Analía Luhaces

New Beginnings: Finding Courage Through Creativity

For Analía, “everyday is Sunday” – a lighthearted motto that eventually led to switching her life path and moving to Mallorca with her son after 56 years in Argentina. This saying proved even more true during Covid when Analía found a silver lining of the pandemic making an embroidery diary, stitching the most interesting parts of each day into small handmade memories. 

Joining Analía’s workshop, you can quickly understand that her approach to her art is much like her approach to life in general: finding gratitude and satisfaction in things done with patience and determination. Enveloping you in this mindset, embroidery becomes so much more than just a needle and thread.

Read more about Analía’s inspiring story below.

Hello Analía, Can you start by telling us a little bit about yourself? Where are you from and how did you start embroidering?

I am 61 years old, I am a Surgical Instrumentalist in fertility and a Counselor. I am from Argentina, from a small town in the province of Santa Fe, although I lived most of my life in Buenos Aires. 

Since I was a little girl, my mother taught my sister and me to do all kinds of crafts. I never stopped embroidering, but in 2020 I resumed this activity as an exercise that helped me cope with confinement during covid. 

To keep some peace of mind, I decided that I was going to embroider every day of 2022, creatively documenting the most important things that happened to me. My embroidery from this time spans from trips and beautiful experiences to monotonous moments of everyday life like: today I went to the dentist, today I came back exhausted, today my head hurts, today I dyed my hair, etc. I love to go back to them and remember even the most boring days – embroidery helps me bring those days back to life, bad or good. 

You say your embroidery brand, Lefil, is a family run business and that every item you create is made with love and dedication. Tell us more about Lefil. How did you come up with the name and how is it to work creatively with family?

The name “Lefil” comes from a combination of two different languages and personal meanings. “Le fil” means “the thread” in French and in Catalan “fill” means son, so “Dear Lefil” is a phonetic deformation between the two terms. A name that dedicates itself to my son and my craft.

My son, Santino, sometimes comes to my workshops to help with translating but he is involved in many more ways. Him and his girlfriend, Anna, advise me on everything and take care of my social networks, which I’m not so good at! haha. We work very well together and I admire them both a lot for their individual creative work. 

My son studied cinema and has always been very creative. He does beautiful photo and video work. It’s funny, I actually have a VHS from when he was 2 years old saying “I want to film!” and photos he took from when he was 4 years old have impossibly good framing for a child that age. I want to believe that he got some of this from me, but the truth is he has always been this way! His girlfriend, Anna, is an architect and has her own interior design studio: In Alcova. I also admire her because she does really beautiful work.

Before moving to Mallorca, you lived in Buenos Aires most of your life, what was life like there for you? How did it shape you creatively?

I still don’t know where I got the strength for such a big step. Leaving everything behind and starting over at 56 years old was not easy, but I am so grateful I did it! In Argentina we were very happy, me and Santino. Since the time he was born, I raised him alone with the help of his paternal grandmother. I worked from Monday to Monday, but every evening we made plans. My philosophy was always “everyday is Sunday” so we had fun all the time. Meanwhile, I spent much of my time making creative things: jewellery, ornaments, paintings, furniture restorations. Sometimes I ended up selling some of the creations within my circle of friends. Living in a country like Argentina, you have to be creative to survive!

Embroidery is said to be a slow art, requiring patience and calm. Do you think this type of slow craft is being lost? Why is it important for you to continue sharing and passing on this technique?

I really enjoy doing things that require patience and calm. With time, these activities are seen less and less. In my mother’s day, it was rare to find a woman who didn’t know how to embroider. I love to see how lately there has been a resurgence of these practices, and how people enjoy slowing down and unwinding through more hands-on, introspective activities.

What do you hope to share in your workshop and what would you like your students to take away from the experience?

It fills me with satisfaction to see students leave my workshops happy, especially when they arrive with the idea that they will not be able to do it well and are surprised to achieve something beautiful with their hands. This craft is very accessible for everyone, people who easily connect to their creative sides and those who may struggle a bit more, young and old – none of this matters. I’m passionate about showing students that patience and determination are the most important ingredients for creating something special.

You have been in Mallorca for 5 years, how has moving to the island changed you creatively? What inspires you most about Mallorca?

Living in Mallorca has given me more free time and space to disconnect. Its landscapes are a constant source of inspiration that I try to enjoy as much as possible. I love the peace of living here, forgetting about insecurity and inflation, having free time to walk, especially walking at night without fear and enjoying so much beauty – this is what really fills my soul. When you’re able to release some worry in life, there is new room for the things you love. I think embroidery came back to me this way.

More info:
www.dearlefil.com