Leiko Uchiyama – Felt-Making Artist

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Leiko Uchiyama – Felt-Making Artist

Handweavers Guild of Boulder
January 2024 Day & Evening Program

 

Leiko is a felt making artist nestled in the picturesque Blackstairs Mountains of County Carlow, Ireland. Her journey has taken her from her Japanese home as an agricultural and textile design graduate, to New Zealand, where she worked on a sheep farm, to Indonesia where her felt-making techniques developed and France, where she relished aesthetically and culturally rich surroundings.

The experience she has gathered through making, all the sheep breeds and the many types of wool she has worked with, have helped her to refine her skills. She creates wearable pieces with wool and silks which she dyes using her own color recipes. She also enjoys making functional pieces for the home such as tableware, stool tops, wall pieces or rugs.

Leiko has developed many felting techniques including one called Pine Needles. It was inspired by the look of pine needles on snow. It creates a fine, lacy felt – no actual pine needles are involved.

Leiko teaches felting workshops throughout Europe, America, Australia and Japan and she has exhibited in many different countries.

http://www.leikofelt.com

 

Day Meeting Presentation: My Felting Journey – the Red Thread of Fate

‘The red thread of fate’ is an expression in Japan to explain the special connection with someone important to you. “I can see my felt red thread has been leading me to who I am today as an artist,” she said. Leiko will tell us about how she has learned her craft and developed new techniques for felting.

Evening Meeting Presentation: Lacy Line Felt to Heavy Duty – Diversity of Felt

Felt making is so adaptable, it can be made into something very fine and soft or something strong and heavy. More than 1000 breeds of sheep in the world make this possible! Leiko will show us the materials and techniques she uses to make her many gorgeous items and will show us her technique called “pine needles” which creates lacy felt.

January 15, 2024 – Guild Day Meeting 10:00 am – Zoom Presentation
My Felting Journey – the Red Thread of Fate
January 16, 2024 – Guild Evening Meeting 7:00 pm – Zoom Presentation
Lacy Line Felt to Heavy Duty – Diversity of Felt

Handweavers Guild of Boulder meetings are open to the public.

Email president@handweaversofboulder.org if you would like to be a guest at a HGB Zoom meeting.

www.handweaversofboulder.org
www.hgbsale.org
www.facebook.com/HandweaversGuildBoulder/
www.instagram.com/boulderhandweaversguild/

Subscribe Here to keep in touch for HGB and Show & Sale Updates! http://eepurl.com/gFVwQ1

Hanna Rose Shell – Tales of Textile Intrigue

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Hanna Rose Shell
Author, Artist, Associate Professor-University of Colorado Boulder

Handweavers Guild of Boulder
October 2023 Day & Evening Program

Hanna Rose Shell studies aesthetics, textiles, and the interface of art and science in the form of text and film.

Shell’s 2020 book, SHODDY: From Devil’s Dust to the Renaissance of Rags, examines recycled textiles as transformative media forms through the lenses of aesthetics, material culture, history, and critical theory.

  • Day Presentation: Tales of Textile Intrigue I: The Secret History and Creative Possibility of Wool Waste

This is a presentation based on Shell’s book Shoddy: From Devil’s Dust to the Renaissance of Rags

The history of modern-day old clothes recycling begins with a thing called shoddy. Starting in the early 1800s, shoddy was the name given to a new material made from reclaimed wool, and to one of the earliest forms of industrial recycling.

Old rags and leftover fabric clippings were ground to bits by a machine known as “the devil” and then re-used. Usually undisclosed, shoddy-also known as reworked wool-became suit jackets, army blankets, mattress stuffing, and much more.

Shoddy is the afterlife of rags. And Shoddy, the book, reveals hidden worlds of textile intrigue.

