Thanks to SDA member Silvia Piza-Tandlich, I learned about the non-profit textile organization Red Textil Iberoamericana, founded in 2006 in Costa Rica. Their first ever conference, First Encounter of the Iberoamerican Textile Network, was scheduled to take place in San Jose during October 2010. Here are some highlights of my first encounter with Red Textil……

Good student-level work is missing from art shows, galleries, runways and competitions. Why?

We hesitate.
We are afraid.
We don’t make the time to enter.

We have got to be brave!
Here is how and why we should begin looking, creating and entering……

Find out about SDA member Daniella Woolf’s book-turned-catalogue “Encaustic With a Textile Sensibility”. She “wanted to publish something different; not a how-to book, but a gallery between pages. [She] envisioned something that would inspire artists while exploring the breadth and depth that encaustic can provide.” Also check out the stunning book design by Carol Charney….

Let Mickie be your guide to 3 excellent online resources: the Berg Fashion Library, the Textile Museum of Canada and the blog of Temple University/Tyler School of Art’s Fibers & Material Studies program. All are excellent sources of fiber! Also included is a link to Rutger’s Legacy Planning archive of videos from a recent conference on that topic. …

Dr. Sandra Sider, SDA member and Vice President of Studio Art Quilt Associates, recently self-published this history of the American Studio Quilt. Read about the challenges she faced over the 9 years it took to get this documentation of the early makers of this movement–based on over 50 interviews–into print.
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Inspired by an 2009 SDA Newsletter/Shop Talk article by Jay Rich about mordants, Donna Brown and Diane de Souza collaborated with Catharine Ellis to conduct experiments using several mordanting recipes on Ellis’s woven shibori fabric. Find out how……

The 2010 Encaustic Conference (June 11-13) offered lots of reasons for artists working in fabric, thread, and paper to explore the medium of wax. A stimulating cluster of exhibitions, knowledgeable sessions on materials and processes, a brilliant keynote address, and an insightful panel on art and business sent participants home with heads full of information and inspiration….

Established collector Ginger Miller is reading “Makers: A History of American Studio Craft.” Therese Zemlin, who works in mixed-media including paper, is reading “The Woman Who Discovered Printing.” Sue Bleiweiss, also a multi-media artist and blogger, recommends “Photographing Arts, Crafts & Collectibles.” Get an insider’s take on these 3 books–then share a book that you’ve found inspiring and informative….

Nancy Koenigsberg of New York City shares some tales and images from her visit to the 13th International Triennial of Tapestry in Lodz, Poland in May. Ann Nyberg of Gnesta, Sweden, follows with some impressions from the 4th Riga International Triennial of Textile and Fiber Art that opened in July in Latvia….

Kickstarter isn’t always “in the bag”. Glenn Robinson, environmental activist and creator of Bags for the People, gives the straight dope on a failed Kickstarter campaign. Get acquainted with Kickstarter by reading the companion piece about the Textile Arts Center and their Kickstarter success. Then read Glenn’s take on how you can kickstart a fundraising project yourself. …