By Claire Gunning
Theme Editor
Mira Costa art teacher Valerie Park has expanded her already-extensive knowledge about art by learning how to weave yarn herself.
Park has been weaving and selling her artwork through her online shop on etsy.com since Jan 2015 when she won a raffle for a weaving workshop and found a new passion in weaving.
“The first time I saw weavings, I thought they were so cool, and I knew that I wanted to get involved,” Park said. “It was such a different concept that I had never dealt with before.”
She found that a way to amplify her hobby would be to sell it. She sells to a wide variety of customers that come from all over the world. Park has thus far sold six of her weaving pieces online.
“I think it’s really important for teachers to have a psssion outside of school,” Costa English teacher Stacy Cabrera said. “The fact that Park does weaving is really interesting because most art is usually just painting and drawing.”
Park currently has seven weavings for sale on her Etsy page, which is a website for vendors to sell their work to people all over the world. People can buy a premade weaving or request a customized weaving.
“When I sell on Etsy, I communicate with my customers to figure out what they want ,specifically for their personalized weavings,” Park said. “I try to cater to what they ask me as best as I can. They have all been satisfied.”
When starting a piece, Park first tries to come up with a design. She then decides on a yarn texture and color to go with her piece, and that usually dictates the ending design.
“The hardest part about weaving is finding a design, but once you have an idea, it can go anywhere you want it to,” Park said. “I love the freedom weaving gives me to create whatever I want.”
Park personalizes her weavings by finding her client’s favorite colors and hobbies and using that as an inspiration.
“I have grown an unhealthy obsession to all of the types of yarns,” Park said. “I love how there are so many options that allow me to create different weavings everytime I pick up a certain yarn.”
According to Park, the best part about weaving is all of the different types of yarn that she can work with. She works with a wool blend and malabrigo wool to make either personalized or original creations.
“Most of the time the process happens organically, and I make decisions while I’m weaving,” Park said. “Even though I sketch a design, I do not usually stick with it, which makes the weavings all different.”
Currently, Park is working on an all-teacher art show at Costa. Two of her weavings are featured in this show.
“I’m excited to see how this art show plays out because I have so many talented colleagues.”
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