local markets :: perdi o fio à meada

hello my friends, how are you? oh my, today i feel that my life has been turned upside down this week… i have so much to tell you, so much i want to share, so much to do and have no time to do all these things… because wherever i turn to, there is something else calling me with an emergency tone on the “voice”. of course, that i can always think that this is a good thing, because it is a fabulous thing, on the other, i feel that i need to understand more about organization and stress management, because this way i will get to a point in which i will lose myself! ok, now that i have at least shared this with you, let’s move on to the usual story on tuesdays… the {local markets}! this feature has been here for one year already… i still need to find some time to have some sort of celebration, and this exact feature has been one of the greatest ones here on the blog. why? because as this one is fully dedicated to portuguese artists, designers & photographers out there, with an independent business going on, even if you live outside the country… this has been a great way to actually connect with talented folks around here. and as i have been present in some craft fairs, has given me the opportunity to actually meet some of the guests on the blog.

and if you are a blogger and have had the chance to meet a reader, or a guest, or someone you admire that knows your blog… you will relate to this amazing feeling. the greatest thing above all is when you meet and connect instantly with that person! we all know that through email we can be really nice people, but it will always be different when that person is in front of us! well, enough with the chit-chat and let’s move on! i just wanted to tell you that i met this lady two weeks ago and we talked for quite a while, connected right away and she is the honored guest of today… ladies and gentlemen… exactly the way i feel this week (this is something only portuguese will understand!)… {perdi o fio à meada}.

can you tell us something about yourself? i was born in lisbon, 37 years ago. i work full time as a graphic designer at a book publisher and i dedicate my spare time to this project. i appreciate traditional techniques, and i believe that it can perpetuate embedded in our contemporary life.

how did {perdi o fio à meada} start? i learned to crochet with my grandmother during my early school years, i was 8 or 9 years old. it was a way to entertain myself after school. since then i always liked to crochet and knitting. in 2005, after having won an honorable mention in a portuguese contest, in the category “contemporary jewellery” with a collection i had made for myself, i decided to continue and create more accessories and contacted a store to see their commercial viability.

what inspires you? i have no doubt that my first inspiration source comes from childhood, from the contact i had with my two grandmothers, who did everything by hand. the delicate work of crochet from my grandmother leonilda, with whom i learned to crochet, still the higher source of inspiration, and my other grandmother idalina, who was a seamstress. for me, creativity is a continuous process. is very important to be receptive to new experiences from our everyday life. our work must reflect our life and experiences to be authentic.

what advice can you give for those small business owners in our country? do not forget that a handmade work, requires a lot of dedicated time, everyday, and that also have a few disadvantages when becoming a serious business. we must be prepared for the time and money we invest, often the return does not seem fair, we really have to work hard and not give up easily. the most important thing is to believe in our work because things don’t fall from the sky, we must be good at what we do, and from personal experience we can make our own luck.

what do you think would be helpful for small business owners in our country? the government should truly support small business owners like me, giving more value to those who promote the traditional art of portuguese culture. at the moment there are no good conditions in our country for people choose to live from handmade work, the taxes we pay for everything are very high, it is difficult to suport a little business like that. unfortunately everyone has to find its own solutions according to the project itself.

vera is the name of the lady behind this amazing and delicate project called {perdio o fio à meada}…. which in english means (and now i will translate it for you!) something like “i completely lost track of things!”, now you get the idea i was telling you about, right? i met her and her husband on the craft fair on lx factory two weeks ago and they were so nice! we talked about how we should look into craft fairs, instead of a mean of making money. because most of the times, the number we bring home, will not meet our expectations! and yes, we need to keep our hard work, in order to pursue success! it was an inspirational conversation with both of them, as well as this interview! you can keep up with her work on the {blog}, {shop}, {flickr} and {facebook}!

images: vera joão espinha for perdi o fio à meada (click on each image for further details)

what is {local markets}? a community dedicated to the very best portuguese talented & independent artists that strive for an original work and exquisitely executed handmade design & photography. once a week, there will be a special feature for these artists, to spread the word about their talent, to introduce you to new & fresh work. {local markets} is an original feature from {a place for twiggs}.