He also remodeled my studio space and expanded it to include an area for wet felting.

I have begun teaching private lessons and hope to have a regularly rotating schedule by this fall where I offer a variety of skills classes for beginning and intermediate fiberartists.

The website is slowly being updated to reflect these changes. Slowly, mostly because I want to be working in my studio.

Planned expansion of this site will show more of the variety of work I like to do and will be teaching.



Yarn Painting

On a technical note-the type of yarn paintings that I make are very difficult to photograph due to the limitations of any camera I or my friends can afford right now. The yarns that I make have many tiny threads running in many directions that makes these hard to photograph at a distance. The close up pictures are much better than the whole picture. I understand that this is called moire and is due to a technical problem in digital cameras. I believe what I need is a four pass camera in order to avoid the blur or fuzziness. Please bear with these technical difficulties.

While studying multicultural art, I fell in love with the yarn paintings of the Huichol Indians of Mexico.

I approach their traditional techniques in my own way and make my own 'yarn' that I cut from hand dyed cotton and other fabrics which I then cover with contrasting or complimentary colors of threads. The yanrs are then fused or glued onto a backing.

Felting

I love the endless possibilities of wool. It can be worn, sculpted, used for shoes and saddles, as washers for metal parts, gaskets to resist oil and other leaks, and more.

My favorite approaches to wool are Nuno felting and sculpture.

Nuno felting is layers of wool that is felted onto a sheer fabric base. This gives a thin, drapable fabric that is also strong. Other fibers and surface design elements and techniques can be incorporated to make a most unique and exciting one-of-a-kind, new fabric.

Sculpting with wool can sometimes mimic clay or it can be felted and sculpted dry using felting needles. Dolls are a favorite for needle felting, however I prefer wall hangings and free standing scupltures.



Oil Pastels

The richness and superb of oil pastels really lends itself bold, intense colors and graphic styles. 

Oil pastels also blend well and gives subtle shading and nuances that for me isn't as easily done with other media.



Wearables

This area can include almost any type of surface design technique. Wearables were my first love and I find anytime I learn something new I first try to make it into a wearable and then into a sculpture.