  • Evening Presentation: Tales of Textile Intrigue II: A Community Workshop

Participants will bring an article of clothing (either acquired secondhand, handmade, or that has had a “long life” in relation to the participant) to the event. Stories will be told, new relationships and ways of talking about textiles created. Possibility for creative community darning a possibility.


https://handweaversofboulder.org/programs2023-2024.html#oct

  • October 9, 2023 – Guild Day Meeting 10:00 am
    Tales of Textile Intrigue I: The Secret History and Creative Possibility of Wool Waste
  • October 10, 2023 – Guild Evening Meeting 7:00 pm
    Tales of Textile Intrigue II: A Community Workshop

Handweavers Guild of Boulder meetings are open to the public and held at Mountain View Methodist Church

Meeting details – https://handweaversofboulder.org/meetings.html

www.handweaversofboulder.org
www.hgbsale.org
www.facebook.com/HandweaversGuildBoulder/
www.instagram.com/boulderhandweaversguild/

Subscribe Here to keep in touch for HGB and Show & Sale Updates! http://eepurl.com/gFVwQ1

2023 HGB Fiber Art Show & Sale – November 1-5, 2023

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Welcome to Colorado’s premier fall art and craft celebration the Fiber Art Show & Sale of the Handweavers Guild of Boulder.

November 1-5, 2023
Wednesday – Saturday 10 am – 6 pm
Sunday 10 am – 3 pm

Boulder County Fairgrounds
9595 Nelson Road, Longmont, Colorado

Free Admission – Free Parking

Colorado’s Finest Fiber Art Event
100+ Guild Member Artists
Demonstrations

Juried Showcase Exhibit
2023 Theme – To Everything There is a Season
Call for Entry Deadline – October 1, 2023
Membership required by September 12, 2023

Represented techniques

Weaving • Felting • Knitting & Crochet • Bead Weaving • Lace & Knotting • Basketry • Embroidery • Appliqué & Quilting • Handspinning • Dyeing & Surface Design • Handmade Paper

Sample items

Accessories • Jewelry • Baby & Children’s Items • Clothing • Footwear • Hats • Scarves • Mittens • Home Accessories • Kitchen Textiles • Placemats Potholders • Wall Hangings • Pet Accessories • Yarn & Fiber • Holiday Items • Cards

It is our hope that you will spend a few moments exploring the hgbsale.org site, learning more about the fiber artists of the Handweavers Guild of Boulder and the Fiber Art Show & Sale.

Visit Show & Sale Gallery

May 2023 – Beth Marx – Felt Artist

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Beth Marx – Felt Artist

Handweavers Guild of Boulder
May 2023 Day & Evening Program

Beth Marx has been a felt maker for over 15 years and is still fascinated with the process. Beth can’t remember when art was not part of her life. From the little girl who played art school in the basement of her Ohio childhood home to majoring in art at The Ohio State University, Beth has had her hand in many art mediums but has always had a real affinity for textiles. With an eclectic sense of style and keen eye, she fulfills her passion by creating wet felted garments and accessories in the studio behind her 1920’s bungalow that she has affectionately named Studio 907, the same number as her street address in Long Beach, California.

Beth is internationally known for designing and creating her own style of fashionable and sophisticated felted garments & accessories. She teaches extensively and has created a method to demystify the necessary shrinkage calculations. Her garments are sold in high-end boutiques and galleries in upscale locales, have walked runways, been published in books and magazines, and worn by a major theme park character.

Beth creates organically in an intuitive process letting the piece evolve in a collage style by infusing wool roving with the likes of hand dyed & hand-painted silks. There is no sewing involved and her seamless garments are strictly held together by the affinity of the wool fibers as they migrate through the fabric and entangle creating incredible textures. Her style exudes a worn patina and an earthiness rich with layers, textures, shapes and colors. For Beth, felting is a creative, challenging, tactile process rich with fascination and excitement in the resulting alchemy. Her pieces are one of a kind, made one at a time.

 

  • Day Presentation: My Felting Journey – Creativity, Community, Connections

Beth will talk about her felting, how she became a felter, what she  enjoy making and why, how to style her  garments, where she  gets her  inspiration accompanied by a slide show and a trunk show of her garments and accessories

  • Evening Presentation: Having a Bowl with Beth

For 18 pre-registered HGB members, and many observers, Beth will teach us how to make a shallow bowl without using a resist. Participants will need to bring their own wool roving. Beth will also have her trunk show available and will present and ask questions.


