Akeen Kidder, The Yarn Art Guy | Fiberchats, Episode: 260
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- Опубліковано 8 лип 2024
- Akken Kidder, The Yarn Art Guy
I was born and raised in Montreal, Canada to a Jamaican father and French-Canadian mother. I graduated from Concordia University with a bachelor’s in engineering. Due to the rigid nature of the discipline and the creativity that was within me from a young age, I started to create a lot of art, mainly paintings.
In 2017, I found the medium that I loved working with the most: YARN. This medium spoke to me because I wanted to do something that was unique, vibrant, and engaging. Being able to literally touch and feel my artwork adds another dimension of connection between the art and the audience. The idea came to me while looking at the Starry Night by Van Gogh. Each brush stroke looked like a piece of material, so I tried to recreate it with yarn.
Thus began my journey.
My love of Disney is where I started creating pieces inspired by movies like Monsters Inc. and The Lion King. I began getting commissions from people looking for meaningful gifts which led me into making some portraits of people’s pets and other vibrant works.
In 2020, I wanted to challenge myself and decided to create my first portrait. Even as a painter, I struggled with faces, so when I finished my Biggie Smalls piece in Yarn, I knew I wanted to be the Yarn Art Guy.
The goal of my art is to inspire others to explore their creativity. I never thought I would be using yarn as my art medium of choice, but you don't know what might call to you until you give it a try.
I have a website: artwithanak.com where you can find my available artwork. I also take custom orders or through my instagram @YarnArtGuy where I am the most active in interacting with my community through displaying my work and making fun videos. - Навчання та стиль
Awesome video as always! Keep up the fiberchats!!!
Thank you Akeen & Irina for this entertaining and inspiring interview.🙏 Love what you do,Akeen and how you have incorporated your art into your life - using both sides of your brain.To create everyday and make beauty is a gift..for both you,the maker and the lucky recipient of your art .I wish you every success.Go well.🙏❤️👋🐨🌏xx
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for talking with me ! It was really a pleasure !
Thank you Akeen!
This was so intriguing! Akeen has such a fun personality and such great talent. I loved the footage at the end...you can see how he starts to create these images. Best of luck, Akeen in all of your future endeavors!
Thanks so much Pat!
I loved this interview!
Incredible
What an interesting Fiberchat! Thank you Irina for finding a talented artist who uses yarn in an unexpected way
It was so interesting to see those portraits in real life!
Hello from Swansea, Illinois.
Great interview Irina. Akeem is so creative. I’m sure his creativity helps him in his engineering too. Best of luck in your endeavors Akeem.
Thank you!
I adore Akeen Kidder's message, " BE CREATIVE ". I also quite like the idea of balance between the two sides of the brain. Irina, do you still work as an engineer also ?
Yes, yes, I am so willing to gift my small bits of yarn. He seems to be workint mailmy with worsted weight, right ? Where ... I could bring it to his art show in Montreal. Can I share this with my River City Yarn zoom knitting group ? How will the fiancé react to all this yarn getting in the house ? Thanks for all the visual of his work, it is fantastic.
Thanks, I try to meet him when he comes to Montreal. @@Fiberchats
He is amazing!!! ❤mom
You must be so proud! I agree, a beautiful soul
Very interesting! He’s talented. How did Vogue find out about him?
That’s a good question!