Fiber Events & Resources
The listings below include fiber-related Events, Exhibitions, Member Anouncements and Workshops. To read about Opportunities, Maine Fiberarts News, Calls for Entries, and more regional and statewide and worldwide fiber happenings, please become a member of Maine Fiberarts and receive our 12 page quarterly newsletter as a member benefit. Links to offsite fiber animal resources are at the bottom of this page.
EVENTS
July 11-15
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts hosts it's fourth annual Summer
Conference, THE HAND, which we use as a way of knowing and understanding the world,
and which also serves as a powerful metaphor for being human as the
first tool before all other tools, both for us as individuals and for
our species. FMI: http://www.haystack-mtn.org/conference.php, 207-348-2306,
haystack@haystack-mtn.org.
August 1-7
Annual KNITTERS' RETREAT at Medomak Retreat Center in Washington. From
the camp’s website: ” Whether you knit, crochet, spin,
felt, dye, or weave, or if you’ve always wanted to learn how,
this is the place for you!” Local vendors and artists will be
set up in the lodge. FMI: http://medomakcamp.com/knittersretreat.php;
retreats@medomakcamp.com
August 6, 7, 8
FIBER ARTS TOUR WEEKEND 2010—three-day
statewide event when studios, farms, shops and galleries listed on Maine
Fiberarts Tour Map are open to the public and demonstrating. Workshops,
tours, garden walks, farm chores, dyeing demonstrations. FMI: www.mainefiberarts.org
April 15-17 (2011)
NEW ENGLAND REGION EMBROIDERERS' GUILD SEMINAR. "Pining to Stitch," at
the Eastland Park Hotel, Portland, ME. FMI: You can read more about the
national organization: http://www.egausa.org/ and see the Maine
region calendar: www.newenglandregionega.org/calendar.html
Art Quilts Maine exhibit and sale at Central Maine Artists Gallery at 72 West Front Street, Skowhegan. Sunday, July 11 through Wednesday, August 11. About 20 to 25 small art quilts created by members of Art Quilts Maine will be on display. Opening reception for the Art Quilts Maine show is Sunday, July 11, from 3:00 to 5:00. FMI: 207-858-0797
BIENNIAL JURIED EXHIBITION 2010 at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, August 7–October 2, 2010. Juried exhibition of art from year round/seasonal Maine residents. FMI: 207-236-2875, www.cmcanow.org
Kate Cheney Chappell ’83 Center for Book Arts presents a series of exhibitions and lectures in 2010, in the 7th floor Reading Room of the Glickman Family Library at the University of Southern Maine through April 30: “Paper and Poetry: Collaborative Works of Art from Maine Artists and Authors”
Maine Fiberarts displays "Paintings on Handmade Paper," work by Arlene Morris. On view July 2–August 31, 2010. Reception, open to the public August 6, 2-5 p.m. Gallery hours in Topsham, 13 Main Street, weekdays, 10 to 4. FMI:207-721-0678.
MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY has an interesting series of online exhibits entitled “Biddeford, Saco and the Textile Industry” which includes “Mills and Changing Cities,” “Making Cloth,” and “Murder of Mary Bean.” FMI: www.mainehistory.org
Maine Crafts Guild will hold six shows this year, beginning in July in Damariscotta and ending in early November in Augusta; spanning the state from Scarborough to Bar Harbor. FMI: www.mainecraftsguild.com/our_shows.html
Maine Fiberarts member, Jody McKenzie, is the new Administrative Assistant at Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Newcastle. She will be meeting the many artists, friends, and visitors of Watershed this summer. With an extensive background in fiber arts and textile design, she is the founder and owner of Botanical Shades producing hand-dyed yarns, hand-woven scarves, knitted shawls and original knitting designs. She has a background working with non-profit administration, museum curation, a degree in anthropology and art history, and has studied costume history.
