I remember sitting in my bedroom in Puerto Rico in the 1990s, listening to music and crafting with felt. There was no YouTube and far fewer resources available, so inspiration came from visits to the local craft store and from the colors, objects, and little things I encountered randomly in everyday life. Those hours of making allowed me to step into my own world—a quiet space where I could simply create.

About ten years ago, while living in New Jersey and working toward my doctorate in cultural anthropology, I took Nuno felting and wet felting classes with a wonderful Polish fiber artist. At the time, it was one of many creative techniques I was exploring. Life continued, I moved to Washington, D.C., and my creative interests evolved through workshops and experiences with many different teachers and artists over the years.

Eventually, I found myself looking again for the sense of calm and balance I had experienced while making things when I was younger. As I reflected on all the techniques and workshops I had explored, I realized that the one I had truly fallen in love with was wet felting.

Maybe being from the Caribbean has something to do with my connection to a process so dependent on water and movement—I can't say for certain. I only knew that I wanted to learn more.

From my small home studio, I began focusing more deeply on felting, learning independently, studying with textile artists from different countries, and taking selected workshops with artists in the DMV area.

That search for calm, along with my connection to water, eventually became SEREMAR. The name was born from a blend of the Spanish word serenar—to become calm or serene—and mar, meaning sea.

Using felting techniques and natural fibers such as wool and silk, my work draws inspiration from water, memory, nature, and movement. I’m drawn to making functional pieces that can bring happiness, calm, and balance into everyday life, while embracing the texture, imperfection, and individuality that emerge through the felting process. For me, making is also a way to slow down and reconnect with the creative space I first discovered as a child.

When I'm not felting, I enjoy spending time in nature, being with my two wonderful cats, and exploring the cultural life of eclectic Washington, D.C.

In many ways, SEREMAR is a return to where I started: finding a little world of my own through making.