JOIN USArt and love are the same thing. It’s the process of seeing yourself in things that are not you,” said American author Chuck Klosterman.
This is what art is to Yogita. Arranging colourful threads beautifully on wooden hoops, her interest lies in making ‘string art’ and ‘dream catchers’.
Her house is a colourful garden of gracefully arranged bright wooden hoops that give a pleasant surprise to your eyes. It is bright with colours during the day and glowing with soothing lights during the night. The place is decorated with string art pieces and also has fascinating traditional dream catchers hanging alongside. This is all arranged amidst an idol backed with a beautiful wall painting made by her husband Raghu, who is also creatively inclined.
String art is the process of arranging coloured threads around the wooden hoops in patterns that can make pleasing decorative pieces. Hanged or placed under the UV lights, these art pieces glow with spectacular colours.
String art, for Yogita, is her new-found love. Visiting Melbourne two years back, they came across these decorative art pieces. Having strings arranged in patterns, this art requires just woollen threads and wooden hoops. It becomes more interesting when placed under UV lights. “I developed this hobby after visiting Melbourne. My husband and I visited many places there that had string art objects decorated all around. It interested both of us, and since then, we spend quality time doing these art pieces together,” she says.
Curious minds lead to new paths. This curiosity soon became her valued interest, which turned wooden hoops into colourful art works. It takes a minimum of two days to make one string art piece.
However, it can vary with the size and pattern. “Once we researched about this art, I came back to Bengaluru and decided to try it out. I went in search of the materials required and found them in a small fancy shop. Then both of us started experimenting with them and found it a stress-buster,’’ she says.
Yogita also makes unique dream catchers. These are traditional art pieces of Native America. Intended to protect one from negative dreams, they let positive dreams flow through them. Woollen threads are woven on the willow hoop as a loose net or web. They are then decorated with sacred items like feathers and beads. The Native Americans believed that only good dreams would be allowed to filter through the dream catchers. Bad dreams would stay in the net disappearing in the light of day. The good dreams would pass through and slide down the feather to the sleeper.
“Dream catchers portray a spiritual side of the art. They are the ones that are usually hung on a baby’s cradle to catch out dreadful dreams and send good vibes down the feather,” she says. “It follows a traditional way of making.
The way you knot the web is very important. If you miss a single loop, the dream catcher will be messed up,” she informs. Expressing creativity through this unique art form, she says that this hobby has been a getaway from the daily chaos. “Hobby is a licence to chill,” she adds. It is a way out of the busy schedule and a means of relaxation.“We chill out through this art. It is a total stress-buster,” concludes Yogita.