This week we are speaking with William Storms from New York. William is a professional weaver in both the industrial and artistic realm. Through his industrial work he is working with Jacquard looms and designing intricate repeat designs that will be translated for use in public applications. His artistic work explores materials and hand manipulation to create dynamic pieces of art. One of his ongoing pieces with Artist Raul Martinez, is a rug that was woven with bullets that were collected within a respective country to weave a ballistic map. Each of the bullet casing’s headstamp reveals the country and manufacturer of origin. These maps were woven during his residencies at the Museum of Art and Design in NYC, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams, Massachusetts, and the Governors Island Residency in NYC. A new project where his artistic vision and industrial knowledge have blended together is working in conjunction with Crosby Street Studios to create a collection of handwoven custom rugs. These rugs explore the tradition of American Craft through a modern lens. It is his first collaboration of this kind and the rugs are available in four colorways, as well as fully custom colors and sized to order.

The Bauhaus, an acclaimed school that embraced the principle of equality among artists and the arts alike, has continued to influence and impact American art long since it’s closure. The weaving workshop in particular was a place of developing aesthetic and supporting innovative teaching methods. Many weavers have “On Weaving” by Anni Albers sitting in their bookshelf.

We hope you enjoyed our video last week. This week, Eric will be demonstrating rug weaving on his Varpapuu loom. If you have any questions that come up from the demonstration please leave a comment below, and we will do our best to answer.

This week, we have a recorded live video of Tegan demonstrating on her AVL loom and talking about how she got into weaving, the pros and cons of the AVL, and answering questions. If you have any questions that come up from watching the demonstration, comment below, and we will do our best to answer.

This week we are talking with Anne Fernweh of Witch Craeft from Vermont. In her bio, Anne quotes Alexander Langlands by saying "To be craefty is all about resourceful living and about going back to the basics: a mindful life achieved through beautiful simplicity." Her work envelops this idea, making each piece personal, thoughtful, and powerful in its grace. While she was earning her Master’s Degree in Dress and Textile histories in Scotland, the seeds for Witch Craeft were sewn. The business grew out of her desire to blend her love of textiles with her earth based spirituality, graduate studies and the ancestral tradition of handweaving. Since childhood she has been delighted by textile art "transmuting mundane fibers into magical heirlooms", learning techniques and skills from the hands of her mother and grandmother.

This week we are talking with Jovencio de la Paz from Oregon. Jovencio is an artist, writer, and educator. His work explores the intersection of textile processes such as weaving, dye, and stitchwork as they relate to broader concerns of language, histories of colonization, migrancy, ancient technology, and speculative futures. Interested in the ways transient or ephemeral experiences are embodied in material, de la Paz looks to how knowledge and experiences are transmitted through society in space and time, whether semiotically by language or haptically by made things. He is currently Assistant Professor and Curricular Head of Fibers at the University of Oregon.

This week we are talking with Angie Parker of Angie Parker Textiles in Bristol, England. In 2014, she established her business by creating distinctive and intricate rugs and textile art. Her speciality is in using traditional weaving techniques, such as krokbragd and giving them a fresh outlook in modern colors and proportions.

This week we talk with Jessie Mordine Young from New York City. Jessie is a textile curator, teacher and maker, primarily focusing on weaving and tufting. In some of her most recent bodies of  work, Jessie responds to her time spent in rural landscapes. She spent time living in Ireland, a small village in Iceland and in the Adirondacks. Her time in secluded places left her feeling energized and inspired. After having months to engage in deep thought on her practice, sincere observance, and connection to her surroundings, a new series of woven work that reflects her meditative experience has emerged.

This week we talk with Jackie Jarit Sobel, the Director of the craft show producer Artrider. Artrider Productions Inc. has been nationally acclaimed for producing innovative events in the Northeast since 1982 and produces shows and festivals that maintain the highest standards and reflect an unwavering commitment to excellence. Their events have been ranked among the top nationwide.

This week we will be talking with April Zellinger of Zelllinger Wool Company from Frankenmuth, Michigan. The Zellinger Wool Company, founded in 1910, has been taking natural fibers that are renewable, biodegradable and making it into a product that will be used in homes across America. They are both a processing fiber mill, taking in a large variety of fiber types to produce roving, batting, combed top, and yarn. They also have the capabilities to produce final products such as socks, gloves, and hats.

