Are you like me, one who sees the beauty in Nature’s ephemera? Are you a person who enjoys collecting found treasures thinking: “Someday, I’m going to make a nice gift for someone out of this Pussy Willow”? Or, “Wouldn’t this seed-pod look interesting if I incorporate it into an art piece?” Or, “What in the world am I going to do with all these collections of beach glass and lovely stones? Don’t you wish there would be an opportunity to utilize some of your collected treasures – partnering them with other natural materials, using a variety of fiber technologies, and transforming those objects into meaningful gifts and small works of art?
After forty years of teaching plant-fiber weaving and establishing programs like the Basketry program at Bainbridge Artisans Resource Network, I’ve considered myself semi-retired. I’ve entered a phase in life where I feel it is important that I leave the space I’ve been fortunate to hold, for young weavers and artists, so they can have the opportunity to develop their skills as teachers. I also realize I want and need to make time for personal reflection, documentation, and to develop my own new work. Never too old to try out a new idea, right?
Over the years I’ve had the pleasure of learning from many innovative teaching-artists. And one of my favorite, someone who I’ve traveled far to learn from over these past forty years, that wonderful person suggested she would like to co-teach a comprehensive and fun “small projects” workshop together at BARN this Fall.
So Margaret Mathewson and I will team up this October 18, 19 & 20, 2024, to offer a three day workshop in the beautiful Fiberart Studio at Bainbridge Artisans Resource Network (BARN), on Bainbridge Island, just a ferry ride across the water from Seattle. Details are here: Woven Wearable Treasures with Mathewson and West
Margaret Mathewson lives in Alsea, Oregon, in a verdant valley filled with willow growing near the river that winds through it. She has spent her life involved with plants, particularly Native plants, teaching primitive arts and survival skills at conferences and retreats throughout the country, teaching environmental studies at OSU, and so much more. Her experimental approach to her work, and vast knowledge of plants and their personalities from her years of experience working with them, makes her a truly inspiring artist and teacher.
Following are just a few of the many possibilities for students to construct. Margaret and I will be there to support the projects you choose to make and to help you with planning and designing your own projects. There will be lots of materials available to make as many projects as you have time to explore.
Please don’t let the cost of this workshop keep you from signing up. BARN has a generous tuition reduction program available if you apply. But they ask that you allow 10 days for them to process your request, so please don’t wait too long. Hope to see you!
