Interview with environmental artist and author, Carol Stangler
Environmental artist Carol Stangler first encountered bamboo in the late 1980’s while gathering kudzu vines for her basketry art. She was impressed by bamboo’s tall woody stems, and enchanted by its exotic, graceful character. Determined to bring bamboo into her art, she wrote grants and was awarded funding to experiment with the giant grass. Serendipitously, she was invited to travel in Japan for three weeks. She returned to her Atlanta home inspired, and began constructing bamboo containers, fences, and screens.
After a decade of experimentation and building with bamboo, Stangler approached Lark Books about publishing a book on crafting with bamboo. Her subsequent book The Craft and Art of Bamboo, published in 200l, brings an accessible, contemporary approach to bamboo for Western homes and gardens.
Carol Stangler teaches bamboo workshops and gives bamboo crafting demonstrations throughout the country. She is an instructor in the Textile Department at Georgia State University’s School of Art and Design, and an Artist-in-Residence with the Fulton County Arts Council’s School Arts Program in Atlanta. She lives and maintains a studio in Asheville, North Carolina.
Before I start, I want to thank you for granting this interview for the emilycompost.com site. I appreciate it and I know that you will bring new thoughts to gardening. It is my pleasure to interview Carol Stangler. This interview was conducted by e-mail around Ms Stangler's busy schedule.
What background do you have that is helpful for your work?
I come from a big family - my mother was a master homemaker. She taught me to sew, which taught me to plan, put things together, and pay attention to detail. My dad owned a nursery and landscaping service, so I spent most of my growing up time outdoors, surrounded by green and growing things. These experiences led me to a career in creating environment art.
Why have you settled on bamboo as a medium to work with?
I've been enchanted with, and have been working with bamboo since the late 1980's. I've spent most of my artistic career weaving vines and other natural materials into vessels and sculptures. Since bamboo is so different, it challenges me. I have to work with saws and tools instead of the simple clippers I used when weaving. Bamboo fascinates me too. Each piece is so unique and beautiful, it holds so many artistic possibilities.
Do you feel knowledge of gardening has helped you?
Experiencing the seasons and cycles of plants in my own garden has helped me understand the complexity of bamboo and how it grows.
Can anyone enjoy and achieve skills for bamboo art?
Sure! At the very least, you can get a pole, stick it in the ground, and use it as a plant support! To really enjoy the craft, you need just a few specific tools and techniques. Then what you create depends upon your imagination and your time!
Who has most influenced your art direction?
Japanese artists, known and unknown, traditional and contemporary, inspire me. To me, Japanese fences, baskets, and crafts are beautiful in their minimalism. The designs highlight the essence of the bamboo itself.
Where are you most comfortable creating, and why?
I work outdoors for the most part, on my worktable under my shed, or laying out poles on my flat cement driveway. Both are close to my supply of bamboo poles, so when I'm designing a project, the varieties of shapes, colors and diameters are right there to inspire me.
What would you like to be doing differently with your bamboo artwork?
I have in mind a series of split bamboo window blinds that are woven on a simple Japanese weighted bobbin loom. They will be very textural and accented with colored warp threads. I'm looking forward to beginning soon.
Where do you obtain your resources?
I get most of my bamboo from people who want to give it away! And once a year, I participate with the Southeast Chapter of the American Bamboo Society in the maintenance of a 90-year old moso grove in South Carolina. The dying culms that are cut out go to those who work all day. I've gotten some really nice 3-4" diameter poles there.
Do you have any hints that you can share when working with bamboo?
Get a good bamboo saw and work surface. Start with simple projects that give you practice in cutting and design.
Being a visual person and skilled in carpentry, how did you successfully write your book?
Hold it! I'm not skilled in carpentry!! I learned to use tools as I went along, and still feel like I have a lot to learn. Yes, I am a visual person, and that's how the book came together: I had a strong vision in my mind of what the book should be, how it would invite the reader to see bamboo's beauty and potential. With tremendously hard work and discipline, plus a talented staff at Lark Books, the book materialized.
Where do you get your inspiration for bamboo projects?
From the bamboo itself. A curved piece may inspire me to make an arbor. A stout length might inspire a set of drinking cups. I use the bamboo I have on hand. I always have more ideas than I could possibly implement.
What are some of the most interesting facts about bamboo that you think others would like to know?
An amazing fact is that most of the bamboo we see growing has been brought over here from the Orient since the 1880's; only one variety is native to North America. That variety, Arundinaria gigantea, is what the Cherokees, Creeks and other native people of the Southeastern US call "Rivercane." Rivercane was indispensable to the survival and development of the native people since 11,000 BC, when it was used as spear shafts to hunt wooly mammoths. Studying the cultural history of our native bamboo is fascinating.
Is there any personal message you would like to share with the e-audience?
Bamboo is a wonderful, rapidly renewable resource. Explore and enjoy it!
Visit Carol Stangler's site at www.CraftandArtofBamboo.com