Common Ground Country Fair seeks vendors,exhibitors and demonstrators. Fair coordinators are accepting applications for the following areas: Agricultural Products; Energy & Shelter; Entertainment; Environmental Concerns; Farm & Homestead; Farmers' Market; Fiber Marketplace; Health & Healing; Herb Tent; Maine Fiber Farms; and the Youth Enterprise Zone/Youth Enterprise Transition Zone. All applications are posted on the Fair pages of www.mofga.org. FMI or to request a hard copy of an application, contact the Fair Office at cgcf@mofga.org or 568-4142.
Heather Kerner announces the inclusion of her felt work in the recently published "1,000 Artisan Textiles, Contemporary Fiber Art, Quilts, and Wearables" by Sandra Salamony and Gina M Brown, Quarry Publishers. The gallery-style volume includes wearable art and couture, fashion accessories, soft furnishings and vessels, tapestries, display art, and quilts. Featured techniques include hand and machine embroidery, decorative stitching, batik, dyeing, fabric painting, applique, felt, weaving, and all types of surface decoration. Available at Amazon.com.
JANE WEIR is the Class Coordinator for Halcyon Yarns in Bath. She is open to workshop proposals from instructors and is currently working on the Fall 2010 schedule. FMI: classes@halcyonyarn.com
Knitwear designer JUDITH TOLLEFSON from Farmington, had Vogue Knitting pick up her colorful Christmas stockings for their “VeryNew VeryVogue” section in this year’s Holiday Issue. FMI: www.judyscolors.com
Kathy Goldner, Knitting Out Loud audio book publisher and member, announces the release of "Wild Fibers Magazine: Five Years of Favorites" written and read by Linda Cortright, the magazine's publisher. The audiobook contains favorite magazine articles especially for the armchair traveling fiber enthusiast. The stories cover Linda's travels from the Himalayas to Puget Sound, New Zealand and Texas. FMI: www.outloudaudiobooks.com, info@knittingoutloud.com or 877-567-3950.
PORTLAND FIBER GALLERY AND WEAVING STUDIO is moving from their 229 Congress Street location. They seek a new space that is “comfortable, not prone to water leaks, spacious, well lit, has plenty of parking, and low rent and is located preferably in Portland.” If you know of such a space, give them a call. In the meantime, everything in the shop is discounted 20% until they move, and they will reconvene at 68 Washington Avenue while they search. FMI: www.portlandfibergallery.com
Maine Fiberarts' member, REBEKAH YOUNGER has published Flash of Perception, a 152-page full-color book designed not just as a catalogue of work completed over the past three years, but of experiential artwork as a whole. FMI: www.rebekahyounger.com, or see a partial preview of the book online and order copies at: www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/920234
SUSAN PERRINE had work featured in the September ‘09 issue of Maine Home + Design in an article called “A Common Thread: Local artisans whose woven works are Maine made and inspired,” pps. 69-71.
Maine Fiberarts' member, SUSIE STEPHENSON, has a new book out. Designing & Hooking Primitive Rugs covers basic techniques for rug hooking, dyeing and finishing techniques, and how to translate simple drawings into hooked art. Stephenson’s own story of recycling wool into a menagerie of animals, pictorial scenes, geometrics, and nautical themes adds impulse to creativity. FMI: Order at www.schifferbooks.com (price $14.99); 610-593-1777
“UNCOMMON THREAD: A novice weaver and her mentor are bound by their appreciation of the ancient art, and by their shared goal of completing an unfinished piece that was entrusted to them,” is an article by Bob Keyes that appeared in the 12.15.09 issue of Maine Sunday Telegram’s “Audience.” The article tells about a collaboration between weaver Susan Merrill and her apprentice Barbara Egan to learn the skills of spinning and weaving while researching and reproducing a Maine overshot coverlet. Merrill was recently named a Traditional Arts Master by the Maine Arts Commission, an award which came with a $4,000 stipend funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. Egan intends to teach her new skills at a land trust in Unity. Visit the studio of Susan Barrett Merrill in Brooksville, #37 on our Tour Map.
The drawing for the beaded necklace donated by NAN HELDENBRAND MORRISSETTE to benefit Maine Fiberarts has been put off until December 31, 2010. We simply did not have enough tickets to justify an immediate raffle. Our apologies to those who are anxious and thank you to those requesting tickets. Halcyon Yarn has generously offered to display our necklace and to sell tickets at their Bath shop throughout the year. Tickets are $5 each or six for $25. See the "Triangles" necklace online here.
