"There is never a perfect carpet.
I'm still Iooking for that .. "
                        Joanna Michalowicz

]oanna Michalowicz is an artist, weaver and carpet restorer who began producing carpets guided by the belief that the utilitarian crafts of everyday life are the best form of art. A number of twists of fate, including teaching Chinese weavers to knot carpets, led her to establish ASHA Carpets. She trained her weavers by sitting with them, weaving samples and experimenting. She also spent time teaching the designers to translate her handpainted designs into graphs. This gave her a feeling of creative control over the whole process, from the interpretation of the design, through the choice of wool, to the dyeing, washing and clipping of the carpet.
"Our texture is different than that of most modern carpets seen on the market," claims Joanna. "This can be both good and bad. Bad because we are constantly being compared to Nepalese productions and asked why our carpets have a different feel. Good because there is a Slowly growing interest in contemporary carpets that are different from most of the production seen on the market.
ASHA's range inciudes a number of different quality grades. "Some designs just call to be woven in 40 or 60 knots, while other will only work in 120," says ]oanna. "Sometimes a new kind of wool or new texture can inspire a completely new series."