Wild About Fiber

I recently had the pleasure of being a featured artist at the Miami Valley Christian Academy for their annual Fine Arts Night.  It is organized at the school by the Art Department and was my first such experience!  The students even made a sign for my table.  My obligation as a participating artist was to demonstrate coiling.  The elementary age children and the parents seemed to be the most interested in the coiling.  One little girl was so attentive and asked such good questions!  It was fun to explain the different types of core material I had used and how I use them for different effect when she said, "hmmm....that makes sense."  SO CUTE!  It was a great experience to participate in this annual event! While I was demonstrating, I had a signup sheet on my table for people to sign up for a coiling class and so now I have to get ready for that class!  Gotta run, lots to do!

A little over a year ago, my friend, Robbie Porter taught one of my art groups, Creative Saturday, how to coil.  I have found I enjoy coiling very much.  It is an old way of making baskets and can also be a very artful form of basketry.  These are the first 3 pieces I have made.  With every piece I make, I explore what happens when I do something different to them.  With my first piece, I had no finished product in mind, but as I worked on it, the yarn started suggesting sand and surf as I worked on it.  Before I finished it, I had a trip to Florida and another artist friend, Charlie Patricolo of  Charlieclothdolls on Facebook, was teaching classes in Florida and I was visiting friends in Florida.  Charlie picked my friend Cheryl and I up and off we went to Naples, Florida to visit one of the galleries that carry Charlie's dolls.  We had a lovely day with lunch in Naples and a stroll on the beach just off of downtown Naples.  The ...