THE 2009 FIBER ARTS TOUR WEEKEND SLIDESHOW PRESENTATIONcan still be viewed online . You can also click through the individual slides at www.mainefiberarts.org/surveypages/ The presentation includes results from this year’s Fiber Arts Tour Weekend participant survey including photographs, quotations and reports of sales. Weekend visitors hailed from 25 US States and the countries of Canada, Scotland, England and Japan!
Bartlettyarns was recently profiled on the WCSH6 "207" program. Watch the video below:
Eaton Hill Textile Works and the School for Traditional Handweaving in Marshfield, VT is offering classes on handweaving both historical and contemporary patterns throughout 2010. Lodging available. FMI: www.eatonhilltextiles.com
EMBROIDERY WORKSHOP: "Map of Maine: Counted Thread," Catherine Jordan, instructor. Workshop will be held in Yarmouth, November 12 and 13. FMI: www.newenglandregionega.org/calendar.html
Member Fiberphilia yarn shop in Orono has on-going classes. FMI: 866-3423 or their blog at www.fiberphilia.com.
2010 GATHERING, Nov. 5-7, at the Grand Summit Resort Hotel & Conference Center, Mount Snow, Route 100, West Dover, VT (www.mountsnow.com). Sponsored by the Northeast Handspinners Association. Instructors include: Sara Lamb from California, Deb Menz from Wisconsin, Letty Klein and Amy Tyler from Michigan, Nancy Morey from New York, as well as some New England area instructors. Topics include: Weaving with Cut Pile; Combs & Hackles; Braid Rugs with Roving; Color Blending at the Wheel; Needle Felting; Natural Dyeing; Knitting/Cutting Without Fear; Wire Knitted Jewelry; and more! FMI: Norma Bromley, boreas25@localnet.com; 802-467-3222; www.nehandspinners.org
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, offers a list of 2010 Summer Workshops on its website, www.haystack-mtn.org/SummerWorkshopsPreview.php. Workshops begin May 30 with the final session ending on September 4. Haystack has instituted a number of community programs for Maine high school students and adults. A list of workshops by media is on line at www.haystack-mtn.org/summer_workshops_by_media.php. Ask for a printed catalog. Fiber offerings include Mark Newport, Knitting the Absurd; Gerhardt Knodel, Mining Historic Textiles as a Route to the Future; Rebecca Ringquist, Fast Draw, Slow Stitch; Jerry Bleem, Assembled Lines: Plane, Sculpture, Concept; Rowland Ricketts, Local Color: Art, Life, and Local Plants as Dyes. Other fiber arts offerings include classes in basketry, paper, quilts. FMI: haystack@haystack-mtn.org or 207-348-2306.
KNIT-ERATURE—a new group at the South Berwick Public Library combines fiber arts and craft with book discussions and recommendations. All ages are welcome to join. FMI: 384-3308; sbpl@southberwick.lib.me.us
LESLEY UNIVERSITY in Cambridge, MA, with an off-campus site in Oxford Hills, Maine offers a Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction - Integrated Teaching through the Arts as one of their Creative Arts in Learning Programs. The programs are targeted to educators and other professionals seeking to integrate the arts into different areas of learning–from classrooms to museums to community settings. The program is offered in an intensive weekend format allowing working professionals to continue to teach or work in a related setting while using their classrooms as “learning laboratories.” FMI: Tracy B. Davis, M.Ed., Off Campus Programs (ME & NH), Lesley University; 866-781-3899; tdavis@lesley.edu; www.lesley.edu/offcampus/term/fmegss_cal_me.html
MAINE AG IN THE CLASSROOM SUMMER INSTITUTE, Aug. 10-13, University of Maine, Machias. Topics include Gardens, Local Agriculture, Aquaculture, Dairy, Fiber, Bio-fuels, and more. Tours of the Wild Blueberry Barrens and processing facilities, Aquaculture facilities and classrooms, and a 40 gallon bio-diesel reactor and school greenhouse heating application. Participants receive 36 contact hours or 3.6 CEU’s and several lesson plan/guidebooks. Cost before July 17, 2010: $200, $225 after this date. FMI: Ms. Willie Sawyer Grenier, MAITC, Maine Dept. of Agriculture, 28 SHS, Augusta, ME 04330
PORTLAND FIBER GALLERY & WEAVING STUDIO offers Summer 2010 Workshops for ages 8-up. Activities include: weaving and sewing a wallet or small bag; needlefelting dogs, creatures, and ornaments; spinning yarn from scratch; dyeing wool with plants and Kool-Aid; and learning about plants, fiber animals, color and texture. Instructor: Rachel Bingham has a BFA in Art Education, a BA in Visual Art, and is a certified teacher. She is a fiber artist and painter living and working in Portland. Session dates: July 12-23; July 26-30; August 2-13; August 16-20. For fees and registration info, contact: 229 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101; 207-780-1345; info@portlandfibergallery.com.
