February - Strickler Presentation - Jill Graham

Jill is a spinner and a member of our Guild. Jill managed adult and teacher programs at the Butterfly Pavilion and Denver Museum of Nature and Science for 12 years and taught art and science to people of all ages for 35 years. Jill is currently pursuing the COE in hand spinning through the Handweavers' Guild of America. She won Grand Champion twice at the Taos Wool Festival for her black 2 ply alpaca lace yarn in 2010 and white 2 ply lace cashmere from her own goat in 2008. Jill aspires to create a new twist on cultural arts using traditional techniques beginning with the animal and concluding with a shawl or rug. She lives with four cashmere goats and a Navajo churro sheep who help the process along.

Updated 02.08.2021

March - Margaret Coe

Up from the Mill: A Burler and Mender's Daughter

There is a rich history of textiles in Margaret's native county of Yorkshire, England. Bronze Age residents wove on simple looms as early as 2000BC and wool became a chief source of revenue by the 12th century. Much of today's fiber arts are rooted in this history which Margaret will explore with narrative and images.

WWW -- Weavers' Website Wisdom

The complete process of establishing a website is explained step-by-step in plain English while a site is created in real time. Topics include: overviews of graphics and layout, suggested content, organization and emerging design technologies.

Workshop: Digital Weave Design Saturday & Sunday, March 12-13, 9am-5pm

Cost $145, materials fee $22.50

This workshop is a detailed step-by-step presentation of current trends in digital weave design using graphics software such as Adobe "Photoshop" or Adobe "Photoshop Elements", in combination with weaving software such as "Fiberworks PCW". The workshop is a methodical approach with participants following the presentation in realtime as they develop their own liftplans. Topics covered are twill, satins, double-weave, tied weaves, polychrome summer and winter, and Taquete. All participants will receive a tutorial and pertinent WIF and graphics files.

Margaret's hometown of Bradford Yorkshire, the center of the UK wool and worsted industries, gave her early exposure to yarns. She has received national awards in knit design and weaving. The teaching of spinning, dyeing, weaving and related topics for guilds and at conferences, led to a focus on computers and structure. Margaret has completed college studies in digital approaches to weave design and graphics design studying Digital Arts with a concentration in web design. Visit Margaret's website for more information.

Updated 02.08.2021

April - Michael Rohde

House for Nomads: A Tale of Three Continents

In the summer of 2006 Michael Rohde traveled in remote eastern Tibet. Based on this experience he created a body of more than twenty two tapestries, entitled: Houses for Nomads. His presentation will include images of the inspirations for the tapestries, pictures of all of the tapestries and of the museum exhibition, and a subsequent exhibition in California.

Setting limits as a Stimulus to Creativity

Michael will address how one can overcome the "blank canvas/empty page" block that many artists occasionally suffer as an obstacle to beginning the creative process. The program will include slides and examples of his own work to illustrate the points, and how he has made use of setting limits.

Workshop: April 11, 1pm-5pm cost $25

Knotting 3-Dimensional Forms

This is a hands-on workshop on half-hitch basket making. In this workshop we will be employing a small simple form and an assortment of yarns to get you started with ideas of where you might go for larger 3-D forms.

Michael is a rugmaker and tapestry weaver from California. He has been a fervent weaver since 1973, with formal training in drawing, color, and design from the Alfred Glassel School for the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. He is a workshop leader and instructor for national, regional, and local guilds, and an exhibitor in many national and international juried and invited shows. Recent work has been included in the US Department of State, Art in Embassies Program; an exhibit at the American Craft Museum in New York City; a solo exhibit, Houses for Nomads, at the Janina Monkute-Marks Museum in Lithuania; an exhibit at the Mingei International Museum in San Diego; and the permanent collections of the Mingei and the Arts Institute of Chicago.

In addition to rug and tapestry weaving, he has recently been making 3-D forms with the technique of knotting. Although the basis for this work is the repetition of a simple half hitch knot, a wide variety of colors, textures and forms may be made with this technique.

Updated 02.08.2021

May - Jay Rich

Pretty, Yes... But What's the Fiber Content and Dye Process?

Jay reviews his analytical approach to textile collecting, how his collection influenced his own sampling and deepened his understanding of resist dyeing and texturing processes.

Workshop: 5/9, 1:30-4:30pm, cost $20

Hands on Investigation of Jay's Textile Collection

Jay brings parts of his collection for study in an informal, question and answer format. Areas of focus include shibori or resist dyeing, carved board clamp resist dyeing, indigo and other natural dyes as well as some unusual odd bits.

Bring a lunch or buy lunch nearby. Make a new friend or catch up with old friends! We'll eat lunch from 12:30 to 1:30 and the program will start at 1:30.

Jay is an indigo dyer and textile collector. His textile education has been informal -- beginning in childhood with family members and accidental teachers along the way. North Dakota winters were cold and textile handwork was a frequent indoor activity. Jay's science background has helped more recent explorations of indigo, natural dyes, and shaping silks. Textile study has included trips to Japan, Chile, UK, China, France, and many venues within the United States. Jay has a working textile studo and gallery with colleagues at the Hot Shops Art Center, in Omaha, Nebraska, and a dye kitchen in his home. His approach is initially scientific exploration, then becomes highly intuitive.

Updated 02.08.2021