again, it would devastate me. If someone told me I would never take another photograph – it would be
sad for me, but I don’t think I would be devastated. More and more, if someone told me I’d never
knit again – I’d be devastated. It would
be a huge loss in my life.
Who or what are your major
influences and inspirations in your writing?
Someone who I take a lot of inspiration from
is Wright Morris. He was a writer and photographer and often
peppered his fiction with his photographs. I would love to do that. If
somehow I could throw the fiber arts into that too – well, I’d be in
heaven.
Who or what are your major
influences and inspirations in your photography?
In a strange way, I’m not a student
of photography. Maybe because I’ve never
had any formal training or came late to the medium, I don’t have a stable of
photographers I look to for inspiration the way I do with my writing. I could pull twenty authors out of my hat and
tell you how they’ve changed the way I write. I can’t do that with photography. The photographs I’m most drawn to are the pictures that tell a
story. I always want to tell a
story. In my own work, I think that
story can be found in the candid nature of the children’s portraits in which I
specialize. I’m looking for the essence
of the child – the story behind the child’s eyes – the moment that says who
they are or what they’re about, as opposed to a record of what they looked like
when they were 6 months, a year, two years. In my personal work, I look for the inside out of a picture – a flower,
yarn – again, the fundamental nature of the object. When I wrote short stories (which some day I
hope to go back to) I always started with the spirit of what a story needed to
be.
Who or what are your major
influences and inspirations in your knitting?
Lately quilt artists have had a lot
of influence on me: The Gee’sBend
quilts are stunning in their design and color-sense. Nancy Crow blows my mind. I find the idea of a broad canvas – like a knitted blanket or quilt – is
an open invitation to creativity. The
women of Mason-Dixon Knitting,
Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne, have had a lot of influence on me. I’ve been lucky enough to have had lots of
conversations with Kay about color and construction and she’s my guru. Tina Newton, the genius behind Blue Moon
Fiber Arts,
has a way with color that makes my heart swoon. She’s been a source of fantastic inspiration.
Do you feel blogging has an impact
on your creativity? Why or why not?
Absolutely! Before I started blogging I was knitting acrylic
blankets. I had some Harmony Stitch
Guides I found in a big bookstore chain and I was knitting these blankets in a
vacuum. Since I started blogging, I’ve
grown exponentially in terms of my knitting skills, aesthetic, appreciation,
love. I’ve done things with two sticks
and some string that I’d never have anticipated had I not started
blogging. It’s truly changed my life. And spinning? I’m absolutely postitive I would NOT be spinning had I not started
blogging.
While my blogging has had the greatest
impact on my knitting, it’s also affected my other artistic endeavors. I’m writing much more than I was before I was
blogging. Although it’s a different kind
of writing than I’m used to, it’s still writing and I’m proud of it. I’m also taking photographs of my knitting
and fiber and exploring color like I haven’t before.
How does the physical landscape of your neighborhood (in New Jersey) impact your work?
The landscape has certainly impacted my photography. I’ve spent many hours walking around where I
live photographing flowers – some wild, but mostly from neighborhood
gardens. The view where I live is wide
open and great to get lost in. I often
stand at the window and look out at the big sky; at sunset, during the day, in
the rain, and let my mind wander. I live
in a very urban, industrial setting, but my view is otherworldly for sure.
How has being a blogger impacted
your writing life?
It’s got me writing again. Period. I’m not writing fiction, but I feel compelled to write something every
day and it’s a good feeling. It’s a
great mental exercise – it’s keeping my brain limber for the day when,
hopefully, I’ll go back to fiction.
Has being involved in the crafty
blogging community impacted your work as a photographer, the things you
photograph or the way you shoot?
Of course! I take pictures all the time for the blog – some of them I’m incredibly
proud of – some are more like snapshots, but I’m shooting. Just the way I’m writing all the time, I’m
shooting all the time and that can’t be bad. The more work you do, the better you get – that goes for everything in
life. Blogging, I guess, is my favorite
form of exercise.
Thanks again, Cara, for the interview! Reading about how Cara combines her many artistic endevours has encouraged me to continue to search for way to enmesh my own. How does everyone else balance the many media/subject matter that interests them?
Thank you Cara and Tara! I really enjoyed this.
Posted by: nyjlm | March 31, 2007 at 03:11 PM
Love this site. I'm looking forward to discovering and catching up.
Posted by: Vicki | March 28, 2007 at 10:46 AM
How did I miss that picture of the big sky and the little city? (Must have been SKIMMING.) I never saw it before and I think it's my favorite Cara photo ever. Love this interview format. Good going! xox Kay
Posted by: Kay | March 28, 2007 at 01:19 AM
Great interview. I love Cara's blog and found her thoughts on why she blogs and what it does for her really inspiring - and familiar.
Posted by: Bells | March 27, 2007 at 11:43 PM
Thank you so much for the opportunity! I really enjoyed myself!
Posted by: Cara | March 27, 2007 at 06:49 PM
What a joy to read! great questions and responses Tara and Cara! :)
Posted by: Lolly | March 27, 2007 at 06:02 PM