SHEARBROOKE FARM FIBER ARTS RETREAT. July 23-24. 400 Saco Rd, Standish, ME. Saco Valley Fiber Artists present their 15th annual workshop. Eighteen different classes--including basket making, weaving, spinning, color blending, rug making, knitting, felting and many more! $65 per day. A portion of the proceeds is donated to an association of Guatemalan weavers and a Children’s Aids Hospice in Guatemala. FMI: www.sacovalleyfiberartists.com, or call 207-642-3067
SHAKERAG of Tennessee hosts fiber workshops in 2010: “Tinkering with Nature,” with John McQueen; “Shibori: Natural Dye Extracts and an Indigo Pot,” with Joan Morris; “Quiltfelt Landskin,” India Flint; “Wooden Books—Mica Pages,” Daniel Essig; plus others. FMI: www.shakerag.org
VISUAL CALENDAR FOR MAINE FIBERARTS CENTER/GALLERY
View a calendar two months at a time of the events and workshops going on at Maine Fiberarts.
WEB LINKS
Fiber Animal Resources
http://www.mainesheepbreeders.net/ Maine
Sheep Breeders Assn
http://www.freewebs.com/cmsba/ Central
Maine Sheep Breeders Assn
http://www.mlla.org/ Maine
Llama Assn
http://www.mainealpacafarms.com/ Maine
Alpaca Association
http://www.neaoba.org/ New England
Alpaca Owners & Breeders Association
http://www.easterncashmereassociation.org/ Eastern
Cashmere Assn
http://www.maineangoraproducers.com/links.html Maine
Angora Producers
http://www.coopworthsheep.org/ Coopworth Sheep Society of North America,Inc.
http://www.AlpacaBreedersofVermont.com/ Alpaca Breeders of Vermon
http://www.vtllama.googlepages.com/ Vermont Llama & Alpaca
Association
http://www.nhswga.com/
New Hampshire Sheep & Wool Growers' Association
http://www.AmericanCoopworthRegistry.org/ American
Coopworth Registry
http://www.vermontsheepandgoat.org/ Vermont
Sheep and Goat Association
http://www.mainespinnersregistry.org/ Maine
Spinners’ Registry
http://www.newenglandweaversseminar.com/~l/mainpages New
England Weavers Seminar
http://www.nehandspinners.org/ Northeast
Handspinners
http://www.textilelinks.com/guild/me.html Maine
Guilds
www.egausa.org and www.newenglandregionega.org The
Used Equipment
http://thedistaff.com/ The Distaff – used
equipment newsletter
http://www.kbbspin.org/ Spinners,
Knitters, and Weavers Housecleaning Pages
http://unclehenrys.com/ Uncle Henry’s
On-Line
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photo credits [left to right, top to bottom]: A Maine cove in Harpswell; Xenobia Bailey crochet work on exhibit at Fuller Craft Museum; Heather Kerner's felted work at Maine Fiberarts' gallery; our Pocketboard on display; Christine's garden and fibers; gatherers hear Peggy Whitney Hobbs speak; fall foliage; artist Jill Snyder Wallace at work on Fiber Friday.