What began as a hobby, making macramé wall hangings using rope knotting patterns and designs she found in books and online has become both a passion and a business for Homer artist Chelsea Carpenter.

From a plant hanger she made in a macramé class while living in California to learning from books and other people’s patterns when she and her husband, Zach, moved to Homer in 2019, to shifting to online instruction in 2020, Carpenter now makes her own patterns and designs, incorporates bright yarns silks and wool, moving from the neutral colors and more simple knotting of macramé to more elaborate knotting techniques to create colorful macraweave textiles.

“When I started out, I learned to gather my macramé rope, tie rows and rows of knots and add fringes and beads,” she said. “As I got more comfortable with what I was doing, I wanted to add color to the macramé pieces, which are typically neutral, because I love lots of color, and macraweaving provides this opportunity.”

In the loft in her home, Carpenter hangs rope and yarns on a portable hanger rack, as well as on pieces of driftwood she’s collected on local beaches and antlers she’s gifted. The room is full of baskets that hold the wood, yarn and beads she often incorporates, separated by materials and colors. Standing the entire time and continuously moving her hands and wrists, she strives to work on pieces for three hours at a time, about how long her body will let her. As she weaves, she chooses colors and textures along the way. Sometimes, she’ll make a drawing ahead of time and follow that pattern, but often her creative process is as she goes. A medium-sized wall hanging might take her three to four days to complete.

While most weavers use a weaving loom or a needle, Carpenter uses only her hands.

“I like to feel the material in my hands,” she said.

Inspired by sunsets and the ocean, her mood and music, Carpenter once created a piece titled “Purple Rain” after hearing the song on the radio.

“For that piece I used purple rope, black rope and black beads,” she said. “My tribute to Prince.”

With her rope hanging from a rack, a piece of driftwood or an antler, she begins at the top, creating a line of rope, then adding individual lines of rope that she knots, and then she weaves, utilizing a variety of weaving techniques.

“You can do one type of weave for the sky and another weave for clouds, for example, and you can add knots anywhere you want in between,” she said.

And so the process continues, knotting and weaving, knotting and weaving.

“The joy in macraweaving for me is that it is very meditative and I get to play with wonderful colors and textures,” she said.

With her husband working away from home part of the year and she having left her career interpreting for the deaf to be a stay-at-home mom, Carpenter is grateful for the creative outlet.

“I loved my job and I love being a mom, but when I left work, something was missing and I started to get depressed,” she said. “I knew that I needed to do something for myself. If I’m going through something or going a bit stir crazy in the house, everything seems to get better when I start creating. Doing my art helps me wind down, calms my mindset and because I learn new knots and techniques every day, I get to feel that creative spark that is very important to me.”

Raised in southern California, Carpenter said her mother sewed and dabbled in arts and crafts, which she encouraged in her children, while Carpenter’s father was an oil painter and did macramé, which Carpenter only recalled after beginning the art form herself. With a degree in Sign Language, Carpenter was looking for work when her father had a stroke. Unable to walk or talk, Carpenter decided to fulfill one of his dreams, which was to travel to Alaska. In 2009, she graduated college, took a job in Nanwalek where she worked for a year, moved to Homer to work at West Homer Elementary and then moved to California for two years after she met and married her husband. In 2019, they moved back to Homer to raise their children.

Through her business Chelsea May Fiber Arts, Carpenter’s work is available locally, including at Divinitea where she was encouraged by owner Karalee to sell, expand her creativity and offer classes. In her first class teaching how to make a macramé plant hanger, 15 community members attended, including a deaf woman.

“I got to do two things I love the most — signing and macramé,” Carpenter said.

Her weavings hung for several months at The Bagel Shop earlier this year and her work can now be found year-round at Ptarmigan Arts where 10 pieces are hanging, including “Pink Moment,” an abstract sunset in pinks and purples that was inspired by California sunsets, and “Pride,” a piece she created last June depicting all the colors of the rainbow as her way of honoring Pride month. She has also shown her pieces in group shows, including at Homer Council on the Arts. Her piece, “Rainbow Warrior,” currently hangs in Bunnell’s 10×10 member show.

A vendor at last year’s Nutcracker and Procrastinator’s Fairs, she received her first commission, which has now become a large part of her business through word of mouth and exhibits.

“At the Nutcracker, a woman loved all my pieces, but they weren’t her colors and she asked if I would create a custom piece for her,” Carpenter said. “That’s how that got started.”

The largest piece she has made to date was that custom piece, ‘Cannon Beach’, that depicts mountains and blue water and measures 3-feet long and 4-inches wide.

Carpenter said that while macramé may look easy, it is actually quite challenging.

“The whole design process of choosing colors and matching the yarn to the thickness of the rope, poking out flowers, weaving in the ends, it’s very involved,” she said. “Another challenge is making my designs to sell — everyone has different color and size preferences for their home, so I have to create a variety of colors and sizes to have available. I absolutely love what I do and I’m delighted that others connect with my work and want to hang it in their home.”

With her wall hanging work established, Carpenter is now setting her sights on creating functional macramé pieces, including a Bohemian Top that will debut in this year’s Wearable Arts fashion at Land’s End Resort in October.

See Carpenter’s wall hangings at Ptarmigan Arts year-round and through September at Bunnell. You can also find and follow her on Instagram, @chelsa_may_macramay and on Etsy.

“Pride,” pictured here, is a macraweave piece created by Chelsea Carpenter in honor of Pride month in 2022. Photo provided by Chelsea Carpenter

Artist Chelsea Carpenter poses with her macraweave art, now available year-round at Ptarmigan Arts, on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023 in Homer, Alaska. Photo by Christina Whiting

Chelsea Carpenter sells her macraweave creations at the 2022 Nutcracker Faire at Homer High School in Homer, Alaska. Photo provided by Chelsea Carpenter