Japanese Kanzashi!

Interview with Diane Gilleland author of Kanzashi in Bloom. Come to Diane's book signing at our summer show!












UCU-You seem to enjoy many varieties of craft. Do you enjoy one art form over the other?

Diane-Nope - I'm a total crafty omnivore. I'll try making anything once. I like exploring as many techniques as possible, because it's so much fun then to combine them in new ways.

The one craft I seem to be genetically incapable of, though, is knitting. I get everything so tight, I can't even manouver my needles.














UCU-What got you interested in Japanese art?

Diane-I've always loved the simplicity of Asian design in general, and of course I'm totally in love with Japanese craft books. It's wonderful how many creative directions Japanese craft takes, and how pristine and beautiful the work is. I also love how the books are shorter and smaller in scope, but there are so many of them!















UCU-Why do you think Kanzashi above other art forms inspired you to write a book?

Diane-Well, oddly, I wanted to write a book for a long time, but because I'm such a crafty dilettante, I had a hard time figuring out what I could write a whole book about. The Kanzashi book actually wasn't my idea. I used to send out an email newsletter, and in one issue I included a picture of a Kanzashi I made. This newsletter, as it turned out, reached Kate McKean, a literary agent. She emailed me and asked, "What about a book on Kanzashi?" And I thought, "D'oh! Of course!" It's a lovely craft, and perfect for a book-length focus.