We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Krissy M a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Krissy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?
I am someone who thrives on structure, having a social life and feeling like a contributor. I spent majority of my working life in an office building where I got that every day. But now I am mainly by myself, managing my home, my art and my son.
I do sometimes wonder what it would be like to have a regular job again. But I’m also in the unique position of having last had a job before the pandemic, in a completely different city, so I don’t actually know what the working life is like where I am now. And as much as I am flying solo majority of the time, I relish being able to keep my own schedule and explore the things I want to do rather than what I need to do. I believe I have the best of both worlds right now.
I adore being an artist. I get to exercise my creative muscles every day, making pieces that take shape in my mind. I make my own hours, work on projects I find exciting, and learn new techniques and skills all the time. I get to do that while managing my house and taking care of my son – both of which are careers on their own. So I do have regular work that I need to get done, but I have the luxury of being able to do it at my own pace.
So am I happy? Yes! I get to do what I have always wanted to do, without the stress of actually having to make a living. It is an incredible privilege and I am soaking up every moment of it for as long as I can.
Krissy, 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?
Well, first, I would like to say thank you. Thank you to CanvasRebel for believing in my work enough to feature me again and thank you to you, reader, for giving this feature a read. It means a lot that you have taken the time to read about me!
My name is Krissy and I am a self-taught macrame artist, instructor and enthusiast. I love working with cord and fiber to create beautiful works of art or practical everyday items. I love trying to reverse engineer other people’s work, just so I can figure out how they created something so interesting. And I love learning new techniques and using new materials to create something truly novel. All that to say, I’m a massive cord dork!
I started my macrame journey back in 2020 and since then have created multiple pieces that now live all across the continent. While I make everything from wall hangings to bags, my speciality is mandalas. I have made some beautiful, multicolored mandalas that are almost bigger than me! I am also currently exploring the many other pieces I can learn to craft and am expanding my skillset every day.
Another role I have taken on is being a macrame instructor. Both virtually and in-person now, I teach students around the country how to make macrame items such as coasters, wall hangings and plant hangers. These classes give them the foundational knowledge to go out and make more macrame items themselves. And getting to chat with others about their own crafts while we enjoy some macrame together is a beautiful bonus.
I pride myself in having a great eye for detail and making sure everything is perfect in each one of my pieces. They are a true labor of love and it makes me feel so humbled that people enjoy my work. My pieces are meant to work within your home, either as a bold statement or customized to match your own decor.
My work is also sustainably made, which is something I am extremely proud of. The cord I use is all 100% recycled which means it does have imperfections, but that also gives it uniqueness. I also source packaging materials that are either 100% recycled or reused. I do not need to create more waste for the sake of perfect packaging with my branding on it.
I pour my heart into every piece I make and it gives me so much peace to create a little something beautiful to add to this world. Exploring my artistic whims is a practice that I love and it is a privilege that I try to honor every day. A Knot Story is my journey of learning this craft and everything beautiful that comes with it.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
Society where I live has become very consumed by fast media – TikTok and Instagram. We expect everything to be quick and easy – recipes, artwork, kids activities and more. We need it that way because our lives are so hectic and filled with things to do that the quick things are what intrigue us. We’re all trying to find ways to catch a break by going faster somehow.
Art and the art world do not thrive in a fast world. Art is about time, dedication and a practice in patience. This fundamentally clashes with how quick the regular world is trying to move. So society assumes that art moves the same way – incredibly quickly and very easily – otherwise why would artists do it?
The truth is that everything you see on TikTok or Instagram from the art world has taken hours and hours of work by that artist. Whether it be learning how to do their craft, actually crafting that specific piece or the photoshoot and editing that happens to make it pop on social media. What you see is 1/1000th of the work that actually went into it.
Artists work so hard to put their work out there and social media does not reward them for it. They have to fight tooth and nail to stroke the algorithm’s ego just right in order to show up on people’s newsfeeds. So when you see something on social media and you like it, physically hit that like button. Leave a comment showing support. Follow that artist. Check out their website. Order something if you can do so. All of that works wonders for supporting artists.
Oh and to create a thriving creative ecosystem? Support your artistic friends on your own creative platform. Compliment your fellow artists when they put out something incredible. It might not feel like much to you, but it could mean the world to that person and your support could help them reach buying customers who might not otherwise have found them!
Showing up for your artist friends, whether that be online or in-person, does wonders in uplifting and empowering them. Every little drop of support goes into that creative tank and helps something beautiful grow even stronger.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
I am a perfectionist. Symmetry is my jam. Rows and rows of knots that look identical gives me goosebumps. I like my art perfect. I will spend hours trying to get a piece to look absolutely perfect before it can go public.
Striving for perfection in every piece comes with a cost. Hours of work can go into something that literally no one else can see. The stress in trying to achieve “perfection” come at a health cost. My wanting to complete a piece wanes if I realize it won’t be completely perfect.
Perfection has a place in art, but it should not dominate it. There is art in imperfections. Imperfections are actually what make art interesting, just as they do in people. Learning to accept that imperfections are good was a hard lesson for me to unlearn.
I remember there was one piece where I could not get the symmetry to work. I threw everything I had at it and it still just would not look how I wanted. Out of frustration, I left it on my rack for days and did not touch it. But as I passed by it every day, I started to appreciate how it looked. The things that once bothered me became the things I was most intrigued by. That’s when I realized that striving for perfection was causing me to lose sight of the big picture (ironically). I was confusing precision with perfection.
I still love symmetry in my pieces, but I am also actively working on pieces that do not have any. I willingly picking out materials that have imperfections because they intrigue me. I make knots that are not identical to create something new. I now embrace ways to make my art less precise but just as perfect as they were before.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.aknotstory.com
- Instagram: @aknotstory
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/aknotstory