“Whee, I’ve Broken Free of Euclidean Geometry!” SPOTLIGHT on Evelyn Hardin

As this blog is intended not only to highlight the many Satellite Reefs around the world but to introduce you to some of the talented “Reefers” behind the crochet coral, today’s entry concerns a devoted and ever-surprising Texan crafter, Evelyn Hardin. Since first learning of the Reef through an announcement in a science magazine, Evelyn has faithfully contributed countless inspired creations to the Core Collection.

Evelyn’s home in Cedar Hill, TX provides her with both the quiet needed to focus on her craft, as well as plenty of wide-open views that give her space for her creativity to flourish:

I usually have a nice breeze goin' on in spring and fall and it's quite pleasant.  There's a Methodist church next door that rings bells on the hour from 8a.m. to 6p.m. so I'm very aware of hours going by. Across the street there's a lumberyard to my southeast and a counseling center to my southwest. Directly across the street from the front of the house is a triangular piece of property that belongs to the city.  It's not big enough for much so it's mostly grass and weeds, thus the unobstructed breeze from the south.  The railroad track runs next to the lumberyard, to the east side of the triangle, and the east side of the house.  I'm like a kid when the train goes by.  I like to see it but also my dogs howl at the train whistle and I find that highly amusing.

When not observing what’s going on around her, Evelyn examines art books and various science texts for reference as she designs her often madcap pieces. From the refined, elegant “White Spires” that form a vertical field striking in any exhibition space, to more idiosyncratic one-offs that resemble everything from a rasta hat over dreadlocks to a cascading wallwork made of items from her recycling bin, Evelyn’s crochet is always diverse and inventive. She says,

Inspiration is everywhere.  Ernst Haeckel's work is great, Nikon has a microscopy photo gallery that's good.  Most any botany book that has enlarged diagrams of plant structures.  Found an Io moth caterpillar on a rose bush that is lovely colors.  Way more inspiration than time to turn it into crochet.

When asked about her process, Evelyn reveals that she views

…the hyperbolic increase as a growth rate so I try to crochet intuitively how I suspect my current piece would enlarge over time.  And since I consider it a growth rate, I use Fibonacci numbers for increases, spacing, petal counts, and starting chain counts.  Another thing about growth rates is they are subject to change because of season, nutrition, age, etc. so if I want to change things up a bit or if I forget exactly what I was doing the day before, it's not a catastrophe.

We think this is a wonderful articulation of the Reef’s exciting blend of art, science, dreams, and “thinking big” on an everyday scale. We have been surprised and inspired by Evelyn’s contributions over the years, and count her among the many wonderful friends generated by the Reef’s proliferation.

See more of Evelyn's work on the IFF website: http://www.theiff.org/reef/contributors/evelyn_hardin.html

Radiolarian form by Evelyn Hardin - made from plastic strapping tape and cable ties.

Io moth (Automeris io) caterpillar. Photo by Michael Holroyd.