Textiles & Tea

The Handweavers Guild of America, Inc. (HGA) is excited to announce our new program, Textiles & Tea. Each week HGA will host a conversation with some of the most respected fiber artists in the field today. In our 45-minute discussion we will focus on their artwork and their creative journey. We will allow 15 minutes at the end of our conversation for questions from the audience. Textiles & Tea will take place every Tuesday at 4:00 PM (EST) beginning in January 2021 and will be broadcast via Zoom. These broadcasts will be free to view and open to all.

2021 Schedule

Textiles & Tea takes place online every Tuesday, 4:00 - 5:00 PM EST.

Click on the date for more information and to register (registration open through January).

Zoom allows up to 1,000 guests to view the program on the platform at any given time. This program is also shared Live on HGA's Facebook page. A link will be provided in the registration confirmation email.

November 2021

November 2, 2021: Bhakti Ziek generously sponsored by Heddlecraft® Register Bhakti Ziek is internationally known for work that has ranged from backstrap weaving to digital jacquard weaving. She has a M.F.A. from Cranbrook Academy of Art, a B.F.A. from the University of Kansas, and a B.A. from SUNY at Stony Brook. Bhakti has lectured and taught workshops throughout the United States and abroad. Her writings on contemporary fiber have been published in many journals, including American Craft, Surface Design Journal, and Fiberarts. She is the co-author, with Alice Schlein, of The Woven Pixel: Designing for Jacquard and Dobby Looms Using Photoshop; and she also co-wrote Weaving on a Backstrap Loom with her mother, Nona Ziek. Her extensive exhibition record includes work in the permanent collection of Princeton University (Princeton, NJ) and the Museum of Arts and Design (New York City, NY). A former college professor, she now offers private workshops in her Santa Fe, NM studio.
November 9, 2021: Deann Rubin generously sponsored by Greener Shades Register Deann Rubin holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Design from The University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. Later, she received two-year certificates in computer graphics and illustration from Collin County Community College in Plano, Texas. Known as a fiber artist, Deann has exhibited her handwoven tapestries nationally and internationally, including Russia, Australia, and Canada. Deann was the editor of the ITNET Journal, an international tapestry organization and past president of both Tapestry Weavers West, a San Francisco Bay area tapestry artists association, and Missouri Fiber Artists, a statewide fiber organization.
November 16, 2021: Alanna Wilcox generously sponsored by Greener Shades Register Alanna Wilcox is an art teacher by day and a fiber artist by night. She loves sharing her passion with others and is constantly making things, especially projects that have to do with color and fiber to express her creativity. She earned the OHS Spinning Certificate with distinction in 2015 and the Master Spinner Certificate in 2017. She is the author of the spinning book A New Spin on Color and developed dye formulas to match digital images and colors. She is currently working on a book explaining her dye methodology which will be released later this year. Working with fiber is something that she lives and breathes, sometimes literally.
November 23, 2021: Kim Winter generously sponsored by Greener Shades Register Kim Winter is a fiber artist based in London, UK. A late starter as far as textiles are concerned, she spent 25 years in journalism before becoming engrossed by color and texture at evening classes in experimental textiles. Her first foray into the fiber world was through felting and natural dyeing, selling clothes from charity shops that she had upcycled by eco-printing or overdyeing with indigo using Shibori techniques. More recently she has become interested in 3D form, and she is currently on a two-year creative basketry course, where she has already won an award for her coiling.
November 30, 2021: Char Norman generously sponsored by Weavers Guild of St. Louis in Memory of Laura Blumenfeld Register Char Norman is an accomplished fiber artist specializing in papermaking and fiber sculpture. She received a Master of Fine Art from Claremont Graduate University and a Bachelor of Art from Scripps College. She has lectured and exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally. She has developed and conducted workshops for all ages, worked as a consultant to area schools and community arts organizations, and served as a trustee for Greater Columbus Arts Council. Char held the positions of Associate Provost and Dean of Faculty at Columbus College of Art & Design and has now returned to the studio as a full-time professional artist.

