Teachers



Laurie BoyerLaurie Boyer
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Laurie Boyer was an illustrator until she received a drop spindle from a friend in 1995 and was immediately hooked on spinning. Now a fiber artist, she specializes in using, and encourages others to use, fleece from locally-grown, naturally-colored, and endangered breeds of sheep. Her work has won a number of awards including the 2003 and 2005 Supreme Award for Majacraft’s Innovation in Handspun Fibre Competition. Her enabler scarf skein of yarn won Judge’s choice at Michigan Fiber Festival 2009. She has spent many hours demonstrating and teaching spinning and felting to brave individuals and groups interested in learning her strange techniques.

Su ButlerSu Butler
Woodstock, Illinois
Su earned her BFA in weaving and watercolor painting from University of Northern Colorado in 1977, and teaches private students, and for guilds and conferences around the country. She began weaving at age three. To Su, weaving is a tactile dialogue. Given limited elements and equipment, she is presented with creative questions. Each answer pushes her beyond her creative limits, allowing her to grow as a craftsperson and artist. She has been the author of The Answer Lady column, numerous articles for HANDWOVEN and WEAVERS magazines and the COMPLEX WEAVERS JOURNAL. Her first book, Understanding Rayon Chenille, was released in December 2002.
http://www.subudesigns.com/
Yueh-mei ChengYueh-mei Cheng
Hancock, Michigan
Yueh-mei Cheng is the professor of studio art at the International School of Art & Design, Finlandia University, and the visiting professional at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. Cheng’s artwork has been widely recognized and collected. In addition to numerous group exhibitions worldwide, she had many solo exhibitions in museums and Art Centers in different countries such as the Museum of Kyoto in Japan, The Capital Museum and Beijing Art Museum in China, Galerie l’ARTicle in Paris and The Chinese Cultural Centers in New York and Chicago. She is often invited to give lectures and workshops in universities, museums, cultural centers and galleries. Cheng teaches more than art. She believes art is more than just technique; it is a visual expression of the entire soul. In keeping with this approach, she teaches people how to find their inner vision - both artistic and spiritual development.

Mary Sue FennerMary Sue Fenner
Green Bay, Wisconsin
A Clothing, Textiles and Design major at U. WI-Stout, art studies at Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Polytechnic, England, Kansas U. and a UW- Milwaukee MS gave Mary Sue an excellent background in fibers. She teaches Marketing and Graphic Communications at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, Green Bay, WI, and maintains a business, creating one-of- a-kind jackets. Noted for use of bright colors and her own handspun yarns, her clothing and accessories are seen in area shows, galleries and shops, and featured in Hand Woven, Shuttle, Spindle & Dyepot, Belle Armoire, Altered Couture, Sew Somerset and Haute Handbags magazines.

Phyllis FredendallPhyllis Fredendall
Hancock, Michigan
Phyllis Fredendall is associate professor of Fiber and Fashion Design at Finlandia University. She teaches weaving and off-loom structures, garment and surface design. Her medium of choice is wool - she learned felt-making in Finland in 1997. An artist’s residency on Isle Royale National Park sparked her current art practice, mapping with felt. She continues with the expression of memory and place creating "maps" felted in wool and silk and inspired by her own journeys or based on stories of family members. The maps of mines hold a personal fascination for her and inspired a series of "Ascension Maps" in wool and silk. Her work has been exhibited regionally and internationally.

Louise French
St. Paul, Minnesota
Louise French has been a weaver for over 30 years and in the past eight years has incorporated ply-split braiding into her love of design, fiber and color. For many years she taught classes each year at Sievers School of Fiber Arts and the Weavers Guild of Minnesota. She has also taught for several guilds across the country and at a previous Midwest conference. Her ply-split braiding necklace won the Libbie Crawford award at the 2009 Midwest Conference. Her work has been published in Handwoven, including one cover piece.

