WGRI Programs
2010-2011
September 11-Saturday -- Dimensional Double-Weave: Sculptural Jewelry by Anastasia Azure
Anastasia Azure will present slides and discuss her development of the double-weave technique to create jewelry and sculpture. She will share the challenges and offer solutions for working with non-traditional materials, such as plastic and metal.
October 1-Friday -- From Backstrap to Digital Jacquard by Bhakti Ziek
Bhakti Ziek's 40 year span of weaving has taken her from backstrap weaving to digital jacquard. Her journey has allowed her to explore weaving as an ethnographer, a visual artist, a textile designer, a curator and writer, and as a teacher. Bhakti will share her personal journey with us, in which everything leads back to weaving, in a presentation that will include images as well as weaving you can handle.
November 6-Saturday – Tapestry Adventures by Jan Austin
Jan will present a powerpoint show of tapestries old and new that she has visited recently in Europe and the US. This will be followed by a hands-on intro to tapestry weaving after lunch.
January 7-Friday -- Weaving Comes of Age: From Hand to Machine by Susan Jerome
The advent of mechanized textile production in the first decades of the nineteenth century changed forever the way people thought of time. The ability to purchase inexpensive, printed cotton fabrics gave rise to the idea that weaving and other needlecrafts were leisurely activities. Susan Jerome will explore how textile history influenced our cultural ideas and values of things made from cloth.
A mini workshop focusing on simple textile conservation techniques will be held prior to the lecture. Participants are asked to bring a basic sewing kit that includes needles, pins and scissors. They may also bring one small conservation problem for discussion and repair.
February 5-Saturday – Weaving with Wire by Elizabeth Keithline
In an attempt to weave in 3D Liz Keithline invented a sculpture technique called Lost Box that involves weaving wire around an object and then burning it out, leaving behind a woven wire mesh copy. Liz will present a slide show of her work and then demonstrate weaving with wire.
March 4-Friday -- Lost in Translation: Why Color Theories Do Not Guarantee Good Cloth by Ruby Leslie
Weavers seduced by gorgeous colored yarns often fail to use them successfully. You don’t need to master color theory to use color masterfully. What is needed is a method to translate color theory, terminology and yarn wrappings into actual weaving.
Ruby will share her extensive collection of samples for a production line of scarves that document an evolving approach to color design. She will also talk about the process she developed for designing swatches for Handwoven magazine’s ‘Color Forecast’ series using a variety of color palettes.
April 2-Saturday – Tops and Tails: The Linen Bath Towel and the Revolution in American Bathing by Scott Norris
Scott will discuss designing, weaving, and using linen bath towels. He will present 4-6 towels during that talk, and after lunch Scott will present 35 of his new linen dishtowels.
May 6-Friday – Contemporary Baskets by Arlene McGonagle
Arlene's involvement with baskets began early when her family used them to harvest on the farm. She has been making, selling and teaching basketry for over 30 years, and her recent work features an emphasis on design rather than utility. Arlene's presentation will take us on a journey through her wide knowledge of contemporary baskets.
June 4-Saturday – Annual Picnic @ Slater Mil
Pat Hilts presents on "Early Draft Collectors: Their Patterns and Sources."
Workshops
March 4, 5 ,6 -- There Must Be 50 Ways to Weave Your Color by Ruby Leslie
Using one color palette and a myriad of weave structures, we’ll take a layman’s approach to color theory and the principles of optical blending for a facilitated, semi-scientific investigation of color design. Weaving in round-robin format on pre-warped looms (with pre-wound warp chains provided by Ruby), participants will explore the effect different fibers, yarn grists and structures have upon a single colorway. By weaving a color sampler at each loom, everyone will produce the equivalent of a case study in color and weave structure --- a reference tool for weavers to successfully integrate color and design into their cloth-making repertoire.
Ability Level
• Beginner thru Advanced (This is an ideal workshop for weavers who feel lost designing with color and want to break out of their color comfort zones.)
• Must be able to read and interpret a weaving draft, dress a loom and read a color order chart
Students must bring:
-workshop loom (4H or more--8H preferable)--minimum width 9"
-instructor will contact via email re warp and loom
Contact Jody Brown (jodybrown44@gmail.com) with questions and to pre-register.