December 2021

December 7, 2021: Jennifer Moore generously sponsored by Lunatic Fringe Yarns Register Jennifer Moore holds an MFA in Fibers and specializes in exploring mathematical patterns and musical structures in doubleweave wall hangings. She has exhibited throughout the world, receiving numerous awards for her work, and has been featured in many weaving publications. Jennifer lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and travels extensively to teach workshops in doubleweave, color, and geometric design. Jennifer was invited to teach doubleweave to indigenous Quechua weavers in Peru in 2013, where they are once again excelling in this technique which had been discontinued after the Spanish conquest. She is the author of The Weaver’s Studio: Doubleweave, several doubleweave videos and online courses, and numerous articles.
December 14, 2021: Margo Selby generously sponsored by Tabby Tree Weaver Register Margo Selby is a renowned British textile artist and designer. Her design philosophy is focused on pushing the boundaries of weaving to create contemporary stylish fabrics for a range of textile applications, uniting the very best weavers and high-quality fibers to produce beautifully crafted products.
December 21, 2021: Molly McLaughlin generously sponsored by Complex Weavers Register Molly McLaughlin is a fiber artist who lives on the New Hampshire seacoast. Her work focuses on transforming the dynamic interplay of color and light found in nature into vibrant and beautiful designs. Molly’s artwork is created by combining a variety of weaving and dyeing techniques that she utilizes to produce harmonious colors and bold compositions. While visiting a large fiber market in 1992, Molly fell in love with all things fiber related. Her passion for the medium led her to start a 30-year journey toward developing weaving and dyeing skills that would allow her to fully express her visual imagery. Molly firmly believes that, as an artistic medium, weaving is versatile enough to create anything, if you can see it clearly enough in your mind. Molly’s fiber work has been exhibited in shows across the U.S., and has won many awards, including The Diane Fabeck Best in Show award at Complexity (2018), and the Cambridge Arts Association Artist of the Year award (2019).
December 28, 2021: Melanie Olde generously sponsored by Doreen Trudel in Memory of Esther Dendel Register Melanie Olde’s weaving practice is continually driven by curiosity and new learning. Her love of weaving started early, growing up on a goat farm with an engineering father and a mother involved in industrial textiles. At 18 Melanie went on to study jacquard weaving at Fondazione Arte della Seta Lisio in Italy at 18 and completed her BA in Textile at the Australian National University in 2002. Her work explores new technology and old, with research interests in biomimetic and mathematical forms, and interpreting these in 3-dimensional loom-woven cloth, including embedded technology and new materials. She also has a keen interest in the history and development of complex woven structures in Asia. Melanie’s professional weaving experience has been in business, research, teaching and exhibiting nationally and internationally. Recently, she has been involved with the Complex Weavers, winning first place in Complexity (2020), and published articles for the Complex Weavers Journal.

January 2022

February 2022

March 2022

Previous Episodes

All episodes of Textiles & Tea are recorded. For more information on previous episodes, click the links below.

January 2021

January 5, 2021: Mary Zicafoose Watch Video “I strive to be an inspirational presence in the textile world.” Mary Zicafoose’s fiber journey began with ikat cloth she received as a gift as a child. Her undergraduate degree was from St Mary’s College and graduate work was School of the Art Institute of Chicago and University of Nebraska. In pursuing a more painterly approach to fiber she was drawn to ikat technique which took her on her 30 year journey. She is the co-director emeritus of the American Tapestry Alliance. She has recently published a book Ikat: The Essential Guide to Weaving Resist-Dyed Cloth.
January 12, 2021: Peggy Wiedemann sponsored by Laurel Schwartz Watch Video Peggy Wiedemann grew up in Long Beach, California. She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles earning a degree in Fine Arts with an emphasis on drawing and painting. After college, she experimented in a variety of art mediums including oil painting, pen-and-ink drawing, printmaking, sculpture, and ceramics. Peggy found basketry and was hooked. Peggy uses a wide variety of materials and has a strong preference for natural fibers. To these natural materials, she adds metal, beads and “found” objects to form unique pieces.
January 19, 2021: Janet Phillips sponsored by Made In America Yarns Watch Video Janet Phillips studied industrial textile design at the Scottish College of Textiles, graduating with a First Class Honours Degree in 1972. After working in industry for three years she bought a 16-shaft Dobby loom and built up a career as a commission weaver, designing and weaving functional fabrics for private clients. From 1987 to 2004 she taught a one-day, weekly community education class in Oxford. In 2009 she stopped her commission weaving work to focus on teaching weaving and weave design from her studio in Somerset, UK. Janet is the author of The Weavers Book of Fabric Design, Designing Woven Fabrics, and recently published Exploring Woven Fabrics.
January 26, 2021: Rebecca Mezoff sponsored by Appalachian Yarn Company Watch Video Rebecca Mezoff is a contemporary tapestry weaver with a studio in Fort Collins, Colorado. Her work is drawn from the colors, open skies, and symbols of the southwestern United States. She hand-dyes all her own yarn to get the color gradations she loves, and she weaves most of her tapestries on her grandfather's Harrisville rug loom. Her work is in various public and private collections and you can see some of the tapestries in the gallery on her website.

