These are just three of the words used in the descriptions for Mary Hettmansperger’s Expressions in Jewelry and Chad Alice Hagen’s Tiny Book Necklaces classes. Add to that “creative”, “fun” and “fast-paced” and you have a lot of options for very personalized and special wearables. Starting with sheets of copper or brass and an assortment of found objects in Mary’s class, students then added layers, embossing, hinges and their own style to create a unique jewelry wardrobe. Not every piece was made to wear as jewelry. Some of these colorful metals may end up in other mixed-media art work. As Mary’s class description says, there are “endless options…”. We loved seeing so many of them! If you love books, you love them in all […]
Be All You Can Be
Attention!! The recruits in Deb Jones’ Spinner’s Boot Camp grant permission for you to inspect their field of operations (aka the Walter Studio). Deb brings so much for the students to experiment with, from wheels to blending and carding tools to an amazing array of fleece. It certainly allowed them to be all they can be! In this class, the boot camp atmosphere began with each student receiving a fatigue hat to form a spinning squad. Daily training in techniques and challenges were part of the week’s wooly “obstacle course”. To become a more intentional spinner along with instilling more skills and confidence were the goals of these training exercises. At the end of the first day, the comments were, “I’ve learned so much already”. […]
A Natural Combination
It’s hard to imagine a nicer combination than combining willow and driftwood to make a basket! In Jo Campbell-Amsler’s class they did just that. These one-of-a-kind baskets took some planning, determining the best use of the driftwood depending on it’s size and shape and how it should be featured in the finished piece. With many options to explore, each student had the opportunity to create more than one basket during the four-day class (some went home with two or three baskets, plus prepared frames for more). Washington Island is blessed with many of nature’s gifts…willow and driftwood among them. We love the late-August wildflowers along the roadsides and in the fields, just one of those many gifts given. May […]
Without Boundaries
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 […]
