It was 1982 when Mary Jo Scandin first came to Sievers and offered a class in Batik and Direct Dye Painting. Every year since then we have delighted in the return of “batik week”. Some of the students in this most recent class first came for batik in the mid-1980’s! What a wonderful journey it’s been together. Mary Jo’s piece, “Nighttime on a Hill” appeared on our brochure cover last year. Now, thanks to her, it is part of our permanent collection, a gift for all who walk through the doors of Sievers. Batik is a multi-step process and there are both active times dyeing and rinsing and quiet, meditative times drawing, waxing and ironing. The results are beautiful. Pam […]
A Washington Island week
We’re taking this opportunity to share Washington Island with you sending along some end-of-June scenes and happenings. We hear over and over again that time spent on Washington Island is an important part of the experience when attending a class at Sievers. So, here are some recent north, east, west, south and in-between scenes. After taking in the views, for those who are on Washington Island this week, there are a number of events on the calendar. On Saturday night Cindra performed “If Once You Have Slept on an Island” with our friend Dan Hansen at the TPAC in Julian Hagen’s Washington Island Musical History program. This week is the Wisconsin Council of Churches Forum, the annual Grilled Whitefish Dinner […]
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 […]
Two weeks…three classes
There have been great things to share with you from the three classes that took place through the end of June, Batik with Mary Jo Scandin and Thom Scott, One-of-a-Kind Jacket with Mary Sue Fenner and Knitting on Location with Carol Anderson. Taking advantage of the sun when it appeared, the batik class sometimes had to resort to “inside sunshine” to dry their pieces. Nothing could detract, however, from the artworks these talented students made or worked on during the week. The official title of this class is Batik: Ancient and Modern. We know the “ancient” doesn’t really refer to our early days, shown in a photo from a 1989 class with Mary Jo Scandin (in the aqua sweatshirt), but we wonder now, […]
Fiber friendships
We received a wonderful surprise gift from the Batik class of 2015 and instructors Mary Jo Scandin and Thom Scott after this year’s class introduction. Last year, each of the students and teachers had made a batik panel based on a color challenge that was later assembled, backed and sewn by Thom (he also did the bottom Sievers School of Fiber Arts panel). Now hanging from the beams in the Walter Studio, this is really a gift to all of Sievers – including you! Thank you batik artists for the banner and for your friendship! The buckets were brimming and the wax pots were in use for the next seven days of class time. The clotheslines were filled with works in progress… […]
Weeks go by too quickly
How can seven days go by so quickly? It seems as if Mary Jo Scandin and Thom Scott’s class of batik students just arrived and now the certificates have been handed out and the fragrant beeswax is missing from the Walter Studio. Wonderful work was seen during these past days, including some of what you see here, starting with a view of one piece before, during and after. The television program Discover Wisconsin was on Washington Island this week filming at several locations including Sievers. Video was taken in the batik class as well as in Judie Yamamoto’s Polymer Clay class. They expect to air this Washington Island version on February 20 or 21. One last view […]
Coverlet Weaving + Tablet Weaving + Batik = July at Sievers
This is a four-class post! Students in Rita Hagenbruch’s Friendship Coverlet class not only fostered friendships, but wove overshot blocks for each other. Those blocks will be assembled into coverlets, warming the owners twice: first with the wool and second, with the thoughts of their new weaving friends. Two classes of Tablet Weaving with John Mullarkey discovered all kinds of intricate patterns at their fingertips. John is one of three new instructors this year and we, along with his students, are so happy to have him here, sharing his passion, samples and knowledge of tablet weaving. Would it be summer at Sievers without batik? I don’t think so. The colors of the rainbow and all shades in between soaking […]