February 2021

February 2, 2021: Laura Viada generously sponsored by The Textile Museum Journal Watch Video Laura Viada is an artist who works in the medium of fiber, primarily as a handweaver. Using linen, silk, cotton, and metallic threads as her “paints”, Laura creates visually complex works using the simple elements of geometric form and the interaction of color. She employs many different weaving techniques, but her “go to” favorites are diversified plain weave and transparency. She has taught both topics widely over the last 15 years, including numerous regional and three Convergence^® conferences. Her most recent works explore color using Theo Moorman technique.
February 9, 2021: Nathalie Miebach generously sponsored by The Woolery Watch Video Nathalie Miebach explores the intersection of art and science by translating scientific data related to meteorology, ecology and oceanography into woven sculptures and musical scores/performances. Her main method of data translation is that of basket weaving, which functions as a simple, tactile grid through which to interpret data into 3D space. Central to this work is her desire to explore the role visual and musical aesthetics play in the translation and understanding of complex scientific systems, such as weather.
February 16, 2021: Lucienne Coifman generously sponsored by Made in America Yarns Watch Video Lucienne Coifman has taught weaving for almost 45 years at the Guilford Art Center (Guilford, CT), The Creative Art workshop (New Haven, CT) and in her own studio. She's also conducted workshops throughout the Northeast and the Midwest, including the last 4 Convergence^® conferences. For 35 years, Lucienne has been studying Rep Weave, experimenting with different fibers. Her main interest has centered on color interactions and patterns, using up to 8 harnesses and using pick-up techniques when needed. She has researched many unusual ways to weave Rep Weave that do not follow the traditional path. Her weavings have appeared in Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot, Handwoven, and have been included in many juried exhibits. Her book, REP - RIPS - REPS Weaves (2015), is a complete workshop for both beginning and advanced weavers.
February 23, 2021: Robbie LaFleur generously sponsored by Meridian Mill House Watch Video Robbie LaFleur has been following a thread of Scandinavian textiles since she studied weaving at Valdres Husflidsskole in Fagernes, Norway in 1977. She has continued her study with Scandinavian instructors at workshops in Norway and the U.S. Recent projects include interpreting Edvard Munch’s “Scream” painting into a variety of textile techniques (British Journal for Weavers, Spinners and Dyers' article) and weaving tapestry portraits of her relatives. She was awarded the Gold Medal in Weaving from the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in 2006. Robbie coordinates the Weavers Guild of Minnesota's Scandinavian Weavers Study Group and is the editor and publisher of the quarterly Norwegian Textile Letter.

