Her hand-made rugs sparkle in lively colours – intense and bright, nurtured with love in her colourful soul. Ten years ago, the master weaver and her loom found each other in what is called “love at first sight” and she has not stopped weaving ever since.

Crossing the threshold of “Dari’s Rugs” workshop, one finds oneself in a space pervaded by colours and a cheerful ambience. Working in her studio located on the Street of Crafts in Bulgaria’s coastal city of Varna, Darina Rahneva is fulfilling every single day her dream of weaving into shapes and colours that invisible world that comes out from under her hands to bring her inspiration, surprise and joy.

She was first attracted to the weaving loom through her childhood eyes as she was watching her grandmother in her village home working diligently on the loom making colourful rugs. And once she grew up, she started going from one village to another, trying to find an old master weaver who would reveal to her the tricks of the trade. Her teacher, however, was waiting for her in her own city - on a date crucial for her, August 2, 2008, while she was walking around the Balgarika Arts and Crafts Fair, he invited her to weave with him. “Half an hour later, following the instructions of Vesko Feschiev, I was already using the shuttle and I felt how the weaving loom and I merge into one”, Darina recalls.

“The basic techniques of weaving are not at all so complicated as it might seem, that’s precisely the reason why fifty years ago almost every Bulgarian house had a weaving loom and most women could weave”, Darina Rahneva explains. "But I suppose I will need a lifetime to study all the intricacies of the craft myself, because that is the challenge that stands before me and it gives me pleasure”.

Having left a private business behind her back, today Darina has turned weaving into her profession - besides making beautiful artifacts, she also transmits her knowledge of the craft to children and readily shows the techniques to every curious enthusiast. She never makes preliminary drawings and schemes, but surrenders to the creative process – “I just sit and start weaving”. She holds the conviction that whatever she wants to convey through the threads will go to the right person.

“Sometimes the colours themselves lead me, and sometimes a figure I want to weave,” Darina adds. "And every time it is different – a beautiful sight in nature or a smiling person I come across accidentally in the street can inspire me to make a rug. But I always prefer my own patterns, even though I use traditional ornaments that are typical of old carpets and fabrics. However, I rework these ornaments based on my own vision as I believe that the future of the craft lies in its modern touch. As for the old Bulgarian carpets - of course, they have their charm, but in order for my rugs to be used in modern homes, they need to be pervaded by a modern feel.”

Each one of Dari’s rugs differs from the previous one, has a name of its own and carries a message, such as the one with the two dragonflies and a violet flower interwoven in the pattern. As the master weaver explains, the violet symbolizes modesty, sincerity and faith, and the dragonfly hovers over water and wind. Translated into the language of words, it tells us to live life to the fullest and catch the moment yet not forget to be modest, sincere and believe in the power of good.

By interweaving messages in her rugs, Darina actually continues the tradition of old times when ornaments were used to carry specific information. For example, when a young girl found a suitor, she would sit at the weaving loom and embed in the rug the respective pattern as a notification to her parents.

Traditions are something we all have to cherish and remember, Darina says, adding that only by knowing our past, could we have a future. "I hope we will not allow traditions to die out - more so that we can only modernize the weaving patterns and designs while the techniques remain authentic, the same as were used in antiquity. That is why I am pleased that more and more people show interest in weaving and I can proudly say that in my hometown many colleagues are already professionally engaged in this craft”.

And one of them is Darina herself whose face shines in a smile when she is behind the loom: “My days go happily because I find genuine pleasure in my work”.

English version: Rossitsa Petcova