Category Archives: Past Programs

Mary Zicafoose: My work in Ikat

Please join us on March 16 for a presentation by Mary Zicafoose: My Work in Ikat.

               

Ikat tapestry, 2018

Mary Zicafoose’s tapestries and rugs span the globe from large-scale public installations to the private collections of the United States Embassies on three continents. Her woven pieces blend cultural icons and symbols with a contemporary hand, creating powerful visual statements in fiber. The work and processes are a reflection of the artists’ superb craftsmanship and her ability to speak articulately through the use of color.

Artist Statement
Weaving is my medium, but creating decorative textile art is not my goal. Rather, it is my use of “Ikat,” the complex technique of resist dyeing and over-dyeing fibers, that best defines my intent. The term “Ikat” means to “bind” or “tie” in the Malaysian language. I create contemporary tapestry, pushing the boundary of this ancient art form, to investigate the intricacies of how we, as individuals, are tied to one another. The complexity and uncharted potential of warp and weft – combined with the alchemy of color compositions and archetypal symbols – reference the elaborate and intricate patterns of our lives and my work. Each densely woven and intricately layered textile reflects the infinite and repetitive ways that cultures, rituals and collective memories bind us all together. By evolving and transforming timeless motifs and visual language into a contemporary (con)text, I seek to engage my viewers – as well as myself – in dialogues and discussions that reawaken and tie us all to one another.

Denise Kovnat: Tactile Art: Collapse Fabrics from 4 to 32 Shafts

Note: Meeting starts at 6:30 PM on Feb 16, 2023

This lecture explores the many techniques and possibilities for creating dimensional fabrics. The three basic elements for these fabrics are structure, active and inactive yarns, and finishing techniques. The results make the most of an often-overlooked aspect of weaving: that of texture and depth. Add color and form, and weavers can maximize the potential of our craft to create imaginative fabrics with great visual and tactile appeal.

Denise is a hand weaver and teacher who lives in Rochester, NY.  Her weaving interesting include extended parallel threadings, fine yarns, hand-painted warps, Deflected Double Weave and collapse techniques.  She says she loves yarn and chocolate, not necessarily in that order.

Note: Meeting starts at 6:30 PM on Feb 16, 2023

It’s Doup Leno with Daryl Lancaster!

January, 19, 2023 19:00 – 21:00 PST BSHG Guild Meeting

Let the loom do all the work!  Beautiful lace effects can be achieved by creating half heddles or doups and with the press of a treadle, or lift of a lever, threads magically cross themselves in the warp.  This technique is possible on four shafts and with eight shafts the possibilities are even better!  Learn how to create doups, thread for doup leno, and how to treadle some wonderful lace fabrics.  Based on the lengthy article featured in the January/February 2019 issue of Heddlecraft Magazine.

Daryl Lancaster, a hand-weaver and fiber artist known for her award-winning hand-woven fabric and garments, has been constructing garments for more than half a century. She has given lectures and workshops to guilds, conferences, and craft centers all over the United States. The former Features Editor for Handwoven Magazine, she has written more than 100 articles and published digital content, still frequently contributing to various weaving and sewing publications. She now has a YouTube channel, The Weaver Sews where she shares her extensive experience sewing handwoven garments. Daryl offers a complete line of digital sewing patterns for handweavers. https://www.weaversew.com/shop/sewing-patterns.html She maintains a blog at www.weaversew.com/wordblog Find her at www.Daryllancaster.com

 

Zoom Guild Meeting, Thursday, November 17th

Please note the meeting will begin at 6:30 due to our presenter being on the East Coast

Karen Donde  https://karendondehandwovens.com/home.html

Turned Beiderwand: One Threading, Multiple Structures

Although the history of the weave structure known as Beiderwand predates even its name, Beiderwand remains a powerful tool for creating contemporary designs. When the traditional draft is turned, converting the customary supplementary weft to a supplementary warp, that power expands exponentially. This lecture will explore Beiderwand history and traditional drafting and design characteristics, then illustrate the exciting results of turning that draft, results that extend well beyond faster, one-shuttle weaving. Join Karen to discover the hidden potential of a Turned Beiderwand draft.