March 2021

March 2, 2021: Denise Kovnat generously sponsored by the Whatcom Weavers Guild of Bellingham, WA, in memory of Leslie Comstock Watch Video A weaver since 1998, Denise Kovnat has taught at conferences and guilds across the United States, Canada, and Australia with a focus on parallel threadings, collapse techniques, painted warps and Deflected Double Weave. Her garments have been juried into Convergence^® fashion shows since 2008 and have won awards from Complexity (Complex Weavers), the Handweavers Guild of America and the Seattle Weavers Guild.
March 9, 2021: Heavenly Bresser generously sponsored by the 2020-21 HGA Board of Directors Watch Video Heavenly Bresser is an award-winning handspinner, published author, and proud owner of Heavenly Knitchet. After discovering a love for spinning yarn, Heavenly became determined to learn something new every day from spinning wheel to spindle. Taking a project from raw fleece to finished product is one her favorite things. She teaches classes for a local spinning guild and also at fiber festivals. Heavenly has led two sheep to shawl teams. She has written for major publications including Ply magazine, Spin Off magazine as well as tinyStudio Creative Life. When Heavenly isn't teaching, vending, or playing in fibers and yarn, she repairs antique spinning wheels.
March 16, 2021: Cameron Taylor-Brown generously sponsored by Made in America Yarns Watch Video Cameron Taylor-Brown was introduced to textiles by artist Ed Rossbach at the University of California, Berkeley. She studied textile design at the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science, where she subsequently taught design and weaving. Since 1985 she has lived in Los Angeles where she is active in arts and education, and founded ARTSgarage, a textile resource center. Her work is widely exhibited and has been featured in American Craft, Handwoven, Fiber Art Now, and Shuttle, Spindle and Dyepot. She teaches workshops at schools, guilds, museums and conferences throughout the United States and at ARTSgarage in Los Angeles. She is a past president of California Fibers and serves on the advisory boards of the Fowler Textile Council and Textile Arts Los Angeles. In 2019, she curated the critically acclaimed exhibition, Material Meaning: A Living Legacy of Anni Albers at the Craft in America Center in Los Angeles.
March 23, 2021: Deborah Robson generously sponsored by Marcy Petrini & Terry Dwyer Watch Video Deborah Robson is a fiber generalist who specializes in spinning, knitting, and weaving, although she experiments with all aspects of textiles. She is the fiber author of The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook and of The Field Guide to Fleece, in collaboration with livestock expert Carol Ekarius. For fourteen years she worked at Interweave Press, editing both books and Spin-Off magazine. She has a DVD set available from Long Thread Media, a free class on wool types available at Craftsy.com, has done several guest appearances on KDTV, and is publishing focused fiber-topic monographs.
March 30, 2021: Tien Chiu generously sponsored by Marcy Petrini & Terry Dwyer How to View Tien Chiu is an expert on color in weaving. Her work has been exhibited in museums and featured on the cover of Handwoven, and she has taught over 10,000 students in her online classes. She has woven hundreds of handwoven fabric swatches and dyed over 2,500 yarn samples in a quest to understand color. She teaches about color in weaving on her website.

April 2021

April 6, 2021: Gene Shepherd generously sponsored by Tabby Tree Weaver Watch Video Although Gene Shepherd did not start rug hooking until 1998, it has been his only outside interest since that time. Described as a “self taught artist who hooks by ear,” Gene hooks, does commission work for individuals and museums, designs, dyes, develops tools, and teaches and writes about rug hooking. His work has been featured many times in Rug Hooking Magazine, ATHA Newsletter and A Celebration of Hand Hooked Rugs. As a way of developing and refining his own artistic journey, he has written three books: The Rug Hooker’s Bible, Prodded Hooking for a Three Dimensional Effect, and Prepared to Dye. He has also written and appeared in over 125 instruction videos on dyeing, rug hooking, proddy and a various topics related to the art form. A prolific blogger, Gene has written thousands of blog posts on topics concerning the techniques, tools, inspiration and experiences that compel him to create fiber art–a venue that has allowed him to connect on an almost daily basis with fiber artists around the world. Based out of his Anaheim, CA studio, where Gene regularly teaches classes, he also travels all over the U.S. and Canada teaching and speaking on his artistic interests, as well as makes occasional trips to Australia, England, Russia and Haiti.
April 13, 2021: Kelly Marshall generously sponsored by Meridian Mill House Watch Video Kelly Marshall is owner of Custom Woven Interiors and creates hand-woven textiles for both residential and commercial settings. She designs and weaves rugs, wall-hangings, table coverings and much more. Her work is characterized by rich colors combined with wonderful textures. Her work has been featured in a number of magazines including Better Homes and Gardens, Spaces Magazine, and Niche Magazine. Her book Custom Woven Interiors is an inspiration in color use and design, complete with drafts for 18 gorgeous rep weave projects.
April 20, 2021: Jacqueline James generously sponsored by Meridian Mill House Watch Video Jacqueline James was born in Scotland, grew up in the U.S., and currently lives in York in the United Kingdom. She attended the Harrogate College of Art with a focus on rug weaving. Her focus has been on using natural, sustainable, soft and durable materials such as wool, cotton and linen, but recently she has been exploring more exotic natural fibers such as silk, ramie and banana fiber. She studied with Peter Collingwood and uses his shaft switching technique to produce her unique geometric designs. To achieve her signature color combinations and gradations, she hand-dyes her yarns. Jacqueline has been awarded public commissions including weaving for Westminster Abbey, York Minster and the British Library. She has exhibited extensively and has won a variety of awards and grants.
April 27, 2021: Lilly Marsh generously sponsored by Made in America Yarns Watch Video Lilly Marsh is the owner of Lilly Marsh Studios of Glen Falls, New York. She specializes in transforming local farm fibers into home décor and wearable fabric. As a fiber artist using a variety of modalities including fiber sculptures, her work has been exhibited throughout the United States and Canada. She has a PhD from Purdue University in their American Studies program combining art history, studio art, anthropology, and culture. Lilly is a founding member of the Hudson Valley Project who are working to strengthen the fiber supply chain of local cloth production.

