Carving out some time, or in Walter Schutz’s words, “doing something nice for yourself” is often mentioned at Sievers class introductions and graduations. It’s an old-fashioned interpretation of today’s self-care. In literal terms, students in Jerry Landwehr’s Woodcarving class were able to carve out some time working on a Nuthatch or carving a face into a walking stick. One bird migrated back from a previous class and there were others that kept watch over the students as they worked. Practice blocks allowed the opportunity to create just the right expression on the students’ newly carved companions. Doing something nice for themselves is what Jeanette Biederman’s students have done in class together more than once (or twice). Renewing friendships, making baskets […]
Four, three, two
The description said, “…let’s celebrate looms with four or less shafts and all their possibilities!” That’s just what happened in the intermediate-level weaving class, Four Shafts or Less, taught by Nancy Adams. All the possibilities translated into an impressive variety of handwovens at the end of the week. Watching the students weave their projects, including towels of cotton and cottolin, 3-shaft Krokbragd using Brown Sheep Company’s Nature Spun sport-weight wool, rep and twill weaves and a shawl while at the same time being treated to eight different types of chocolate-covered temptations, made for a very desirable working studio! Carol S., one of the students in the class, gave us her “Sievers Story” and we’d like to share it with you. […]
Vegetable or Mineral
During the visits between Karen Tembreull’s Explorations in Twining class and Kay Rashka’s Metalwork Jewelry Boot Camp last week, exclamations of “these two classes couldn’t be more opposite” were heard. That may be true when it came to the materials used and the manner in which they were manipulated, but the work was equally matched in artistry. These petite, twined baskets started with a vintage spigot handle as a base and incorporated cedar bark, waxed cotton, rush, roots and freshly cut Siberian Iris leaves from the Walter Studio garden. A variety of shapes and combinations of materials made for unique treasures. Karen brought bundles of prepared barks to use in the baskets and several examples of her own twined pieces. […]
One or many
Maybe it was one coiled basket or maybe it was many marbled papers and fabrics that were completed in class during the last week of August, but whether it was one or many, it was a delight to see the student’s work progress through the three days of class. Most of Lynn Stracka Schuster’s Covered Coiling Basket students completed one special piece using unique yarns (some used handspun purchased at the Sievers Shop). From a small base, an expanding spiral forms into a one-of-a-kind basket. As Lynn says, “the basket will tell you where it wants to take you”. Lynn brought several examples of her own work illustrating various yarns used, shapes, choices for rims and embellishments. One by one, […]
Wonderfully woolly
A class specifically to study the wool of different sheep breeds and their characteristics as they apply to spinning (and more) made for a wonderful woolly week. As always, instructor Deb Jones brought a wide variety of wools and other fibers for use in class. Some of the spikiest of tools are used for carding, combing and blending the softest of wools. Putting the fibers to work, the spinners had their wheels in motion, interspersed occasionally with faraway looks, contemplating which blends to combine next. Swooning over all the wools and yarns from class! Cindy R. shared her “Sievers Story” with us: “What a wonderful experience. The bunk house was fun and the class was out of this world. Deb […]
Weavers all around
Recently, it was looms to the right of us and looms to the left in Rita Hagenbruch’s Halvdrall and Monk’s Belt class in the Sophie Studio, joined by Nancy Frantz teaching eight beginning weavers on our Sievers table looms in the Walter Studio. The samples Rita brought were so inspiring. Some commented that they could never bring themselves to actually use such fine handwovens. But Rita reminded them that unless they are used regularly at family dinners, holidays and the like, they don’t become heirlooms. Only when they are part of your memories do they become most valuable. This piece (also shown at the top of the page) was fresh off the loom at the time of the class visit […]
1000 Words
The adage, “a picture is worth 1000 words” is the theme for this post featuring photos from our early August companion classes, Diane Fitzgerald’s “Beading: Inspiration from Everywhere” and Stephanie Lewis Robertson’s “Making Your Mark: A Fabric Journey”. As it turns out, one thousand words equals about two full pages of writing. We will forego all those words and share photos from the classes instead. First, just a bit about each class. The beaders had selected a theme that appealed to them personally, researched it, then developed a concept and based on that, created beadwork in class. In Making Your Mark, students used simple silk screening, direct painting on fabric, dyeing, block printing and more to create designs on cloth. […]
Taking the plunge
It is an Island tradition for some to run down the rocks from the top of Schoolhouse Beach and dive into the clear, cold water. You can imagine how invigorating and refreshing that would be. This year, Sievers “took the plunge” on a new class, Rigid Heddle Weaving. We wonder now why we waited so long. When Deb Jones offered this class for our 2019 season, we knew immediately that it was the right time with the right instructor. Like Schoolhouse Beach, this new class was invigorating and refreshing! Everyone started with a simple scarf. Learning to warp the loom and seeing their scarves take shape on the loom happened in only a couple of hours. The scarves on the […]
