HWSDA Conference 2006
June 2, 3 & 4, 2006 - High River, Alberta
"Warped and Twisted - Creative Colour Connections"
Post Conference Workshops June 5, 6 & 7, 2006
Hosted by the Nanton Spinners & Weavers Guild
Conference 2006 was fun, exciting, informative, visually stimulating event for those members who ventured to High River for the HWSDA Conference! Events were held at the high school and at the Heritage Inn in High River, south of Calgary. We enjoyed
- amazing seminars and guest speakers
- juried show of textiles and a fashion show of wearable art
- colorful scarf exchange
- trade show and vendors, fibre fair, textile displays
- UFO exchange and sale
The Challenge: Use colour to create a warped and twisted textile.
Conference Colours: pink, blue, yellow, purple, orange and green
Visit their website or send them an email. Thank them for a wonderful conference!
KEY NOTE SPEAKER
“CRAFTING DEVOTION - A LIFE IN THE ARTS”
Our keynote speaker was Arlene Westen, a practicing artist and instructor for over twenty years. Arlene holds a B.F.A. Degree with Distinction from the Alberta College of Art & Design in Calgary, as well as art-related diplomas from other institutions. Arlene also offered a full day workshop as well as a two day post conference workshop.
JURIED SHOW
The Juried Show was definitely inspiring. The show definitely showcased the calibre of work done by our members. Thanks to the members of the Heritage Weavers of Calgary who agreed to spearhead this endeavour.
EXCHANGE
You can never have too many scarves. Some members went home with new scarves for their wardrobe.
UFO GARAGE SALE
The newest event at the conference was the UFO table and one that was constantly changing. One woman’s dog on the loom is another one’s pet project. Here weavers were given a chance to get rid of no longer loved stash the half completed projects, the unspun or unknown fibre, the never to be used colored yarns or the stuff at the back of their closets. The proceeds were donated to the Thelma Fanning Memorial Library and the Family Community Support Services in Nanton, who have graciously supported the Nanton Spinners and Weavers Guild since its inception.
FASHION SHOW
Sunday brunch featured your wearable art, created with colour in mind. Our own vivacious, enthusiastic Jean Newsted was the commentator. Starting with scarves and shawls, clothing and ending with accessories, we enjoyed a startling variety of creativity. What are fashion shows for if not for inspiration!
SPIN IN
Spinners in the spin-in area of the vendors was a great place to stop by and talk spinning or try out a wheel.
VENDORS
The vendors area exploded with temptations! The colors, the yarns, the equipment, the books! What a delight! Thanks to Ruth Blazenko for all her work on the vendors area.
INSTRUCTORS
The Nanton Spinners and Weavers Guild thank Deb Turner and the members of the Sheep Creek Weavers for the fabulous job they did in recruiting the instructors for Conference. The following instructors were there and gave all of us much information and inspiration:
Katharine Dickerson
Katharine had weaving studios in New York, Chicago and Victoria where she wove major architectural commissions. She joined the Fibre Faculty at the Alberta College of Art and Design in 1977. She has given lectures and workshops in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. She has researched twining of the Pacific Rim for the last 35 years living with the Salish, the Aborigines and the Maoris. Her most recent research deals with her Norwegian heritage and the weaving unique to the Flesberg area.
Mackenzie Frère
Mackenzie is a textile artist, writer and educator based in Calgary, Alberta. He received his Bachelor of Fine Art Degree in Textiles at the Alberta College of Art and Design in 1998, and recently completed his Masters of Fine Arts Degree in Craft at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University in Halifax. Mackenzie has taught natural dyeing and weaving courses in both Alberta and Nova Scotia and looks forward to sharing his passion for natural dyes at the HWSDA conference.
Crys Harse
Crys has a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the Alberta College of Art and Design and is an award winning metal-smith with a passion for surface texture. Her interests include vessel-making and small scale sculpture. Initially a basket maker, she is currently exploring the connections between metal-smithing and basketry, along with her ongoing work on the etched and wrinkled surface. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, featured in several weaving and metal-smith publications, as well as being in numerous private collections. She is an enthusiastic teacher, dedicated to the development of the student’s artistic potential.
Laura Johnson
Laura owns Legacy Studio in Cochrane, Alberta. She is a hand-spinner and mosaic artist in addition to doing traditional rug hooking. She enjoys working her own designs and encouraging others to be creative. She is currently designing some Alberta-themed rugs.
Liz-Anne Jonassen
Liz-Anne was born and raised in Alberta. She has had a life long interest in textiles and has studied many disciplines in this field. Recently she graduated from City & Guilds with a certificate in Design and Embroidery. She enjoys mask and puppetry and is currently working on a project combing textiles and story telling.
