Makers Outside: Meagan Swari
Welcome to Makers Outside, a special publication by Souls Like Wheels.
Meet artists who are “getting after it” outdoors and in the studio, whose time spent in nature is essential to their craft.
This week, meet Meagan Swari: Macramé artist and owner of Rambling Ropes.
Get to Know Meagan Swari
Meagan is a macramé artist based out of New Mexico. Her stunning creations range from wall hangings to plant hangers and other home accessories.
What sets her works apart from other fiber artists?
Meagan simply cannot make her art without first getting outside in nature! She dyes her macramé cord with plants that she forages, like creosote leaves, acorns, silver nightshade berries and more!
Read our interview below and follow Meagan on Instagram to see more of her work!
The Full Spotlight: An Interview with Meagan of Rambling Ropes
How did you get started in macramé?
I originally learned to macramé as a Girl Scout. My friends and I made so many friendship bracelets together! (Didn’t we all?!) I also attended college for art, and while fiber art wasn’t my main focus, I did become familiar with it through my studies.
More recently, I got hooked on macramé during the height of the pandemic. With so little to do, I started collecting plants but I couldn’t get my hands on any plant hangers! I picked up macramé so I could make my own plant hangers and it took off from there.
Let’s talk specifics – how do you find the plants that you dye with?
Well, foraging is essential to making my art. I learned how to identify the plants that make specific colors and I spend a lot of time outdoors ethically harvesting them.
Lately, I’ve been sticking closer to home to forage but I really love to venture out in my van and make camping trips out of the foraging experience. We forage for plants during the day then relax and macrame back at the campsite.
What goes into the dyeing process?
When it comes to natural fiber dyeing, the general process is to simmer your fiber in water and the plant material for an hour or so, or until you achieve the color you’re looking for. But there’s a lot more that goes into it before the cord even meets the dye pot.
For one thing, the rope is full of chemicals from the manufacturing process so first I have to clean the cord.
Also, natural dyes transfer better to animal protein fibers like wool, but macramé cord is cotton. This means my colors are more muted. It can create a really interesting aesthetic, but I’ve recently started prepping the cord with mordants like alum. The extra step requires even more time and effort from me but I’m okay with it because it enhances the final colors.
Check out Meagan’s Instagram to see which plants she uses to dye macramé cord:
What are your outdoor passions and favorite activities?
I love spending time outside in nature, whether I’m foraging, rock collecting, hiking, camping, you name it!
My boyfriend and I also love the van life adventures! We can drive to so many cool places from New Mexico – from Colorado to California. We dream of being van-lifers but that’s just not in the cards right now due to our jobs. Still, we fully plan to spend more time venturing out farther from home for camping, foraging, and all around travel fun.
How does nature and the outdoors influence your art?
I think there’s almost a cyclical nature to outdoors-inspired art. We venture out into nature to seek out inspiration and refocus our minds, among other things. So we take that inspiration back with us and try to incorporate some of it into a totally man-made project. And when it’s all said and done, we go back out and do it all over again!
This process really adds to the aesthetic of my macramé pieces. It incorporates more storytelling into my artistic vision which ultimately influences the outcome of my work.
How does macramé help you in other areas of your life?
Macramé art provides a really interesting balance to my life. My day job can be so busy and hectic. Sometimes I just “go, go, go!”
But macramé really slows things down. I have to set aside time to get outside and forage enough plants to be able to even dye the cord. It then takes weeks just to clean, mordant, and dye the cord. That’s before I start my actual macramé projects!
These constraints force me to just slow down and immerse myself in a project from start to finish. Like I said, it provides a nice balance!
I also love being in the crafting community – the fiber arts world is so tight-knit. Most people are totally unfamiliar with natural dyeing, but when I meet someone from the fiber community and tell them I make naturally dyed macramé art, it’s like an instant connection. I just know we’re going to get along!
What’s next for Rambling Ropes?
I’m really enjoying macramé! I’d love to take my art to the next level by adding my other skills into projects, like rock collecting and fine metal working.
Incorporating these skills would allow me to own every part of a project and infuse many of my passions into each piece of art.
Connect with Meagan!
Want to learn more about Meagan’s macramé? Here’s how you can follow Meagan’s work and support her art:
Shop her artwork on the Rambling Ropes official website
Really cool and very talented!
wow! your work is so beautiful. I love it!