May 2021

May 4, 2021: Sue Weil generously sponsored by M eridian Mill House How to View Sue Weil earned her Bachelor of Arts, Cum Laude in Social Anthropology from Harvard University, taking many studio art classes alongside her academic studies. Early in her career, she wove one-of-a-kind fabric for her line of women’s clothing which was sold in galleries and boutiques and was regularly featured in the Chicago edition of Women’s Wear Daily. After leaving the field for a couple of decades, in 2011 Sue returned to weaving, this time with a focus on tapestry. Combining Sue’s interests in anthropology and art, she finds herself especially drawn to weaving’s cultural universality, noting the connection between ancient and modern cultures through solving the need for warmth and beauty by manipulating fiber to create cloth, rugs and tapestries. Sue is especially drawn to the sensual, tactile warmth of the fibers and the way the image draws the viewer beneath the surface. Her works have appeared in numerous juried exhibitions at venues throughout the US and abroad. Additionally, Sue has been featured in solo shows in the San Francisco Bay Area.
May 11, 2021: Nazanin Amiri Meers generously sponsored by C entral Coast Weavers How to View Nazanin Amiri Meers studied Textile Design and Print and received her MA in Design Technology. Immigrating to the United States in 2014 and earning an MFA in Fiber Arts at the University of Kansas was a turning point in her artistic life. Nazanin currently lives in San Diego, California and making large scale installations and multimedia 2D work, combining various techniques and media to address the importance of privacy and quietude in public spaces. Iranian architecture influenced by Islamic philosophy and decorative patterns are endless sources of inspiration for her work. Amiri Meers has worked as an instructor of art and Research Assistant since 2014, Instructing various summer camps, kids workshops, adult classes and managing various art projects at the Lawrence Arts Center, University of Kansas and Kansas State University. Nazanin's artwork has been exhibited internationally.
May 18, 2021: Cassie Dickson generously sponsored by Y arn Barn of Kansas How to View A Mississippi native, Cassie Dickson has lived in western North Carolina for the past 30 years. As a heritage member of the Southern Highland Craft Guild, Cassie specializes in the weaving of historical coverlets and linens. In addition, she spins, natural dyes, grows flax and raises silkworms. She processes the flax for linen and the silk for yarns and instructional purposes. Cassie's recent honors include being interviewed and video'd by the Smithsonian National Museum of History for the National Woven Coverlet Collection (available on their website and YouTube), and weaving a coverlet for one of the bedrooms of the Arlington House in Washington, D.C.
May 25, 2021: Carol James generously sponsored by T aproot Video Co-operative How to View Carol James has been exploring sprang and other low-tech, easily transportable textile methods for 30 years. Self-taught, she has examined sprang items in collections across North American and Europe, and has made replicas of some of these items for clients such as George Washington’s Mount Vernon, the German Archaeological Institute, and the Norwegian Army Museum. She has taught in Canada, the U.S., New Zealand, and Europe; and her students describe her as patient, knowledgeable, and quite enthusiastic. Carol is the author of numerous articles and four books: Fingerweaving Untangled, Sprang Unsprung, two books of Sprang Lace Patterns, and two instructional DVDs. She has spent much of her Covid isolation time writing out more sprang lace patterns and instruction sheets.

