CREATIVE BIOGRAPHY
I was born in 1937 in Tauragė, into the family of a construction engineer and a textile worker. My mother had graduated from a private general handicrafts school; she sewed, embroidered and crocheted professionally. I received my first skills in artistic embroidery from my mother and grandmother, who embroidered in the evenings and sang romances and folk songs. In 1951 I completed seven grades at a secondary school in Kaunas and enrolled at the Kaunas Polytechnic School. In 1956 I was assigned to work in Vilnius as a technical construction supervisor. While working, in 1960 I enrolled at the Vilnius branch of the Kaunas Polytechnic Institute. I graduated in 1966 and qualified as a construction engineer. I worked in design organisations and retired while serving as deputy chair of the Lithuanian Resorts Management Council for construction affairs. Since then I have been sewing, embroidering, knitting, crocheting, arranging bouquets, decorating chests, ornamenting bottles, weaving sashes, decorating Easter eggs, taking photographs, sewing patchwork, painting on silk, creating clothes and accessories using the “Avelon” (dissolving film) technique, and I have tried making straw “sodai” mobiles.
In 1992 I took part in a competition organised by “Burda Moden” and received an award for the use of national elements in my designs.
Since 1995 I have attended the University of the Third Age (TAU) and regularly take part in the handicraft exhibitions held there. For 15 years I was the head of the folk art faculty, and in 2015 I was awarded the title of honorary member of TAU.
In 2003 I completed courses in patchwork art and technique at the Vilnius patchwork club “Urtė”; I am a member of the “Skiautinukė” club and of the Folk Artists’ Union. Between 2004 and 2021 I held 36 solo exhibitions in Vilnius, Jonava, Švenčionys, Ukmergė and other towns. For several years in a row I took part in the international textile patchwork and accessory exhibitions “Tekstil mozaika” in Riga; I presented my work in Belarus and Poland, two works were exhibited at the Dallas Museum of Culture and History (USA), and one was among the ten most interesting works. I take part in the “Aukso vainikas” folk art competition exhibitions. Since 2012 I have been creating patchwork on Japanese life themes, and I have grown fond of the 16th-century technique of embroidery with silk ribbons.
In 2008 I was granted art creator status. I am often invited to take part in educational activities, teaching how to embroider “delmonas” pockets and caps. In 2015 I received a National Heritage Product certificate.
I have held three exhibitions at the Utena Local Lore Museum: in 2016 an exhibition dedicated to the memory of my mother, which also displayed her handiwork; in 2017 the exhibition “Cross-crafting motifs in patchwork”; in 2018 the exhibition “The art of blacksmiths in textile”. The exhibition “Eastern Sun” is already the 37th.
At home I have some piece of handiwork in every corner, and I choose them according to my mood. Only when I sew patchwork must I finish it in one go — I cannot do any other work at that time!
The motto of my life could be the saying: “Birth is happiness, and life is a great joy”. Whatever happens, my mood is always good — after all, there is a way out of any situation. Or perhaps it is creative work that lets me find inner calm and strength?…