Barbara HeikeBarbara Heike
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Barbara Heike has an education degree from Carthage College, and she has studied with a number of nationally known bead and fiber artists. Her work is widely exhibited, and her awards include recognition for garment weaving from the Wisconsin Handweavers Inc., the Wisconsin State Spin-In, and the Midwest Weavers Association. Barbara first became enthused about beading nine years ago after taking classes at Sievers School of Fiber Arts on Washington Island and at the Bead and Button Show in Milwaukee. She has taught numerous beading and weaving classes, including at the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Festival in Illinois, Sievers, her home studio, Windflower Studio Arts in Green Bay, and throughout Wisconsin. Barbara is also an experienced horticultural educator and past Director of Children’s Gardening Programs at the Green Bay Botanical Garden.

Donna KallnerDonna Kallner
White Lake, Wisconsin
Inspired by ancient fiber techniques, Donna Kallner gives old ideas a contemporary spin to tell timeless stories about relationships, connections and identity. She teaches and exhibits her work across the country, and is the author of two books for fiber artists -- New Age Looping and Altered Images. Visit her web site, www.donnakallner.com, to see samples of her work, to learn more about looping, netting, and imagery on fabric, and to find links to her blogs Two Red Threads and Compost and Creativity.
http://www.donnakallner.com
Marcia KosmerchockMarcia Kosmerchock
Wausau, Wisconsin
Marcia threw her first shuttle in 1972 and has been weaving on and off since then. The last 10 years Marcia has been intrigued by collapse weaves and new and unusual yarns. Her journey has resulted in several hundred samples just waiting to be shared with other weavers. She serves as the co-chair of Complex Weaver’s Collapse Study Group. Her collapse weaves have appeared in Convergence Yardage exhibits and fashion shows and have been received three HGA Awards.

Daryl LancasterDaryl Lancaster
Lincoln Park, New Jersey
Daryl Lancaster received her BA in Fine Arts in 1977 from Montclair State University. She was a production weaver for 10 years, selling her work through various craft markets and galleries in the Northeast. She began teaching and found the ability to guide and inspire other weavers in the skills necessary to create their own well- fitted and well-constructed garments. Daryl has been sewing for more than 40 years and teaches garment construction and related topics to weavers and other fiber enthusiasts across North America. She is the Contributing Features Editor for Hand Woven magazine and writes the Fashion and Color Forecast column. A breast cancer survivor, Daryl uses her work as a vehicle to express who she is and the path she has traveled. Daryl lives in northern New Jersey with her husband and two teenage children.
http://www.daryllancaster.com/
Russ Mason
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada Russ Mason has been a teacher and a weaver for over 35 years. Classroom experience ranges from KP to college and university level instruction. He has been the president of the Ontario Handweavers and Spinners Association and is a frequent workshop instructor in a wide variety of topics including colour theory, dye procedures, basketry, specialized weave structures and hand manipulated surface design techniques. At present he is the weaver/instructor at Steelton Seniors Centre teaching an individualized course called Rag Rugs and Beyond. His current passion is textiles from India.

Anita Luvera MayerAnita Luvera Mayer
Anacortes, Washington
Anita Luvera Mayer is a designer of contemporary clothing inspired by ethnic originals with finishes and embellishments done by hand. Anita’s work has been included in national and international exhibits. She is the author of five books and frequently presents articles in major fiber publications. Anita believes there should be something magical and unique about what is worn each day and shares that concept of clothing with others through the workshops and lectures she presents in the United States and Canada.

