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http://TheWordisART.com Monika Kwiet is the featured artist for The Word is ART Gallery in Culver City, CA. Born and raised in Germany, textile artist Monika Kwiet lives and works in Southern California. RESCUING her fluffy dog Bodhi with whom she shares her life and home is symbolic of her work and the huge collection of rescued sweaters, wool yarn and other fiber materials that she recycles into new treasures that are loved by her customers. RECYCLING precious resources are at the heart of Monika's work. She integrates sustainable and organic design with texture and color to create decorative and wearable art. Her work encompasses an eclectic mix of felted bags and purses, vibrant flower pins and unusual jewelry, fuzzy vessels and bowls, and other woolly whimsies. REUSING things that have been "previously loved" , Monika relishes the challenge of salvaging items that are old, damaged or discarded and creating unique and beautiful things. She can often be found at a park unraveling wool from discarded sweaters for re-use in new designs, dying wool in the kitchen sink, or shrinking old wool blankets and sweaters in the washing machine to make felt for projects. Monika's love for the fiber arts started early. Many childhood hours were spent knitting and crocheting with Grandma and her Aunts. "My family jokes that I was knitting in my mother's womb, because I was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around my arm." Monika also teaches classes and workshops on knitting, yarn and textile dying, as well as wet and dry needle felting. Her textile designs have been exhibited at The Word is ART Gallery and Summer Studios Arts Academy and she also sells her wares at local galleries, art fairs and online.