A few graduate students caught the weaving bug after we met this past March during my art residency at IslandWood a fantastic environmental learning center on Bainbridge Island, Washington. These capable, enthusiastic young people brightened my Fridays this spring. Olivia and Liam helped my husband and I claim back part of an overgrown Red Osier … [Read more...]
Making Red Osier Dogwood Pouches
My four year old granddaughter, Calla, is gearing up on this morning to help gather fresh Red Osier Dogwood branches to bring to her brother's class for a project we'll make. Calla and her dad, Spence, team up while thinning out branches and trunks of the Swamp Dogwood from this overgrown riparian area along a stream on property we … [Read more...]
Artist in Residence at IslandWood
This March I was delighted to spend two weeks as an Artist in Residence at IslandWood, a 'School in the Woods' on Bainbridge Island, just a ferry ride away from the city of Seattle. I worked with competent, considerate 5th graders from Aberdeen, Bremerton, and Mercer Island; and junior-high/high school age students from Seattle and … [Read more...]
Clam Shell Rattle Necklace
Using materials from three important Northwest ecosystems: forest, shoreline, and estuary, students learn plant fiber technologies to construct a Clam Shell Rattle Necklace. Using clam shells from the Salish Sea's inter-tidal zone, cedar limbs from the lowland forest, and NW sweetgrass from the estuary, learn plant fiber … [Read more...]