Susan MoranSusan Moran
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Susan Moran is a textile artist living in Ann Arbor MI. She has an MFA from the University of Michigan and has taught at the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, the University of Michigan, and Wayne State University. Since 1986 she has been an instructor in the Crafts Dept. at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. Her work incorporates shibori, surface design and fabric collage. Her work was profiled in the April/May 2005 issue of FiberArts Magazine. In addition, the line of luxury scarves she produced for several years was carried in boutiques nationwide. In 1999 Susan was awarded a Tannahill Grant from the College for Creative Studies, and in 1988 a Michigan Arts Council Creative Artist Grant. She was awarded a Personal Development Grant from the National Surface Design Association to travel to Florence Italy in 2007, to research Renaissance Italian silks and velvets.
http://www.morantextiles.com
John MullarkeyJohn Mullarkey
St. Louis, Missouri
John Mullarkey has been weaving and spinning for more than 7 years but has been interested in fiber arts for much longer. He is a self-taught tablet weaver, and in spite of formal training in loom weaving and other weaving styles, he continues to return to tablet weaving and is passionate about spreading its many virtues. To better understand the complexity of tablet weaving, John has developed software that enables one to easily design tablet weaving patterns and to view the band before weaving. He is the primary author of the book A Tablet Weaver’s Pattern Book. John’s ongoing mission is to find the perfect tablet weaving loom for this loom-less art.
http://www.malarkycrafts.com
Sheila OSheila O’Hara
Lower Lake, California
Since her graduation from California College of Arts & Crafts in Oakland, CA (now CCA) in 1976 with a BFA in Textiles, Sheila O’Hara has captured imaginary and humorous landscapes. She uses compu-dobby and hand jacquard looms to create unique weave structures and lush textures. Her work has been exhibited internationally and is in many private, corporate and museum collections. Her informative and entertaining lectures and workshops have been given in Canada, Germany, Australia and the United States.
http://www.sheilaohara.com/
Pekka OlsonPekka Olson
Tapiola, Michigan
Pekka was born and reared on a small farm in Tapiola, Michigan - a rural farming community. It was a wonderful childhood, the woods and fields were his playground. The poem by John Greenleaf Whittier "The Barefoot Boy" sums it up well. Only now that he is a little older he has had the time to learn the old crafts he heard about and saw from the past. Pekka applied for and received a grant to go to Finland and study these crafts and now he is sharing his skill with others through workshops and classes in the area and is teaching a class in Florida this winter.
http://www.treehuggerlumber.com/
    Jane Patrick
    Boulder, Colorado
    Jane Patrick has been in the weaving and textile arts field for over 30 years. Between 1981 and 1992, she was an editor at Interweave Press where she was editor of Hand Woven magazine, books, and the Design Collections. Jane is an enthusiast of both the art and craft of the textile arts, with interests in both contemporary and traditional work. She enjoys the design process of bringing an idea to fruition. Her articles and projects have been published in Hand Woven and Craft magazine. She is the author of the recently published Time to Weave (Interweave Press). Jane has lectured and given workshops and classes for weaving guilds and conferences. She is currently vice president of sales for Schacht Spindle Company.
    http://blog.schachtspindle.com/
    Hollie Pierce
    Pelkie, Michigan
    Holly has been collecting baskets for years and in 1986 a neighbor invited her to her home to make a basket. She was hooked. After taking many classes, she began to teach basket making in 1990. She finds teaching others to weave baskets is very gratifying, the response is usually the same. Whether the student is seven or seventy his or her joy in the accomplishment is palatable. What a pleasure to pass this ability on to others. She has been a member of the Association of Michigan Basket Makers since 1993, and has taking many classes from some of the leading basket weavers.