Bill Morton
Bill is a graduate from the Alberta College of art and Design and has been an instructor there since 1983. He lived and worked in Japan for 14 years studying Japanese textiles and dyeing, including natural dyes. Bill’s work is in collections worldwide. He has traveled widely exhibiting, studying and collecting textiles.
Nana McKernan
Nana was introduced to feltmaking at ACAD under Lyn Pflueger's instruction. She has been fascinated with the process for the last five years and teaches classes in flat felting in central Alberta.
Coleen Nimetz
Coleen has been spinning, dyeing and knitting since 1985. Her work has appeared in many juried shows and has been the recipient of numerous awards, most recently the Saskatchewan Craft Council Award for Excellence in Textiles. She has taught spinning and dyeing for the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Arts and Science, as well as workshops in the United States and Canada. She has completed six levels of the Master Spinners Certificate Program sponsored by the Handweavers, Spinners and Dyers of Alberta and Olds College.
Lyn Pflueger
Lyn is a graduate with a Degree in textiles from the Alberta College of Art and design and is a part time sessional instructor in the Fibre Department. She has taught weaving, spinning and feltmaking around Alberta over the last 20 years.
Karen Selk
Karen has been a textile designer and artist since 1972. Her primary focus has been weaving and fusing felt with silk. A quest for knowledge of all aspect of silk has taken her throughout Asia researching the history and heritage of silk traditions. She travel teaches sharing her approach through lectures and workshops. The cloth, culture and people of other countries as well as the life in Karen’s garden are the source of her creative spirit. Karen is the author of numerous magazine articles, an education poster about the life cycle of the silkworm and a silk fusion video. As managing director of Treenway Silks she designs and develops new yarns, fibres, kits and colour palettes.
Frances Schultz
Frances has been weaving for 35 years and taken many courses in weaving structure at HWSDA, ANWG and HGA Convergences. These have included courses from such well known instructors as Lucille Crighton, Shirley Berlin, Bonnie Inouye, Barbara Walker, Ingrid Boesel, Rosalie Neilson, Donna Sullivan, Mary Bentley, Catherine Ellis, Madelyn van der Hoogt to name a few. Frances has taught workshops throughout Alberta, including other HWSDA conferences, on Unit Block weaves, Lace Weaves and Colour Effects, Dyeing and Advanced Weaving. She has been a member of the Weaving Certificate Committee for seven years, and a marker for ten years. With a Bachelor of Education Degree, Frances also has teaching experience in the public high school system.
Christine Thomson
Christine is a Calgary based Costume Designer who has been working professionally in television and film for over 15 years. Her films run the gamut from period westerns like “Roughing It” , a mini-series starring James Garner and Adam Arkin, to modern day shows dealing with Afghanistan’s immigration issues in “Chasing Freedom”, starring Juliette Lewis. One of her most recent films was with Matthew Perry as a small town schoolteacher in “The Ron Clark Story”. Christine’s background before the world of film was designing for the theatre in Vancouver and California for 10 years, including the horse drawn theatre company, The Caravan Stage Company. Her film credits include Costume Supervision for “Into the West” produced by Steven Spielberg, and “Brokeback Mountain” starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. Her design work on “Chasing Freedom” won her a 2004 AMPIA award for Outstanding Costume Design.
Deb Turner
Deb has been weaving since 1986 and is seduced by fine threads, colour and structure. She has been exploring kumihimo since 2003.
Jackie Van Fossen
Jackie, a painter at heart, has been working in the fibre and design field for a number of years. She is a member of the Edmonton Needlecraft Guild and the Edmonton Weavers Guild to offset her specialty of quilting. Her passion is working with design and colour, especially colour application of fabric painting, dying, printing, shibori and other surface techniques. Her work has evolved into a collage of multi-media works including felting, embroidery, paper making, quilting, weaving and surface embellishment. Jackie has studied with such well known fibre artists as Nancy Crow, Yvonne Porcella, Bill Morton, Pam Godderis and Mary Sustrik. Her work has been exhibited in a number of venues throughout Western Canada and has won numerous awards.
Nancy Walker
Nancy discovered the magic of needle felting in 2003. Since then, this award-winning fibre artist has taught several classes on the subject. Nancy loves to teach and meet people who share an interest in the arts. She is passionate about designing her own work and the challenges of creating a new piece. She also enjoys other forms of fibre art such as knitting, crocheting, quilting, sewing and when she takes the time, watercolour painting.
Arlene Westen
A practicing artist and instructor for over twenty years, Arlene holds a B.F.A. Degree with Distinction from the Alberta College of Art & Design in Calgary as well as art-related diplomas from other institutions. In addition to maintaining an independent studio practice, Arlene has instructed papermaking and book arts throughout Alberta, B.C. and the NWT, is a faculty member with ACAD’s continuing studies department and has been a visiting artist/instructor at Selkirk College’s Kootenay School of the Arts in Nelson, B.C. over the past five years where she instructs surface design to post-secondary students in the fibre department.
