03/23/2012

The Agony & Ecstasy of Competition Entry

by Lynne Bruning

eTextiles evangelist & digital diva Lynne Bruning asks hard questions and shares the answers she’s found while navigating the rapids of competition entry. Let her insights help you cut through the chaos and caveat about getting your work out there.

12/30/2011

In Search of Creative Clarity

by Linda Witte Henke

If your work – or life – feels stuck or out-of-focus as a new year begins, catch a fresh wind from the experience of 3 participants who are taking Jane Dunnewold’s independent study course to find creative clarity. Linda Witte Henke shares her perspective.

Get the real story behind what it takes to plan and shoot a video how-to about your favorite textile technique or creative process. SDA member Anne Selby (UK) generously shares her insights on making one about arashi shibori that includes the award-winning machine she designed.

08/30/2011

On Campus with Kaino: Shingo Sato Workshop Jumpstarts Creative Thinking

by SDA Student Representative Kaino Hopper

The next time your creative energy feels stuck or blocked, Kaino Hopper suggests taking a workshop with Shingo Sato, the most famous Japanese designer no one has heard of. His innovative methods for sculpting the surface of garments will shift your paradigm.

07/21/2011

A World of Natural Dyes: The ISEND Experience

by Elaine Lipson

Experience the International Symposium and Exhibition for Natural Dyes (April in France) through the eyes and words of SDA member Elaine Lipson. An editor/writer/artist, she brought back images that capture the feeling of being there while also recapping the main issues addressed and offering some suggestions for future ISEND confabs.

Read how Mary Jaeger took what she heard at India Flint’s talk on bio-regional dyeing (at SDA Confluence conference), mashed it up with her 3rd grader’s study of Eastern Woodland Indians and became Chief Dyer of a naturally-stained t-shirt wearing tribe of 25 at NYC’s PS 234.

In this new “Shop Talk” series, SDA member and printmaker Cherie Blackwell (CA) will explore how she adapts traditional techniques to print on textiles. Check out this informative overview as well as the great visual energy in her printed textile work.

04/28/2011

Creative Process: Bias Tape & Me

by Joe Cunningham

One in a growing number of SDA’s “Men in Quilts”, Joe Cunningham has been working in the medium since 1979. Follow along as he takes you through his process on a breakthrough quilt he made in 2006. Creative sparks along his way home in San Francisco’s Presidio ignited his imagination, leading him to freely fuse the ideas and materials that took him to a new level of working “in flow”.

If you want to make a living making art, it takes business savvy as well as creativity. Invest in your future, support your vision and boost your skills by registering for this Confluence pre-conference workshop led by internationally recognized master dyer Mary Edna Fraser. PLEASE NOTE: This workshop has been cancelled due to low enrollment, but you can still read art of business insights by MEF here!

ART YARN was a hot topic at the recent Textile Society of America conference in Lincoln, NE, thanks to Tracy Hudson’s outstanding and eye-opening presentation. This peripatetic spinner/quilter, currently based in Qatar, shares her take on this new twist and how the ravelry.com community has inspired and supported her work through the magic of the World Wide Web. Get inspired by her creative process and spin art, then link to some of her favorite spinners and resources…