Weaving Circuits with Victoria Manganiello

Saturday, February 17th + Saturday, February 24th
with a midweek meetup
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In this workshop we will explore the basics of conductive and resistive yarns for the purposes of weaving circuits. Small components like batteries, lights and switches can be embedded into the woven structure creating soft and flexible electronics. Students will learn the basics of weaving and the basics of electrical circuitry. We will engage in discussion about e-textiles and talk about ancient technologies like weaving alongside current/future technologies like electrical engineering. While these approaches can be applied to a variety of textile based techniques like sewing, knitting, etc., we will focus on weaving and the woven structure.

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Victoria Manganiello (She/Her)

Victoria Manganiello is a textile artist, historian, and educator. Her work has been featured in Hyperallergic, The New York Times, Boulin ArtInfo, Forbes, and Architectural Digest, among others. Her studio Craftwork focuses on experimental craft techniques in both the physical and digital realms. Exploring the intersections between materiality, technology, geography, and storytelling, Victoria’s multi-disciplinary and installation work, abstract paintings, and kinetic sculptures are made meticulously with hand-woven textiles using hand-spun yarn and hand-mixed natural and synthetic color dyes alongside mechanical alternatives and modern technologies.

 

Layered with (Re)Purpose with Natalya Khorover

Saturday, March 2nd + Saturday, March 9th
with a midweek meetup
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Dryer sheets: we’ve all used them, we’ve all thrown them away. Well no more! This helpful fossil fuel derived denizen of the laundry room is recyclable in only one way - ART! AND combined with single-use plastic packaging and mesh, all sorts of paper ephemera and even fabric scraps, it becomes a wonderful new surface which can be painted on, stamped on, printed on and stitched on by hand and by machine.

Save your used dryer sheets, collect them from friends, and put them through the wash cycle with some towels. Gather up your paper ephemera, look through your pantry for soft plastic packaging and dig out those fabric scraps, the tinier, the messier, the better!

We will learn all sorts of ways to use them in your mixed media art adventures. Bring your paints, stencils, needles and thread and leave with a collection of samples to use in your next creation…. And help to save the planet.

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Natalya Khorover (She/Her)

Natalya’s art is an extension of her commitment to using recycled and repurposed materials, a lifelong advocacy. Her detailed works are nuanced and reimagined images inspired by the lines of the urban environment. A close examination of Natalya’s art reveals delightful and unexpected combinations of materials as diverse as vintage lace, plastic sheeting, and candy wrappers, layered and collaged with machine and hand stitching.  Her work has been exhibited and published throughout the United States including the Dairy Barn, Schweinfurth Art Center, Surface Design Journal, and SAQA Journal.

 

Grounded in Place: Pigments on Fabric with Hannah O’Hare Bennett

Saturday, March 16th + Saturday, March 23rd 
with a midweek meetup
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Earth pigments are finely ground minerals that have been used to make paint since ancient times, including some of the colors used in cave paintings. In the first session of this workshop, we will use soy milk as a binder to apply these rich colors to natural fabrics. This process produces an “antique” look that has many applications from art objects to garments. We will also cover ways of creating resists to block areas of fabric from receiving the color. The second session will include a demo of making pigments from natural dye baths, which can be used in the same way as mineral pigments. We will also talk about the meaning behind the materials, which can impact the content of art works made with these substances.

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Hannah O'Hare Bennet (She/Her)

Artist, Papermaker and Educator, Hannah O’Hare Bennett holds an M.F.A. in Design Studies with focus on Textiles and Paper—from The University of Wisconsin Madison, WI. With a background in printmaking, Bennett’s organic mixed media works may be encountered as weavings, collages and/or sculptures. All reflect a creative curiosity that honors the natural world through her textures, palette and materials.

Procreate: Digital Repeating Pattern Block Design with Raquel Busa

Saturday, March 30th + Saturday, April 6th
with a midweek meetup
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In this class, students will learn how to use the iPad application Procreate to design repeating pattern blocks and how to save these files for future editing. 

Students will need to have a basic understanding of the Procreate application including how to use the gallery, color palette, brushes, and erasers. Students should also have a basic understanding of canvas templates, the selection, and the transform tool. 

In the first section of the class, students will learn how to set up their template and how to create a full drop pattern block. Students will be asked to create a duplicate pattern block in a different color way. In the next section, students will share their work with each other and learn how to create a half drop repeating pattern block and export their designs.

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Raquel Busa (She/Her)

Queer Latinx illustrator Raquel Busa strives to create work representing BIPOC and LGBTQ families. She has illustrated and published three coloring books, including "LGBTQIA + for Kids." In 2020, Raquel completed her master's degree in business management and leadership. That same year, she established Maquina 37 LLC, an illustration studio and online shop. Her most popular services are private virtual art classes and custom illustrations. Her style is playful, nostalgic, and light-hearted. She works in collage, sewing, embroidery, and other traditional and digital mediums.

 

Sculptural Basketry with Sarita Westrup

Saturday, April 13th + Saturday, April 20th
with a midweek meetup
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Explore three dimensional fiber forms with Sarita Westrup! We'll be diving into the materials, techniques, approaches, and tools she uses to twine her arched baskets. We'll cover prepping reed for spokes and weavers, starting an open bottom basket, backwards twining, and finishing the lip of the basket. Other materials/media for twining and surface will be discussed. The workshop will focus on demonstrations and time outside of class may be needed to finish your basket. 

 

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Sarita Westrup (She/Her)

Sarita is a craft based artist and art educator of mixed Mexican descent living in Dallas, TX. Rooted in weaving techniques and bricolage, her sculptural basketry works are inspired by where she was born and raised, the Rio Grande Valley on the Texas - Mexico border. Through the use of mixed media and woven sculptural forms, her work explores the themes of tension, movement, and containment, joined and permeable space, and the bi-cultural aesthetics of her home. Her artwork is exhibited nationally and is published in American Craft and Surface Design Journal.