2024-04-26 16:48:43
Silk came unexpectedly into Jolita’s life 15 years ago. Since she was young, she was inclined to various handicrafts, and as a ten-year-old elementary school girl, she used to decorate her dolls from head to toe with clothes she had knitted herself. Later, she was happy to be able to knit herself a stylish outfit, when the selection in stores was extremely poor. Since knitting, crocheting, and embroidery were easy to do and she climbed the stairs, the girl from Panevėžys chose her profession according to her inclinations – she became a teacher of chemistry and technology.
After her studies, it so happened that she had to work as a chemistry teacher and only after some time she received an offer for a few technology lessons at the Vilnius Waldorf School. It was here during a community festival that he saw people painting on silk, where he painted his first silk scarf. This is how the magic of this special substance was captured. The very next day, Jolita went to buy paints, brushes and sticks for the frames. The man drilled the holes and the woman excitedly stretched the first silk. It is true that she started painting by placing the frames on the backs of the armchairs, because she did not have a large table in the cramped one-room apartment.
At that time, Jolita’s life was going through a difficult period, and in search of spiritual support, she attended yoga. Little by little, my inner feeling and attitude to the activity began to change: I gained the courage to try to do what attracted me the most – painting on silk. At first, he did it the way he knew how – by redrawing the images he liked, but eventually he started looking for teachers who could share his experience, teach him new methods and various tricks of this craft.
Thus, painting on silk became an integral part of life, a passionate hobby that took up more and more attention and time, and as skills and competences grew, they wanted to be shared. There was an opportunity to realize this – to conduct courses for women at an adult training center where Jolita was working at the time. The interest was high, there were many people who wanted to attend, and for some women it became a long-term leisure activity: they not only created, became, but also participated in various events, exhibitions, and fairs.
Determined to take an important step
Women were very involved in this creative activity, they admired it, which encouraged Jolita to improve, to search for new painting techniques. This is how the woman grew up as an independent artist and matured for the fateful step – to leave the budgetary institution, whose everyday life already restricted and oppressed her creative personality. It took a lot of determination and courage, but with the support of relatives and friends, in August 2019, she rented premises and founded her studio “Jolita Silk”.
In her own studio, the artist continued to conduct silk painting courses, but she also had time to develop her creativity, and realized her works at various Lithuanian fairs – Sea Festivals, Capital Days, etc. The circle of customers has grown, the need to establish an electronic store has arisen.
Becoming an independent creator is both joy and freedom, but at the same time a great responsibility – how do you sustain yourself, how, after perfecting your technique, can you create your own, unique style?
“The most important thing is to listen to your heart, to feel where the soul leads,” says Jolita.
While doing creative work, the path of spiritual search did not disappear anywhere – on the contrary, it only went wider and led deeper. Finally, it led to what seemed to be the greatest contrast to the light, flowing silk – stone. This was influenced by Audronė Ilgevičienė’s books about stones, and later by visiting the homestead of ethnocosmological sacred structures in Ažušiliai. After learning about minerals and discovering their multifaceted effects on humans, the inspiration to transfer the beauty and power of minerals onto silk emerged – the idea was successfully implemented. This is how the original collection “Stones and Silk” was born.
Another extremely successful series of works, which the creator herself is very happy with, is “Lithuania from a bird’s eye view”. And the beginning was the author’s photo of pine trees in Juodkrante, the image of which was later transferred to a silk scarf. Later, he started looking for images of Lithuanian nature on the Internet, he especially liked to do them from the air, from a height perspective. Now, Jolita also draws inspiration from the photography book “Neregėta Lietuva” by Mariaus Jovaišas, whose amazing image variations lie in silk folds and capture the hearts of many customers.
The woman says that establishing herself as a unique artist is not only important for the originality of the depicted subjects or the variety of techniques, but also for the abundance of the models themselves: on the one hand, you want to keep looking for ways to realize the constantly emerging ideas, but on the other hand, the women themselves often express their wishes. So, starting with silk scarves and country paintings, now the range of works created by Jolita has grown significantly – original sleeves, tunics, dresses, suits have been created.
Such diversity is also made possible by the abundance of types of silk: from thin chiffon to stiff wild silk, reminiscent of Lithuanian linen. Many unexpected ideas have already been implemented, many creative challenges have been overcome, and now the most inspiring idea for the artist is to create a collection of silk dresses on the theme of minerals, which women could wear on various occasions.
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2024-04-26 16:48:43