After learning the basics, there’s no boundaries to what you can create. Experimenting builds new opportunities and that was definitely part of our last two classes. We start by continuing with a few more fabrics; direct painted, dyed, printed and screened from Stephanie Robertson’s Making Your Mark class. A family tree branched out on one piece, and after preparing the first stage of this mountain scene, it was definitely time to sit back and admire it with feet up! An idea proposed by one of Stephanie’s students and carried out in class this year was to hand-dye cotton that could be used in the Washington Island-made Quilts of Valor. Each student participated to create this array of fabrics for these meaningful quilts. […]
Express yourself
There are so many ways to express yourself. Count our first two classes in August, Basketry: Covered Coiling with Lynn Schuster and Making Your Mark: A Fabric Journey with Stephanie Lewis Robertson among them! By completely covering the core material with various yarns and expanding or decreasing the spiral core while constructing a basket was the method used in this class. As Lynn related to the students, the basket will tell you what it wants as far as its shape, rim and embellishment. The students commented on the relaxed and meditative-type atmosphere that was inherent in the wrapping and stitching of their baskets. Expressing yourself and telling your own story through fabric is the basis of Stephanie’s fabric printing and dyeing class. Experimenting with […]
Technique & Design
Although those words were incorporated into only one of the class titles this past week, they certainly apply to all three that were in session! In the first class, Landscape ‘Painting’ with Fabric with Susan Hoffmann, students worked with fabrics to create a woodland scene. Basic art techniques were covered as they apply to these textile landscapes. Although the designs of the finished products are similar, each person interprets their view differently, some incorporating birds or other background elements. As an added bonus, students had time to work on four-season fabric postcards. At the same time, in the second session, Open Quilt Studio, there were so many techniques and designs between the quilters, many of whom were working on more than one project, that I’ll […]
The Sievers Gathering – September 27, 28 & 29, 2018
The Sievers Gathering is set for September 27-29! This is a great way to keep in touch with each other, meet Sievers instructors and it’s also an opportunity to return to Washington Island and share of sample of what happens at Sievers School with a friend. All visitors are welcome and all events are open to the public. Here’s what’s waiting for you… Workshops – Two workshops are scheduled during the Gathering. These one and one-half day sessions begin on Thursday, September 27 at 2 pm and end on Friday, September 28 at 4 pm. They are: Bead Embroidery Basics with a Side of Weaving taught by Francie Broadie and Beginning Splint-Woven Basketry taught by Geri Rock. There are limited […]
Covers
You can’t judge a book by its cover, so they say. But have they seen the books and covers made in the Miniature Wooden Books class with Daniel Essig? Using mica for a cover, or wood that has been sanded, carved and painted with milk paint, these 2″ – 3″ tiny treasurers were then showcased by creating small special displays, some of them including 100 year-old cedar shingles from an Island house. A visit from the quilt class gave a chance for the book-making students to share their pieces, cover-to-cover. If you’re under the covers, you might be under a quilt, and who wouldn’t want to be under one of these special and vibrant ones? In Ellen Graf’s Drafting in Quilt Design class, excellent technique is taught along with skills of […]
Summertime
For us, Batik with Mary Jo Scandin and Thom Scott together with their students means summertime! Like all of our classes, it’s one we look forward to long in advance and then while here, the time goes by too fast. So much is accomplished in those five or seven days. In some cases, clothing is brought to class, ready to wax and dye. Other projects are created from start to finish in the studio. A design challenge is part of the week, too, as is the delicious smell of beeswax and freshly ground gourmet coffee! A puzzle, perhaps, to read this in reverse, but the message is worth the effort. I think it’s fair to say the subject was found this week in the Batik studio. A mix of […]
One-of-a-kind classes
Of course, we see all of the Sievers classes as “one-of-a-kind’s”, but in this case, it refers not only to the actual title but to the garments and the instructor! Mary Sue Fenner brings dozens of her unique jackets and tops to inspire her students. The option (and challenge) of weaving your fabric in class was taken up by one student this year. The others cut and sewed one or more garments with the goal of wearing the finished piece in the fashion show on the last morning of class. Simply said, Sievers wouldn’t be what it is without Mary Sue Fenner. A chance encounter with an Islander in Green Bay prompted a note and letter to Walter […]
Three classes and one message
We’ve had the joy of seeing all the students and their wonderful work in Marbling on Paper and Fabric with Nancy Akerly, Beginning Weaving with Nancy Adams and Susan Johnson and Independent Study: Splint-Woven Basketry with Jeanette Biederman all within this past week! Looking back, it was 1999 when we last held a class in marbling. After 19 years, new were so many detailed designs. The options of printing on paper (from plain to pages from books, sheet music, maps and more) or fabric gave great options for students. This was the first time marbling has been held in the Walter Studio as 19 years ago, it was about a month away from being finished. As you can imagine, we could share dozens of photos from each […]
