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Illustration: Stanley Bulbach. ' Agate Stream '. It is always interesting to see how different creative individuals approach their work and their medium, but it is often just as interesting to see where these individuals originated, where they gained their core influences, and what sent them along their unique creative path. Many are not always walking along the clear-cut path you would imagine. The artist Stanley Bulbach has a BA in History of Religion and an MA and PhD in Near Eastern Studies. Although these qualifications do not automatically suggest that a career in the creative arts is imminent, it also doesn't necessarily disallow it. There are so many avenues and pathways towards a truly creative life, how you get onto that path can be just as interesting as the path that you follow as an individual.  Illustration: Stanley Bulbach. ' Agate Stream ' detail. It is often assumed that the creative arts are reserved for academic underachievers, those who couldn...

Illustration: Altoon Sultan. Turquoise Circles. Textile art can take many forms and use many mediums. In recent years a number of craft processes not usually associated with textile art have been incorporated by some of the more enterprising and non-judgemental artists. Some of the skills that have been incorporated into textile art include many that were considered to be the lesser craft skills, most of which were on a strictly amateur basis and have rarely if ever seen any professional aspect to their medium. These include such staples of the amateur world as crochet, macrame, hooked and rag rugging, to name only a few. Illustration: Altoon Sultan. Boxed Circles. Hooked rugs have always been seen as belonging to a world of instant necessity and practical need. The skill of hooked rugging was never considered part of any Arts & Crafts revival or even part of a middle class accomplishment package that was expected from every woman before and after marriage. These art and craft pa...