Details at https://handweaversofboulder.org/programs2022-2023.html

  • May 8, 2023 – Guild Day Meeting 10:00 am
    My Felting Journey – Creativity, Community, Connections
  • May 9, 2023 – Guild Evening Meeting 7:00 pm
    Having a Bowl with Beth

Handweavers Guild of Boulder meetings are open to the public and held at Mountain View Methodist Church

Meeting details – https://handweaversofboulder.org/meetings.html

www.handweaversofboulder.org
www.hgbsale.org
www.facebook.com/HandweaversGuildBoulder/
www.instagram.com/boulderhandweaversguild/

Subscribe Here to keep in touch for HGB and Show & Sale Updates! http://eepurl.com/gFVwQ1

April 2023 Program – Jill Powers – Bark Fiber – An Eco-Art Story

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Jill Powers – Bark Fiber – An Eco-Art Story

Handweavers Guild of Boulder
April 2023 Day & Evening Program

Jill Powers is a contemporary fiber and environmental installation artist living in Boulder, Colorado. She works with many natural materials and processes, especially bark fiber. Jill focuses on ecological changes and finds inspiration in creating art around the latest scientific discoveries.

Jill has shown her work in major galleries in Santa Fe, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Boston, as well as being invited several times to show at the International Fiber Biennial. She has taught in many places, including Naropa University Visual Arts, the Honolulu Museum of Art, the Denver Botanic Gardens, the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, and the Museo De Las Americas.

 

Day Presentation: Bark Fiber:  An Eco-Art Story

Jill Powers creates art with bark fiber and many natural processes.  Jill’s art revolves around the aesthetics and science of ecosystems.  She has created art in response to ecological changes, finding ways to explore ocean and forest ecologies, drought, flood, insects, and geologic changes. Jill gets involved in her subjects in a deep way, exploring her subjects through curiosity and artist research, inspired by learning about the latest science and discoveries. Through her unusual art, she draws people into the stories through the beauty and intrigue of her materials and approaches and follows up with fun and engaging public programs to extend the impact of the work. Jill’s latest work is about mycelium and mushrooms! In her slide talk, she will take us on the journey of her work and bring some samples to show.

Evening Presentation: Bark Fiber Process

Jill will introduce bark fiber and show samples of her work and how it relates to bark cloth from around the world. Jill will show the results of her innovative techniques. She will speak about the qualities of the interaction of water and bark fiber, and demonstrate what happens when bark fiber becomes malleable and fluid.


Details at https://handweaversofboulder.org/programs2022-2023.html

  • April 10, 2023 – Guild Day Meeting 10:00 am
    Bark Fiber: AnEco-Art Story
  • April 11, 2023 – Guild Evening Meeting 7:00 pm
    Bark Fiber Process

Handweavers Guild of Boulder meetings are open to the public and held at Mountain View Methodist Church

Meeting details – https://handweaversofboulder.org/meetings.html

www.handweaversofboulder.org
www.hgbsale.org
www.facebook.com/HandweaversGuildBoulder/
www.instagram.com/boulderhandweaversguild/

Subscribe Here to keep in touch for HGB and Show & Sale Updates! http://eepurl.com/gFVwQ1

March 2023 Program – Maria Elena Buszek – Craft and Contemporary Art

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Maria Elena Buszek, Ph.D – Extra/Ordinary – Craft and Contemporary Art

Handweavers Guild of Boulder
March 2023 Day & Evening Program

Maria Elena Buszek, Ph.D. is a scholar, critic, curator, and Professor of Art History at the University of Colorado Denver, where she teaches courses on modern and contemporary art.

Buszek authored Extra/Ordinary as an eclectic introduction to the “craft culture” referenced and celebrated by artists promoting new ways of thinking about the role of craft in contemporary art.

 Day Presentation: Extra/Ordinary Craft and Contemporary Art – Behind the Scenes

Buszek will take us behind the scenes of her book Extra/Ordinary and how it came to be and why it is such an important topic.  The book’s contributors are described as “artists, critics, curators, and scholars [who] develop theories of craft in relation to art, chronicle how fine-art institutions understand and exhibit craft media, and offer accounts of activist crafting, or craftivism.

Some contributors describe generational and institutional changes under way, while others signal new directions for scholarship, considering craft in relation to queer theory, masculinity, and science. Encompassing quilts, ceramics, letterpress books, wallpaper, and textiles, and moving from well-known museums to home workshops and political protests.