June 2021

June 1, 2021: Gerhardt Knodel generously sponsored by Schiffer Publishing How to View Gerhardt Knodel has contributed to and reshaped the fiber arts for more than 40 years. Early experiences in theatre design resulted in his use of textiles as interior architecture. He has exhibited and taught around the world, and he is widely known for his numerous commissions for contemporary architecture. For 25 years he led the graduate program in Fiber at Cranbrook Academy of Art and subsequently was named the director. He now maintains a full-time studio practice in Pontiac, Michigan.
June 8, 2021: Majeda Clarke generously sponsored by Schiffer Publishing How to View Inspired by her own cultural background, Majeda Clarke’s designs celebrate regional weave techniques and the identity of the maker. Whether in small batch production or entirely handmade she seeks sustainable, local production. All the designs deconstruct the geometry of weave while color and pattern are reconsidered in a fresh modern approach. She works closely with local communities such as UNESCO Jamdani weavers of Dhaka, renewing ancient techniques. Majeda's mill woven pieces also explore a lost weaving heritage which can be traced back generations. Her work has been exhibited extensively throughout Europe. She sells her work online and through commissions.
June 15, 2021: Linda Hartshorn generously sponsored by Yarn Barn of Kansas How to View Linda Hartshorn is a weaver and dyer, known for her unique dye-work and lively use of color in her handwoven textiles. Linda weaves and dyes in her home on the redwood coast of California and teaches weaving at the Ink People Center for the Arts in Eureka, California. Linda enjoys leading workshops and brings her positive, fun and supportive teaching style to events all over the country. She is a two-time recipient of the Victor Thomas Jacoby Award for spinners, weavers, and dyers.
June 22, 2021: Justin Squizzero generously sponsored by Schiffer Publishing How to View Handweaver Justin 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.
June 29, 2021: Jessica Pinsky generously sponsored by Fiber Arts Guild of Pittsburgh, producer of the Fiber Arts International Exhibition How to View Jessica Pinsky grew up in Akron, Ohio and moved to Cleveland in 2011 after receiving a BFA in Studio Art from New York University in 2006 and an MFA in painting from Boston University in 2009. She began teaching at Cleveland Institute of Art in 2011 and is currently serving as faculty in the Sculpture and Expanded Media department. Together with Cleveland Institute of Art, Jessica founded Praxis Fiber Workshop in June 2015.

July 2021

July 6, 2021: Joan Ruane generously sponsored by Taproot Video Co-operative How to View Joan Ruane has been teaching spinning for almost 30 years. As a graduate from Springfield College, she taught in the Tucson Public Schools before going to New Zealand in 1971. While there she learned to spin from Ruth Reid. When she returned to the U.S., Joan continued to spin and began teaching and demonstrating at the Pioneer Settlement in Florida. Joan has owned two retail shops and is the maker of Easy to Spin cotton fiber. She has produced two DVD's on spinning cotton. Now Joan concentrates on teaching workshops, writing, and promoting cotton and hemp wherever she can.
July 13, 2021: Helena Hernmarck generously sponsored by Schiffer Publishing How to View Helena Hernmarck's signature is her ability to harness light and color as conduits for spectacular illusion in handwoven textiles. Using a technique of her own invention, she conjures details from our visual world. Helena was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1941. After graduating from art school in Stockholm in 1963, she moved her studio to Canada and later to England before settling in the United States in the mid-1970s. Hernmarck now maintains an active studio in Connecticut, USA. She continues to support Swedish textile arts, and collaborates with Swedish spinners, dyers, and weavers on each commission.
July 20, 2021: Evee Erb generously sponsored by Austin School of Fiber Arts How to View Evee Erb is a nationally award-winning American artist who graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 2016 with a BFA in Ceramics. While attending MICA, she also studied Illustration and Textile Design. Additionally, Erb studied ceramic sculpture in Florence, Italy at SACI College of Art and Design. After receiving her degree, Erb returned to her hometown of Durham, North Carolina 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 artist talks at various institutions.
July 27, 2021: Julie Kornblum generously sponsored by Austin School of Fiber Arts How to View Julie Kornblum earned her BA in Art, with a concentration in fiber and fabric art, at California State University Northridge. But being a fiber artist was hereditary. She learned sewing, knitting, and crochet from her mother and grandmother. She attended fashion design school at Los Angeles Trade Technical College, was a patternmaker in the garment industry and taught at Otis College of Art and Design. Julie teaches fiber related workshops and her woven wall and basketry work has won numerous awards.