Karen Donde weaves garments, fashion accessories and home textiles for sale and teaches beginning-advanced weaving classes and assorted workshops for guilds and conferences. Teaching credits include HGA’s Convergence 2012, 2014 and 2016 and 2022 (postponed from 2020), Southeast Fiber Forum, the Mid-Atlantic Fiber Association’s Workshop Weekend, Midwest Weavers Conference, Intermountain Weavers Guild Conference and Florida Tropical Weavers Conference. In Asheville, NC, she has taught at Sutherland Handweaving Studio, Friends & Fiberworks, Local Cloth and her own studio.

Karen is a juried member of the Southern Highland Craft Guild and graduated in May 2013 from Haywood Community College’s Professional Crafts-Fiber program. An experienced and award-winning writer with a bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Missouri, Donde now writes for and about weavers. She is a contributor to Handwoven magazine and other allied publications.

Please note the meeting will begin at 6:30 due to our presenter being on the East Coast

September 15 – Kris Nardello

Reds, Glorious Reds: The Cultivation and Use of Cochineal for Dye in Oaxaca, Mexico

Cochineal is a scale insect that lives on the pads of Prickly Pear Cactus (genus Opuntia) and
whose body and eggs contain carminic acid, an historically important natural dye. To the Maya and Aztec people of Mexico and Central America, cochineal dyed textiles were created as early as the second century BC and dried cochineal insects were paid first as annual tribute to Montezuma in the 15th century as recorded in Codex Osuna. Second only to silver in value, cochineal was then sent back to Spain by the conquistadores after they defeated this powerful ruler. Spain maintained a monopoly on this magnificent red dye source for several hundred years. Carmine, a dye and pigment produced from cochineal, was used to dye Catholic cardinals’ robes and the uniform jackets of English Redcoats.

Having dyed with imported cochineal for years before traveling to Oaxaca, Mexico, for the 10th International Shibori Symposium in 2016, Kris was particularly interested in seeing cochineal being raised commercially on a farm south of the city. In nearby Teotitlan de Valle, a Zapotec town famous for its handwoven rugs, those weavers using natural dyes often include shades of orange, red, pink and purple produced by cochineal insects in their rugs. Take a virtual trip to a Mexican cochineal farm to learn more about the history and use of these amazing (female!) insects and see examples of the rugs that glow with the cochineal dye colors.

Kris NardelloAbout Kris Nardello  
Blending advanced degrees in both art and science education, dyer, weaver, spinner, quilter and retired middle school teacher, Kris is often found foraging for native California plants and mushrooms for her natural dye pots. The dyed yarns are used for weaving small tapestries and rugs using traditional Scandinavian patterns as well as knitted garments. The indigo-dyed shibori and eco-printed fabrics are used for boro stitched bags, pieced quilts, garments  and fabric collages. She has studied Zapotec rug techniques and symbology with Porfirio Gutierrez and works in Martha Stanley’s studio with 5 other weavers. Kris is currently the secretary of the Santa Cruz Textile Arts Guild, part of the Northern California Handweavers Guild.

Summer Social!

Our next meeting will be a social meeting, perfect for bringing a portable project and catching up with your fellow Guild Members!

We’ll meet on the third Thursday on the lawn outside the Senior Center in Redwood City where we usually meet.  If there are issues with air quality we’ll move inside. Bring a portable project and an outdoor chair, and your own food and drink, no refreshments will be served.

At the time of this posting, masks are not required indoors, but if we move indoors, we recommend that you wear one.

Date: Thursday, July 21, 2022
Time: 6PM Pacific
Location: Redwood City Veterans Memorial Senior Center
1455 Madison Avenue
Redwood City, CA 94061-1549

May 26 – CNCH Wrap Up / Show & Tell

Our May Guild meeting will be on the 4th Thursday this month (May 26) due to CNCH. This will also be our first in person meeting this year!