 Evening Presentation: Craft in the Community

Craftivism is a term attributed to Betsy Greer and throughout history craft has been used as activism.  The last third of Extra/Ordinary is devoted to this topic.  Professor Buszek will talk about the history of craft in the community and the special projects she has seen.


Details at https://handweaversofboulder.org/programs2022-2023.html

 

March 13, 2023 – Guild Day Meeting 10:00 am
Extra/Ordinary Craft and Contemporary Art – Behind the Scenes

March 14, 2023 – Guild Evening Meeting 7:00 pm
Craft in the Community

Handweavers Guild of Boulder meetings are open to the public and held at Mountain View Methodist Church

Meeting details – https://handweaversofboulder.org/programs2022-2023.html

www.handweaversofboulder.org
www.hgbsale.org
www.facebook.com/HandweaversGuildBoulder/
www.instagram.com/boulderhandweaversguild/

Subscribe Here to keep in touch for HGB and Show & Sale Updates!

 

February 2023 Program – Denise Perreault – Beaded Art and Restoration

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Denise Perreault – Beaded Art and Restoration

Handweavers Guild of Boulder
February 2023 Evening Program

Denise’s 40+ year textile art career encompasses weaving for interior design, and many types of decorative and functional beadwork, often using reclaimed materials.  She is the sole proprietor of Denise Perreault Beaded Art and Restoration, where she’s restored beaded bags, clothing, and collectible artifacts for the public since 1998.

Denise founded Boulder’s Art Parts Creative Reuse Center in 2011 and retired as their Executive Director in 2020. Denise will serve as the 2023-2024 HGB Board President.

Evening Presentation: Tools & Techniques for Creating Two- and Three-Dimensional Beaded Fabric

Beadwork Magazine once said that 97% of beaders create only jewelry and wearable accessories. But beading also lends itself to exciting possibilities beyond accessories, where translucent window panels, vessels, and sculptural elements can be created using just beads, beading needle, and thread. Beading becomes boundless once you realize that almost anything can be used as an armature to create sculptural beadwork using a few key stitches.

Denise will share images of her dimensional beadwork along with those of other artists she admires. Tips and tricks she’s learned in her 25 years creating large-scale beaded window valances, as well as the best materials, tools, and bead stitches for sculptural beadwork will also be covered. An overview of glass seed beads will be included, as these offer the greatest variety of sizes, colors, and finishes for dimensional beadwork. Members are invited to bring beaded work to the Show & Tell portion of the presentation.

More Details on HGB Website

February 14, 2023 – Guild Evening Meeting 7:00 pm – Zoom Presentation
Tools & Techniques for Creating Two- and Three-Dimensional Beaded Fabric

Handweavers Guild of Boulder monthly meetings are open to the public.
Email president@handweaversofboulder.org if you would like to be a guest at a HGB Zoom meeting.

www.handweaversofboulder.org
www.hgbsale.org
www.facebook.com/HandweaversGuildBoulder/
www.instagram.com/boulderhandweaversguild/

Subscribe Here to keep in touch for HGB and Show & Sale Updates!

February 2023 Program – Laura Nelkin – Knitwear Designer and Fiber Artist

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Laura Nelkin – Knitwear Designer and Fiber Artist

Handweavers Guild of Boulder
February 2023 Day Program

Laura Nelkin is a prolific and innovative knitwear designer and pattern maker. She is known for her complex but accessible designs that challenge knitters to think about their stitches in a new way.

Taking inspiration from her home in the gorges Finger Lakes Region of Upstate New York, Laura loves incorporating elements into her designs that reference the landscape around her.  She is an expert on knitting with beads and has taught many how to use beads in their knitting.

Day Presentation: Meet the Maker

Laura will take us on the journey of her career, from weaver to fashion designer to knitter and teacher… along the way she will highlight her knitting with an emphasis for her penchant for knitting with beads.

More Details on HGB Website

February 13, 2023 – Guild Day Meeting 10:00 am – Zoom Presentation
Meet the Maker

Handweavers Guild of Boulder monthly meetings are open to the public. Email president@handweaversofboulder.org if you would like to be a guest at a HGB Zoom meeting.

www.handweaversofboulder.org
www.hgbsale.org
www.facebook.com/HandweaversGuildBoulder/
www.instagram.com/boulderhandweaversguild/

Subscribe Here to keep in touch for HGB and Show & Sale Updates!