August 2021

August 3, 2021: Sean Dougall & Andrew Paulson generously sponsored by Schacht Spindle Company Register Sean Dougall and Andrew Paulson are the co-founders of multidisciplinary art and design studio Dougall Paulson. They seek beauty through new forms of weaving, furniture, lighting, and objects. Using narrative as the thread that binds ideas together, their unique take on visual storytelling is the starting point for the creation of objects that straddle the fine, decorative, and graphic arts. Based in Southern California, Dougall Paulson approaches their practice with a focus on curiosity and discovery.
August 10, 2021: John Mullarkey generously sponsored by Yarn Barn of Kansas Register Nationally-recognized teacher John Mullarkey has been tablet weaving for over a decade. His work has been displayed in the Missouri History Museum, and garments using his card woven bands have been featured in international fashion shows. His designs are featured frequently in Handwoven. John is the primary author of A Tablet Weaver’s Pattern Book, and has produced two DVDs for Interweave Press: Tablet Weaving Made Easy and Double-Faced Tablet Weaving. He is the developer of the Schacht Zoom Loom. John will be teaching at HGA's Convergence^® conference taking place July 2022 in Knoxville.
August 17, 2021: Elizabeth Morisette generously sponsored by Michigan League of Handweavers Register Elizabeth Morisette is a graduate of NCSU College of Design and received a Masters Degree from Maryland Institute College of Art. She has been exhibiting her weavings and sculptures for 25 years. In the Fall of 2020 she was featured in Hyperallergic, an online arts magazine, for her work in the University of Denver’s MASK exhibit. She has also been featured American Craft Magazine, The Denver Post, and The New York Times. Elizabeth has exhibited all over the U.S. She is currently the Education Coordinator at the Museum of Art Fort Collins.
August 24, 2021: Melissa English Campbell generously sponsored by Weavers Guild of St. Louis in memory of Laura Blumenfeld Register Melissa English Campbell is an award winning artist, working with fiber, painting, and weaving. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Royal Albert Museum and Tramway Gallery in the UK; Seoul, South Korea; Como, Italy; Museum of Texas Tech University, the New Bedford Art Museum, and the Hedge Gallery. Melissa holds a Bachelor of Science from U.C. Davis and a Master in Fine Arts from Kent State University. She has had a career as a textile and fashion designer prior to starting a family and later as an assistant professor at Kent State University. Melissa now works full time in her Northeast Ohio studio.
August 31, 2021: Joan Berner generously sponsored by Yarn Barn of Kansas Register Joan Berner started working with her hands at a young age, primarily sewing and knitting. As with many fiber artists, other crafts skills were added but they still were fundamentally dependent on sewing. It wasn’t until her husband decided she needed to learn to weave that she fully began to realize the vast creative opportunities in the fiber world. Upon retiring, she later moved from western New York to the Asheville area for constant inspiration and a great climate. She felts, weaves, stitches shibori, spins and dyes, and now turns most of her cloth into garments. Joan has taught at regional conferences, John C. Campbell Folk School, Convergence^® and currently teaches the Sewing for Handwovens course at Haywood Community College’s Professional Crafts: Fiber program. One of her happiest experiences was placing first and third in the 2018 Convergence^® Fashion Show in Reno. Joan will be teaching at HGA's Convergence^® conference taking place July 2022 in Knoxville.

September 2021

September 7, 2021: Kira Dominguez Hultgren generously sponsored by Austin School of Fiber Arts How to View Kira Dominguez Hultgren is an artist and educator. She studied French postcolonial theory and literature at Princeton University and performance and fine arts in Río Negro, Argentina. With a dual-degree MFA/MA in Fine Arts and Visual and Critical Studies from California College of the Arts, her research interests include material and embodied rhetoric, decolonizing material culture, and analyzing textiles as a performative critique against the visual. Her work was featured in the July/August 2020 issue of Architectural Digest. Kira is part-time faculty at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Fiber and Material Studies.
September 14 2021: William Storms generously sponsored by Grace Tully How to View William Storms is a mathematically driven craftsman who moonlights as a Hand Weaver and daylights as a full-time Jacquard Designer for Crypton Fabric's recently acquired Mill in NC. His handwoven work is an ongoing effort to produce three-dimensionality, in a traditionally two-dimensional world. Combining collapse weave structures with pliable soft metals and Passementrie techniques, Storms is still on a mission to discovering his formula.
September 21, 2021: Deborah Jarchow generously sponsored by Ashford Wheels & Looms How to View Deborah Jarchow is a full time weaver and artist who teaches and lectures on fiber arts, creates and sells wearable art, and has exhibited her work at galleries and museums across the United States. Her commissioned pieces are held by churches as well as many private collections. Deborah loves helping people discover the joy of weaving and during the past several years, has focused her teaching mainly on rigid heddle looms. She travels extensively to share her weaving enthusiasm and expertise. As a nationally recognized teacher, she is known as a generous educator who makes weaving accessible, exciting, and fun for students of all levels.
September 28, 2021: Boisali Biswas generously sponsored by Michigan League of Handweavers How to View Boisali Biswas studied at the International University of Vivsa-Bharati in India. This university was founded by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore and has a profound impact on her work. She completed her MFA at Bowling Green State University The subject of her work is her own life experiences, thoughts, and surroundings. Living in this country for over three decades, 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. The issue of belonging is meld through her art.

