So many designs…so little time! In the Marbling: Paper and Fabric class with Nancy Akerly and her assistant, Joyce Gitter, three days allowed for the exploration and creation of many designs and techniques including French Curl and Spanish Wave, but we’re sure the possibilities of so much more continues to swirl through the minds of the students even now. Step-by-step the process for each design is thoroughly explained and practiced. Even unexpected results can become favorites! Besides marbling on plain and printed papers, students used cotton, silk and rayon for fabric pieces, scarves, shawls or small garments. What a creative, fun and color-filled class providing (almost) instant gratification! Thinking about marbling brought the Stavkirke to mind and its altar with […]
Niches
In the recent class, Cartonnage: Puzzle Box with Nancy Akerly, students made an array of interlocking small boxes set within a larger, lidded box. Hidden underneath the five inset boxes is a secret compartment. Each serves as a niche for special items, collections or whatever the imagination holds. After being unable to teach in-person last year, Nancy created a number of Zoom classes through her website, Liberty Grove Paper Arts which has links to her videos and much more. We’ve heard from several people that these classes were just what they needed during 2020. We were so glad it worked out that Nancy and her students could return to our studio this summer and the boxes they created in this […]
Small packages
Don’t you think some of the best things come in small packages? “Small packages” as in Japanese Temari and Cartonnage (box making) at Sievers this past week. In the Temari Techniques class, Judith Yamamoto and assistant, Kathy Broer, introduced the art to some students new to Temari and challenged others with more experience to work with complex patterns and to create tiny, jewelry-sized Temari. In Cartonnage: The Magic Box, students focused on the Karakuri Bako, a Japanese box which contains a hidden compartment. Using bookboard, Japanese papers and a good eye for accuracy, these special double-hinged boxes came together with the guidance of instructor, Nancy Akerly. (You can see more of Nancy’s own work at Liberty Grove Paper Arts.) These […]