This week we talk with Erika Hewston, a sculptural and wearable weaver from Pennsylvania. Though Erika has skills as a quilt maker and repairer, she is primarily a weaver of functional wearable items and luscious textured wall hangings. All of her work focuses on the interaction of vibrant color to create striking statement pieces. Using a variety of materials for her wall hangings, she invites the viewer to explore the depth of color created. And with her wearables she focuses on the drape and texture to let the wearer encompass the rich colors and textures gracefully with next to skin softness. She views and uses her work as an escape from the craziness of the real world, creating whimsical landscapes to get lost in.

This week we will be talking with Evee Erb from North Carolina. Erb is a nationally award-winning American Artist who graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2016 with a BFA in Ceramics. During her time at MICA she also studied illustration and textile design. After studying ceramic sculpture in Florence, Italy, and receiving her degree, she returned to her hometown in Durham, North Caroling, where she has worked at the North Carolina Museum of Art, taught workshops at a variety of art centers, served on curatorial jury panels, and given lessons and art talks at various institutions.

This week we talk with Brienne Rosner, the Gallery Director of the Peters Valley School of Craft, located in Layton, New Jersey. Peters Valley School of Craft, founded in 1970, is nestled amid the field, forests and streams of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. The historic buildings have been adapted to serve as a gathering place for a thriving community of artists and environmentalists, thinks and changers of the world. Peters Valley is considered a thought leader in the field of fine craft and one of the top five institutions of its kind in the United States.

This week we will be talking with Evee Erb from North Carolina. Erb is a nationally award-winning American Artist who graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2016 with a BFA in Ceramics. During her time at MICA she also studied illustration and textile design. After studying ceramic sculpture in Florence, Italy, and receiving her degree, she returned to her hometown in Durham, North Caroling, where she has worked at the North Carolina Museum of Art, taught workshops at a variety of art centers, served on curatorial jury panels, and given lessons and art talks at various institutions.

This week we talk with Justin Squizzero of The Burroughs Garret in Vermont. Squizzero challenges modern definitions of progress by creating functional textiles that celebrate the natural world and the dignity of human labor. Echoing a time when utilitarian objects were entirely handcrafted, his work connects material, maker, and user across time and place. Squizzero’s venture, The Burroughs Garret, draws on the textile traditions of his northern Vermont home, marrying natural dyes and fibers with a reserved aesthetic rooted in early New England. Produced on his 19th-century farm using 200-year-old hand looms, Squizzero’s textiles examine the role of handcraft in a post-industrial society, questioning the human experience in a digital age.

This week we talk with Constance Collins of Constance Art Couture from Indianapolis, Indiana. Constance expresses her artistic voice through pattern and color. Using primarily alpaca, bamboo, silk and a dash of metallic for sparkle, she modifies traditional weave structures to create unique patterns. Her complex weave structures create a sense of rhythm and play as they interact with her bold warp and weft colors. Her strong sense of color comes through particularly in her art pieces. Similar to pointillism, she creates works that reveal deeper texture and strategy the closer you inspect.

This week we talk with Constance Collins of Constance Art Couture from Indianapolis, Indiana. Constance expresses her artistic voice through pattern and color. Using primarily alpaca, bamboo, silk and a dash of metallic for sparkle, she modifies traditional weave structures to create unique patterns. Her complex weave structures create a sense of rhythm and play as they interact with her bold warp and weft colors. Her strong sense of color comes through particularly in her art pieces. Similar to pointillism, she creates works that reveal deeper texture and strategy the closer you inspect.

This week we are talking with Francisco and Laura Bautista of Bautista Fine Hand Wovens from Sandy, Oregon. Francisco (a fourth generation Master weaver) and his wife Laura were born in Teotitlán del Valle (teohtetlan del valyay), a Zapotec village in Oaxaca, Mexico. The weavings they create are inspired by the the beauty of traditional Zapotec weavings, Navajo art and the Bauhaus design. They are both fascinated by the infinite possibilities of crossing threads, and the magic of dancing with their looms. Even when honoring the ancient ways, they never forget that weaving is more than a museum piece- it continues to grow with each generation as a living art, combining tradition with new expressions of colors, imagery and symbolism.

JaggerSpun yarns have been a staple in many weavers yarn stashes for many years. Their bright saturated colors in worsted yarn makes for beautiful suiting, wearables, and home goods that will last for years. I find the drape of the cloth produced to be light, weighted just enough, and comes together for a nice hand.

Together as 4th and 5th generation rag rug weavers, they upcycle all different materials into their weavings. Being able to share stories of where their fabric came from is just another level to the textured and often colorful pieces they create.