October 2021

October 5, 2021: Michael Rohde generously sponsored by Cameron Taylor-Brown and ARTSgarage Register Michael F. Rohde has been weaving since 1973. His formal training in drawing, color and design was at the Alfred Glassel School of the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. His activities include lectures, workshop teaching, juror, exhibition organizer and exhibitor in many local, national and international juried and invited shows.
October 12, 2021: Elin Noble generously sponsored by Weavers Guild of St. Louis in Memory of Laura Blumenfeld Register Elin Noble has a BFA in fiber from University of Washington and studied art history in Florence, Italy. She is the author of Dyes & Paints: A Hands-on Guide to Coloring Fabric. As the former lab Manager at Pro Chemical & Dye, she has a vast understanding of dying. She has exhibited extensively and won a variety of awards. She has appeared on PBS, lectured and conducted workshops throughout North America and internationally. She has lived and traveled all over the world and currently resides in Massachusetts.
October 19, 2021: Loren Batt generously sponsored by Greener Shades Register Loren Batt received an Associate Degree in Fine Arts at Franklin College in Lugano Switzerland and finished college at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. After college she moved to Paris to study painting, painting conservation, lithography, and viscosity printing. She returned to D.C. and continued printing and began sewing soft sculptures. She eventually settled in France. Loren has exhibited her work worldwide including in HGA's 2019 and 2020 Small Expressions exhibits.
October 26, 2021: Dawn Edwards generously sponsored by Michigan League of Handweavers Register Dawn Edwards is a felt artist and tutor based in Plainwell, Michigan. She sells her work under the label ‘Felt So Right’ and teaches extensively within the USA and internationally. Her felt art has appeared in numerous exhibitions, shows, magazines and books, including Ellen Bakker's book Worldwide Colours of Felt, several issues of the Australian FELT Magazine, the International Feltmakers' Association Felt Matters journal, HGA's Shuttle, Spindle & Dyepot, the Russian magazine Felt Fashion. Most recently several of Dawn’s beaded felt hats appeared in the International Feltmakers' Reconnect Exhibition.

Be a Sponsor & Support Textiles & Tea

Through sponsorship you can reach new audiences and connect with the fiber community in their homes. We know from our Spinning & Weaving Week events that an average of 1,000 people viewed our videos either live or recorded. These numbers will only grow as our event grows in popularity.

Sponsorship includes:

Recognition at the beginning and end of each broadcast (also to be recorded and shared on Facebook Live and HGA's YouTube channel)
Emails sent to HGA’s mailing list of nearly 11,000 promoting the event with you listed as a sponsor and a link to your website
Promotion of the event along with your sponsorship on HGA’s social media platforms: Instagram (2,400+ followers), Twitter (1,300+ followers) and Facebook (5,700+ page likes and 6,200+ followers)
Identified as event sponsor on HGA's website and on the event listing on the HGA Fiber Art Calendar

We are offering introductory sponsorship packages at $150 per Textiles & Tea episode or four episodes for $500 (call HGA for 4-episode discount). Your sponsorship helps HGA to promote the fiber arts and support the artists who create. Will you be a sponsor?

How To Sponsor:

Purchase your sponsorship online or call (678) 730-0010.

For more information contact Kathi Grupp, HGA Advertising & Marketing Manager, at (470) 893-0556 or Advertising@WeaveSpinDye.org. Thank you for your consideration.

The Handweavers Guild of America, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

Our mission is to educate, support and inspire the fiber art community.