Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Haley Harnagel. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Haley thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I love this question because I am almost exclusively self-taught. I started with macrame because of a Pinterest post. I watched a couple of videos online and then just jumped in. Macrame led to macraweave which led to weaving which led to recycling fiber and spinning yarn. If I had stuck with learning more in one medium before moving to the next I believe it would have sped up my process, but by jumping around I developed my style that might not have happened the same if I had stayed put.

The most essential skill in macrame is the square knot, hands down. If you understand the square knot you can learn all the rest easily. Weaving’s essential skill is tension. If you don’t have the tension right in a woven tapestry, all your hard work can be spoiled when taken off the loom. It’s important to be aware of the essential skills, but practice is really the only thing that will help you develop and fully understand them.

I would say that the biggest obstacle to learning more is myself. I live in an area that has a vast fiber arts community and collective knowledge. I didn’t get involved in those communities until more recently and I wish I had set aside my own nerves to join sooner.

Haley, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hello, I’m Haley Harnagel, a fiber artist based in the Minneapolis metro area. I work on all types of fiber arts- weaving, macrame, embroidery, punch needle, and needle felting. My primary focus is bold, quirky woven tapestries that often incorporate other fiber mediums. I like to say I make the perfect art for every home gallery wall. If you are looking for whimsical, textured pieces to add texture with all of your other art there is definitely something for everybody in my work.

I started fiber arts as a hobby in 2018 with macrame. I was in a phase of trying all the art mediums and kept bouncing from one to the other. Once I tried fiber art it was immediately my medium. I started with macrame but quickly moved to macraweave to weaving, to finding ways to learn new skills and mash them together into one thing. I shifted my art from a hobby to a business in 2021 after I had completed a 100-day challenge where I completed 50 mini weavings in 100 days. Once that challenge was complete, I launched a website, entered my works into my first gallery exhibition, and showcased in my first art fair. Since then I have completed a large-scale community art installation, taught my medium as a teaching artist at several local non-profits, hosted a fiber art retreat, and spent a couple of summers doing the art fair circuit around my metro area.

I am most proud of the growth of my art. It has taken time but I am incredibly fortunate to call myself a full-time artist. This lifestyle allows me to stay home with my daughter and do work I enjoy. My art business gives me the chance to be flexible and invite my family into my workspace. I do every aspect of my business. Which, right now that is between the hours of 8 pm to midnight. Someday I may be able to give it hours during the daylight, until then I will keep creating and putting myself out there. I’m looking forward to seeing how my work grows further,

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I would say support is as easy as showing up. Show up to art fairs, gallery exhibitions, and pop-ups. If you see art that makes you feel something on social media, tell the artist, interact with their posts, and send good energy their way.

Taking it a step further, make purchases from artists. When you need decor for your home or a gift for a friend, purchase it from the creative community instead of a large box store. It is so simple to drive to the store or jump online for next-day delivery, but buying from artists assists them directly. It may take more time to get what you are looking for, but at the end of the day, it means more than you could know to the creative community.

The most important thing we can all do to support a thriving creative ecosystem is to allow space for it to happen. Allow creative people to be creative and understand they are providing an important service to the community.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

The biggest lesson I have had to unlearn is that artists are in direct competition with each other. My art journey started with performing arts at a young age. Auditions and competitions always felt like it was me against the other people in the room, and most times it was. I went to a performing arts college where we were always up against our peers for roles. It was very cutthroat.

Moving from performing arts to visual arts I realized visual arts has a very different environment. We are still put up against each other for gallery exhibitions and art fairs, due to limited space, but just because somebody gets selected and I don’t doesn’t mean either person is better or worse. It just means there isn’t enough space and there are preferences at play. I have learned that other people’s success and opportunities do not diminish or limit my success or opportunities. There is room for all of us in this artistic space. The more we support each other, and cheer on the accomplishments of all, the better we are.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lifeafteraverage.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifeafteraverage/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lifeafteraverage