Love textile travel? Connect to your inner adventurer via this story about the applique-driven journeys of artist Nell Sonnemann. Patricia Malarcher, esteemed former Surface Design Journal editor, has spent the last several years editing Sonnemann’s far-flung inquiry into varieties of applique. Check out the set of 12 travel journals she created to document a process – and a quirky and exceptional spirit….
Read More »
Let master weaver Catharine Ellis tell you the many reasons why she now uses only natural colorants in her work. Though not necessarily easier, faster, less expensive or lightfast, the study and use of natural dyes has taken her on a mind-expanding journey to heightened sensory awareness, ecologically sound practices – and spectacular color….
Read More »
Becoming part of a fiber-focused community is one of many reasons why makers join Surface Design Association. Find out how SDA area representative Mary Elmusa nurtures networks in Kansas/Missouri area by partnering with Kansas City Art Institute fiber department faculty and students. It’s a win-win! And get some tips for growing your creative community, here….
Read More »
Check out The Patternbase, a multi-faceted collaboration of artists Kristi O’Meara & Audrey Victoria Keiffer. It’s a surface and textile design studio, digital pattern archive and pop-up gallery as well as a generator of hand-painted and sewn housewares, apparel items and innovative digital patterns. Meet 2 high energy design entrepreneurs who also offer a range of services plus collect and sell vintage apparel and textiles. It’s all here!…
Read More »
Ever tried itajime? Let shibori artist Ana Lisa Hedstrom show you the history, process – plus contemporary adaptations – of this time-honored resist technique that uses folding, clamping and dyeing to create stunning pattern on cloth and other substrates. The only limits are your imagination! Learn this compelling process from a master via this 2nd in her series of shibori DVDs….
Read More »
Brooks Harris Stevens uses the universally acknowledged value of gold – in the form of thread – to stitch healing energy into buildings and cultures. Marvel at these 2 recent installations where she mended the built environment to build awareness about the value of progress in post-communist Albania & recession-ravaged Romania, while simultaneously stretching the boundaries of the fiber medium….
Read More »
“Materialities: Contemporary Textile Arts” juried exhibition of SDA members’ work is on view at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts through 10/31/15 or via a special edition print catalog. View installation shots and award winners of this unprecedented benefit of membership plus link for ordering your own catalog to savor or give. …
Read More »
We’ve all been hearing about 3D printing – but what’s it got to do with makers working in fiber media? SDA Member Leisa Rich has a sixth sense for what’s coming next and has been exploring that connection for several years. Let her take you to one of the frontiers of fiber, here!…
Read More »
Artist and educator Peg Gignoux coaches the art out of people. Her collaborators are hospitalized pediatric patients, 6th graders, teen poets, refugee children, women in rehab, homeless families, library patrons and cancer patients. You’ll cheer along with her as you view the works that have emerged from putting textile media in the hands of these diverse – and extraordinary – teams of creators….
Read More »
9th International Shibori Symposium (Fall 2104) in Hangzhou, China, opened unprecedented access to Chinese textile history and practice for 250 international participants from 15 countries. Get a taste of the experience for yourself – and find out what impressions endured after this once-in-a-lifetime journey – from artist/educator Amy Putansu. …
Read More »