It’s not a matter of “whittling away” a few hours at Sievers, instead it’s about bringing to life a songbird from a block of basswood that has been shaped with just a hint of the bird waiting to fly out into your hands. In the first afternoon, the tail feathers, head and beak were formed. Another day and the features of a Goldfinch are all in place and body smoothed by careful sanding. As always, the talents of the instructors and students make for a great sharing opportunity. Flying in for the studio visit, Jerry Landwehr’s own Goldfinch became the centerpiece of the carving table. This week of sunshine is giving us more views of the trees as they continue to change. There are […]
Weaving and willow
We continued our fall weaving and willow classes this past week with Rita Hagenbruch’s Loom-Structured Lace and over the weekend, the Bent Willow Chair class with Ken and Michelle Workowski. The chair-makers were in awe over the finely woven shawls, blankets, scarves and runners still on the looms or on display and the weavers were equally struck by the progress that the willow chair students had made in just a few short hours, along with the woodshop atmosphere of drilling and hammering. The weaving class had been in session for four days prior, so each student had made great progress on their projects. Lacy wool plaid blankets and scarves, tencel shawls or scarves with beautiful drape and linen or cottolin lace runners were the projects of choice for this class. […]
Beautiful, inside and out
Whether students were gathering willow from outside the Walter Studio to incorporate in their baskets or perfecting seam finishes inside their handmade garments, the finished pieces in both Jo Campbell-Amsler’s and Daryl Lancaster’s classes were beautiful, inside and out. As you can see, the willow in the Sievers patch has grown tall this year. Here, Ann and Stef are pictured in front of the tallest portion, approaching 9 feet. Some of this willow, along with the materials Jo brought for class was used to make a variety of rib-style baskets, trays, a creel and more, inspired by Jo’s own work. Willow basketry is just one beautiful way to bring the outside in! If the inside of your handmade garments are as beautiful as […]
Fiber eclipse
Although we witnessed a darkening of the sky (some of it due to general cloud cover and a small rain shower) during the total eclipse on August 21, it turned out that these crescent shadows were our most visible evidence of the event at Sievers. With one of the definitions for eclipse or eclipsing being “to surpass; outshine”, we felt that for us, the classes held that week joined our other 37 classes in their own “fiber eclipse”. Watching the baskets in Jeanette Biederman’s Independent Study Splint-Woven Basketry class come together is always inspiring. Sunrise to sundown, busy hands were weaving colorful patterns. Luckily, there’s no need to hide your eyes from this kind of eclipse! Not to be outshone, students in Daniel Essig’s two classes, Tools of the Trade […]
Fiber in common
Do baskets, barks and mittens have anything in common? Yes, especially when they’ve been the focus of recent classes at Sievers School of Fiber Arts! Stacks of baskets were created in Jeanette Biederman’s Splint-Woven Basketry: Independent Study class, with some completely finished and some ready for the final touches at home. Next year, the plan is to take a photo that includes all the baskets made during the week. Might need to stand over by the barn to fit them all in the camera lens! Instead of a stack of baskets, how about class time spent on one perfect Winnebago Picnic Basket? Even Schoolhouse Beach may not be ready for this beauty! Learning the techniques of making Latvian mittens followed by a separate class on Latvian Mitten Design with Sandy […]
Together again
It didn’t seem like an entire year had passed since the Creative Knitting Retreat with Sandy De Master and Mary Germain and Carving Songbirds class with Jerry Landwehr met again at Sievers this past week and weekend. Coming together like caramel and apples, or turkey and stuffing (if you were on Washington Island over Columbus Day weekend, you know what I’m referring to…), the knitters and woodcarvers had the opportunity to savor a favorite hobby or get a taste of something new. A lot of knitting projects were out on the tables during the week, but a main focus was spending time catching up with knitting friends. Projects included Fair Isle knitting, lace, color knitting and working with beautiful Washington Island handspun yarn. […]
Sit back and relax
After a weekend making a bent willow chair with Ken Workowski or a week learning the characteristics of deflected double weave with Judith Yamamoto, each student certainly deserved to sit back and relax, perhaps even in a chair made by their own hand! The chair frames were together by the end of the afternoon, just a few hours into class. Bending and placing the arms and backs took another complete day. Students in the Deflected Double Weave class shared samples of their weaving and the accompanying drafts with each other. When class is done, why not sit back, relax and put your feet up? The fall colors on Washington Island are just starting and we’re looking forward to […]
Animal, Vegetable and Mineral…?
I guess you could classify the previous three classes that way with Navajo Weaving taught by Betty Glynn Carlson representing “animal” for the authentic wool yarns used, Natural Fiber Basketry with Jo Campbell-Amsler as “vegetable” for the willow, grapevine, Siberian Iris and Daylily leaves incorporated in all shapes of baskets and the Metalwork Jewelry Boot Camp with Kay Rashka as “mineral” for the sheets of copper, brass and silver as base materials. Some students brought back Navajo rugs started in (or finished from) a previous class and others started their first pieces. The steps along the way to a finished rug involve patience, thoughtfulness and perseverance. The many varieties of willow, barks, leaves and vines gathered here on the Island or brought by […]
