Painted Bull -- Featured ArtFire Artisan

Today's Featured ArtFire Artisan is JJ, Walts, a.k.a. Painted Bull, from Blairsville, Georgia in the United States. She's an historian by education and a fiber artist with a particular interest in using spinning and weaving to create "primal expressions". These expressions include woven jewellery, scarves, rugs and other fiber art which she weaves on an Inkle loom (a special, narrow loom) using hemp yarn and waxed Irish linen thread, often incorporating fossils and stones (see her woven choker with ammonite fossil, above). She says:

I am fascinated with the historic aspect regarding art and culture. I utilize ancient fossils, stones and cultural artifacts within my pieces to weave a tale about the primeval stories of earth and the history of people and civilizations.

This is work with a great deal of thought behind its aesthetic -- it seems equally intellectual and passionately textural. I really like it. The necklace, above, is stunningly beautiful, and could be from many cultures or times. Here's JJ's evocative description of it:

Woven Hemp and Linen Necklace with Ostrich Shell Beads, Old Tribal Disc Trade Beads, Pen Shell Heishe Beads

This necklace is in honor of many cultures and traditional forms of adornment.
There are two linen threads, one in a dark rich red and the other a vivid turquoise, woven into a soft space-dyed hemp yarn that changes from white to silver gray to black. The end length of the necklace accented with African Ostrich Shell, and Old Tribal Disc Trade Beads, and natural brown Pen Shell Heishe Beads.

There are lots of places on the web where you can learn more about JJ and her art, and you can even purchase her work right through ArtFire and Etsy.

Painted Bull Blog
Painted Bull Website
Painted Bull ArtFire Studio
Painted Bull Etsy Shop