    Kati Reeder-MeekKati Reeder-Meek
    Alpena, Michigan
    Hand-weaving since 1969, Kati was a pioneer in the National Endowment for the Arts Artist-in-the-Schools program with a year in Gallipolis, Ohio as hand-weaver, dyer, spinner and potter. She has been an invited lecturer at HGA Convergences in Washington DC, Minneapolis, Portland, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Vancouver, and Denver and Complex Weavers Seminars in Orlando and Albuquerque. Juried competitions throughout North America have featured Kati’s hand- weaving and spinning. Kati practices Scottish Highland dancing, skating, and weight work to ward off arthritis, and integrates fitness into her programs. She has published two books: Reflections from a Flaxen Past: For Love of Lithuanian Weaving, (hardcover, color), and a monograph: Warp with a Trapeze and Dance with your Loom. She has recently supervised a new tartan design for the Gift of Life Foundation and her design is currently recorded as "Michigan Up North" has a bill in committee for its adoption as the official tartan of the State of Michigan.
    http://katimeek.blogspot.com/
    Nadine SandersNadine Sanders
    Chehalis, Washington
    I teach weaving because I love to help students realize their creative potential at the loom. I have presented over 150 workshops, programs, and retreats in the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom. I weave clothing, rugs and wall hangings with a focus on pictorial design. Writings, songs, photography, people, and wilderness outings inspire my designs. I received my formal education in fiber arts at the Oregon College of Arts and Crafts in Portland, OR. My mentor and co-author, Joyce Harter, and I have written two books on the Theo Moorman technique. I’ve produced the DVD and companion booklet Warping on a Shoestring and led fiber tours in Scotland. I create an innovative, energetic, affirmative teaching environment in the classroom.
    http://www.singingweaver.com/
    Robyn SpadyRobyn Spady
    Bremerton, Washington
    Robyn Spady learned to weave more than 35 years ago. She completed HGA’s Certificate of Excellence in 2004 with the specialized study "Loom-Controlled Stitched Double Cloth." Robyn is inspired by the many ways to weave double-faced fabrics to create versatile fabrics. She also explores uncommon weave structures and narrow warp weaves.
    http://www.spadystudios.com/
    Vicki TardyVicki Tardy
    Iowa City, Iowa
    Vicki Tardy has been weaving since 1974 and was co-owner of The Weaving Studio in Iowa City, Iowa, from 1983-1993. Teaching weaving has been Vicki’s main focus in recent years; she has taught beginning and intermediate classes and workshops for The Weaving Studio, the Iowa Federation of Handweavers and Spinners, the Midwest Weavers Association, Convergences and guilds throughout the country. Her main areas of interest are exploring various 4- and 8- shaft pattern weaves and adapting them to use in garments and functional household items. Many of Vicki’s hand-woven items have appeared in Weavers and Hand Woven magazines. She lives in rural Iowa City and raises llamas for breeding, guard animals and spinning fiber.
    http://home.mchsi.com/~vtardy/
    Cameron Taylor-BrownCameron Taylor-Brown
    Los Angles, California
    Cameron has immersed herself in the worlds of fiber, education and commerce since the 1970s. She studied fiber art at the University of California, Berkley with artist Ed Rossbach and textile design at the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science. She worked in New York City as a stylist of upholstery and home furnishing fabrics, taught textile design at the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science and worked as an exhibition curator. Since 1985, Taylor-Brown has lived in Los Angeles where she maintains a studio and is active in several arts organizations. She was a founding board member of the Textile Group of Los Angeles, is President of California Fibers, and is a board member of Designing Weavers.
    http://www.camerontaylor-brown.com/
    Karen TembruellKaren Tembruell
    L’Anse, Michigan
    Karen has been making baskets since 1983 and teaching since the early 90s. She weaves and teaches primarily with local gathered materials. Her baskets have won many awards, including Best Miniature Piece at the 2008 ABM Convention. Karen was inducted into the MSU Heritage Program - Heritage Basket Collection project where 3 baskets will be permanently displayed at the MSU Museum and in the accompanying book Weaving History, A Basket Heritage Project. Karen also has a basket featured in the recent 500 Baskets published by Lark Books.

    Amy TylerAmy Tyler
    Interlochen, Michigan
    Amy has fine arts training in modern dance, and graduate degrees in kinesiology and physiology. She has been knitting and designing for over 20 years, spinning for 10 years, and teaching for over 30 years. Amy’s fiber arts work is heavily influenced by both her fine arts training and her science training: common to both is an appreciation for composition, pattern recognition, and systematic exploration. The result is her focus on texture, three- dimensional structure, and knit designs that exploit hand-spinning techniques. Her fiber work has been published in Spin Off, Fiberline Magazine, and Knit Lit the Third. Her spinning and knitting have won awards at regional and national fiber events. She offers her knit designs and hand spun yarns under the business name "Stone Sock Fibers".
    http://stonesockfibers.com/default.aspx
    Heather WinslowHeather Winslow
    Sugar Grove, Illinois
    Heather Winslow is a teacher and textile artist who is known and respected nationally. Her educational background is in teaching, and after 40 years, she still has a passion to share her knowledge with others. She is chairman of the faculty of The Fine Line Creative Arts Center in St. Charles, Illinois. Heather is a regular teacher at Sievers School in Wisconsin, and she has taught at Arrowmont and Coupville. She teaches weaving, knitting, spinning, dyeing, beading and embellishment at guilds and shops and at state, regional, national, and international conferences. Heather’s one-of-a-kind garments have been exhibited internationally and are in several private collections. Her articles have appeared in fiber-related magazines such as Hand Woven, Spin-Off, and Weavers, and her garments have been published in a number of books. Heather is the author of More on Moorman: Theo Moorman Inlay Adapted to Clothing.