We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tina Bolt a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Tina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

Most meaningful piece I have made so far is a land quilt based off of a farm that had a big influence on my life, I ended up using the quilt as the backdrop for photos at our wedding last year and will eventually be our quilt for our bed. The backstory to the quilt is that in 2016 I worked on a farm in Entre Rios, Argentina. At the time there was a lot going on in my life and it was a wonderful respite to just clear my mind and reground. One day I had the job of harvesting the pecans and removing their shells. I started noticing my hands were becoming stained through the process. So that evening I decided to experiment and dye a shirt I had with me, the pecan skin created a beautiful brown on the shirt. I’m trying to not sound too corny but something inside of me just felt deeply connected to the process. I wanted to learn more about natural dyes and further my knowledge of textiles. Fast forward 7 years later I started more intentionally growing my small textile business and had always had the idea of making a quilt based off of an aerial shot of the farm. A friend of mine encouraged me to put it to action and have it ready by our wedding. So I did! This process of replicating a place or a person or a spot of land that is meaningful to an individual is really exciting to me. In the new year I’ll be offering custom quilts similar to this one. I haven’t landed on a name for the offering yet – I toyed with “memory quilt” but most people know memory quilts as ones that honor a person who has died, and usually includes pieces of their clothings. This will absolutely be an option in the custom quilt, but it’s something a little more than a memory quilt, it’s almost a time capsule or a way to honor the way a place or person made you feel. The offering (similar to most of my pieces) will be a mix of natural dyes and upcycled fabric. 

Tina, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m in my mid thirties and live in Oracle, AZ at Rancho Linda Vista artist community, a place that has greatly impacted my work and belief in creating as a career.

I think my connection to textiles has always sorta been there, but maybe just in the background. My great grandmother was a dutch immigrant to Grand Rapids, Michigan where she started and ran a curtain business. My grandma remembers her first kiss with my grandpa being in the living room surrounded by all sorts of fabric hanging to dry. She once told me “it felt like we were living in a fort in that apartment”. I love the imagery and playfulness of that.

Then as a kid my family and I lived abroad where I was surrounded by a beautiful landscape and intricate textile pieces… similar to my life now in Oracle. That time was influential in a lot of ways, but I don’t think I came to fully realize that until my 30’s. Seeing individuals work with their hands and create beautiful pieces as a way of life, monetarily but also just in sharing in community, really has impacted how I work and how I see myself progressing in my work. I want my pieces to have some soul – I hope for them to be functional as well as hold some memory for the receiver. I know it doesn’t have to be that deep with each piece, but I mean that more for my custom pieces.

I’m at a crossroads right now currently in my work. I had my first art show this year and it really inspired me in new ways. I’m starting to move away from some smaller pieces I made and would bust out for markets or shops, and focusing more on slightly larger scale and more intricate pieces. A few years ago I started offering a custom embroidered hat series that I called “water hats”. I would open up 10 spots each month and individuals would share a few photos with me of a place that was meaningful to them. The criteria was that the photo had to include water and it had to mean something to them. From there they would choose their hat, I told them which photo would work best for small scale embroidery, and if they felt comfortable they would share with me why they chose that spot. I found that having a story with the piece really helped the quality of the piece as well as the feel of it. Some of the stories I heard were light hearted and beautiful and some were really heavy and difficult – but all of them sort of had the theme of individuals being grateful for that specific water scene and the way it held them at a certain point in their life and how it made them feel. I have probably made 200 of those water series hats. So in the new year, I’ll be offering a few spots for custom quilted pieces which will have a similar flavor as the water hats. Individuals will have the options of sharing a few photos of a place or a person, and from there we will build out the quilt together. It will be a mix of naturally dyed fabric and found fabric. Likely I’ll stick to offering just 4 spots for the entire year… so that there’s enough space and time for me to create my other pieces as well as juggle childcare for our 2 year old between my partner and I.

I think what I want potential clients/followers/fans to know about me and my work/brand is that I create high quality, sustainable pieces that capture story telling in a visual outcome. This element of story is really important to me and I really enjoy hearing these bits and pieces from individuals to create a piece that represents their place or their person.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The idea of having my daughter, Phae, witness the work I do and the way I do it is really rewarding. Running your own business and creating for a living takes a lot of stamina and ability to be resourceful, especially if you are committed to sustainable practices as well as meaningful outcomes. I feel honored to work in this field each day, and as I get older I find that the skills I learn from this work are bountiful. She’s only 2 right now, but she takes in a lot. I hope I’m able to show her and process with her the many ways she can take her life, and the importance of being true to yourself in the work you do… no matter what kind of work she decides to do. So I guess the most rewarding part is I feel like I have the space to get to know myself better and better as I show up for this work, and I think Phae can feel that from me.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I read the book “Big Magic” and really loved the way she talks about creative work. I also (like many people) read The Artists Way — and to be honest I rolled my eyes at it A LOT at first! I even took the book with me to that farm in Argentina and I tried reading it so many times, and ultimately decided to just leave it there. I actually read it a few years later and I really held on to this one statement the author said, “you can do one thing for your creative work every single day. It doesn’t have to be big, it can be as simple as cleaning your paint brushes and that’s it. But there is one thing you can do every single day if you pay attention.” I’m paraphrasing there but something like that and that has helped me so much in this last year as I took the full dive in to creating as my career.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tina-eva-bolt.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/studio.bolt/

Image Credits

Andrea Koesters
and myself