January 2023 Program – Robbie LaFleur – Scandinavian Fiber Arts

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Robbie LaFleur – Scandinavian Fiber Arts

Handweavers Guild of Boulder
January 2023 Day & Evening Program

Robbie LaFleur, from Minneapolis, Minnesota, has been following a thread of Scandinavian textiles since she studied weaving at Valdres Husflidsskole in Fagernes, Norway in 1977. She continued her study with Scandinavian instructors at workshops in Norway and the U.S.

She was awarded the Gold Medal in Weaving from the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in 2006. She was a fellow with the Scandinavian American Foundation in 2019, and traveled to Stavanger, Norway, to study the wool transparency technique of famed artist Frida Hansen.

She recently completed a commission through a grant from the Nordic American Churches Preservation Project. Four tapestries for the Valley Grove Preservation Society in historical billedvev (Norwegian tapestry style) celebrate two historical churches in southern Minnesota. Day Presentation: From Virgins to Spaceships: A Visual Voyage through Norwegian Tapestry

https://robbielafleur.com/

More details on the HGB Website

 

January 16, 2023 – Guild Day Meeting 10:00 am
From Virgins to Spaceships – A Visual Voyage through Norwegian Tapestry
Email president@handweaversofboulder.org for Zoom access information

January 17, 2023  – Guild Evening Meeting 7:00 pm
Frida Hansen – A Norwegian Art Nouveau Artist in Wool
Email eveningchair@handweaversofboulder.org for Zoom access information

Handweavers Guild of Boulder monthly meetings are open to the public – non-members please email the appropriate contact link for Zoom access information.

www.handweaversofboulder.org
www.hgbsale.org
www.facebook.com/HandweaversGuildBoulder/
www.instagram.com/boulderhandweaversguild/

Subscribe Here to keep in touch for HGB and Show & Sale Updates!

November 2022 Program- Boisali Biswas – Mixed Media Fiber Artist

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Boisali Biswas – Mixed Media Fiber Artist

Handweavers Guild of Boulder
November 2022 Day & Evening Program

Boisali Biswas is a studio artist working in mixed-media fibers, born and brought up in India. Her formative undergraduate years were spent at Visva-Bharati University, founded by Rabindranath Tagore at Shantiniketan. The essence of that profound experience has stayed with her throughout her educational journey and continues to influence her work. She completed her MFA at Bowling Green State University. Living in this country for over 30 years and adapting to Western styles and inspirations in concert with her background, has made her art into a cauldron of multicultural assemblages that are unique and a feast for the eyes.

My Journey as a Fiber Artist

Boisali will describe her journey from an eclectic school in India where nature and every form of art was entwined in the way of life. That experience had a significant impact on her life and art. She has experimented with various techniques within the fiber medium combining her love of weaving and surface designing with fabrics. She will describe and present her different genres of mixed media fibers through the years and share examples of her work and exhibitions.

Materials and Techniques

Boisali loves to upcycle throwaway objects and give them a new life. She rarely goes out to buy materials unless she absolutely needs something and tries to conceive her work based on what is available in her studio. She will describe how she chooses materials and explain her techniques. She will show us her mixed media and functional weaving including wearables that she has created. She will highlight her process from choosing materials to the gorgeous, finished work.

https://www.boisalibiswas.com

More details on the HGB Website

  • November 14, 2022 – Guild Day Meeting 10:00 am
    My Journey as a Fiber Artist
    Email president@handweaversofboulder.org for Zoom access information
  • November 15, 2022 – Guild Evening Meeting 7:00 pm
    Materials and Techniques
    Email eveningchair@handweaversofboulder.org for Zoom access information
  • Handweavers Guild of Boulder monthly meetings are open to the public – non-members please email the appropriate contact link for Zoom access information.

www.handweaversofboulder.org
www.hgbsale.org
www.facebook.com/HandweaversGuildBoulder/
www.instagram.com/boulderhandweaversguild/

Subscribe Here to keep in touch for HGB and Show & Sale Updates!