Our guest speakers will be you, our guild members! This will be an extended show and tell. Share what you’ve learned at CNCH, both in and out of the workshops. What is grabbing your interest right now? What are you exploring? We want to hear from you! So bring your projects and stories.

While masks are no longer required in indoor spaces, we do encourage using a mask, asking that you do what is comfortable and safe.

April 21 – Marilyn Romatka

Uzbek Ikat: The Personal Saga of an Exceptional Cloth

Marilyn’s textile journey started with pack animals, llamas to be precise, and rapidly moved from there to spinning, then knitting, then weaving, and then to exploring textiles around the world. In the process, she became passionate about learning a wide variety of textile folk arts. She shares her knowledge through demonstrations at museums, projects with children, and through her book “Creative Crafts of the World.”

Our program this month will be a blend of travelogue and technique. We will explore the traditional Ikat techniques of the Uzbek people in Central Asia. In Marilyn’s own words:

Experience the exotic in your own home town; travel to Central Asia in this multi-media presentation. We have all seen Uzbek Ikat on the runway in New York and London, now travel back to Uzbekistan with Marilyn to watch the process of its production. Each thread manipulated, dyed, and woven into exquisite cloth – truly hand-crafted. Plus, a show-and-tell after the presentation.

Marilyn’s presentation will be followed by a question and answer session, and then by our own guild Show and Tell.

March 17 – Miriam Omura

Our March speaker will be Miriam Omura. Miriam is a textile and visual artist who works with many types of media, including weaving, fabric and photography. She will be speaking to us about her unique warp painting technique. Miriam will first describe the technique she uses and then take us on a journey through some of her pieces and their stories.

Memories result is a translation that acts as an interpretation of an event. As an immigrant, I have found my place through trying to understanding culture and place. This began with my past work, which dealt with personal identity through memory and family history connected to England and Sri Lanka. In recent years, that focus has shifted to exploring broader overlapping concerns that intersect with identity and social issues. Building on ideas of perspective and perception developed in my past work, my current imagery attempts to understand and ask questions about who and what makes up society around us. In looking for a way to comment on issues that will invite conversation and further investigation on the part of tthe viewer.

The memories we recall can be intentionally or accidentally distorted, changing without our realization. When memories are retrieved, they fuse with other memories to produce an unclear view that sits between truth and fiction. As a memory is recalled, it becomes layered and reshaped by the chemical process of retrieval in the brain. It is my hope to visually capture these ideas within my work, showing the intangible aspects of memory.

Also of interest is her story about moving from being working in museums to becoming an entrepreneur. 

Artist Website

February 17 – Andean Textile Arts

Textile Traditions of the Peruvian Highlands

Peruvian woman dressed in traditional clothing, sitting on the ground, weaving a scaffold piece with a backstrap loomDuring this hour long hosted video presentation, weavers, dyers, knitters, and spinners of the Peruvian highlands who are cooperative members of the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco (CTTC) are featured. The focus is on the preservation and revitalization of their traditional textile arts—including some techniques dating back to the Incas. These include the Andean way of spinning, dyeing, and knitting, as well as the tools to create belts, bands, textiles, woven edges, and skirt borders. Through the video clips and images, the weaving of doubleweave, ikat, tapestry, and discontinuous and supplementary warps are also highlighted.

This video program is narrated by ATA board member and well-known doubleweave author and teacher, Jennifer Moore. In addition to the video presentation, one or two ATA board members will be present on the scheduled Zoom call to field questions in real time at the end of the video. The total program, with the Q&A, is about one hour.

“Textile Traditions of the Peruvian Highlands” is an inspiring virtual visit to the weavers, spinners, knitters, and dyers of the Peruvian Highlands. It is an opportunity to “travel” to this part of the world and be exposed to the area’s unique traditional textiles and cultures.