2008 Craft Show Artists

Combining knitting with embellishing, I mix luxurious yarns with Swarovski crystals to create timeless wearable accessories. The textiles have dynamic color and pattern effects that are refined, yet highly functional.

We employ direct dye applications including hand tooled batik, shibori and silkscreen using Japanese, Korean, Chinese silks and some hand-woven Indonesian cottons. Inspiration comes primarily from recognizing our instinctive place in the world community. The circle or diamond pattern for example is universal withstanding time and cultural barriers.

All my hats are made from flat yardage rather than the prefab hoods used by most milliners. Fibers include grass cloth, banana fiber, silks, and feathers. Techniques include hand dying, reweaving, hand painting, sculpting, and sewing. My handmade, handpainted silk flowers, which can be worn as corsages or hat ornaments, are sold separately.

Susan Bradley's luxurious wraps are the culmination of a lifelong fascination with tactile luxury, exotic travel, and the beauty of visual story in textile art. Her work is inspired by the ancient art of the Japanese kimono and Chinese fabrics. Visually the fabrics are created by quilting silk/wool together with kimono or brocade, fulled for texture. Susan also makes a line of dramatic jackets using Neoprene.

I am a fifth generation Dutch weaver and have been in business for over 30 years. My husband has been in the English Textile Industry for over 35 years. We are both involved in all process of the garments and work side by side. Our work is collected by individuals the world over and we pride ourselves on making unique garments for individual clients. Each item is made from yarns that we hand dye and weave or needle felt into distinctive patterning. Our studio is one of the only studios in the world that produce these kinds of fabrics. We pride ourselves on attention to detail and customer service. This is our life and our passion and we look forward to sharing it with your patrons

Braided Wheat straw is stitched together to form a hat body that is finished with wire and ribbon. It is then trimmed with findings and milliner-made trims.

The silk shirts are hand dyed fabrics. I dye silk, crush the fabric and applique it onto the shirts. My inspiration comes from the materials I use.

All work is hand-woven and/or hand dyed silk (in complex weaves) scarves, shawls and garments.

When I start a piece, I have only a basic vision in my mind, more about what the work feels like than what it looks like. I just throw myself into the rich warm textures and colors of the felt and watch the pieces evolve almost by themselves. I cut the felt by hand and start building up the layers, sewing them together using strong sharp needles to penetrate the thick material. I enjoy the improvisational nature of the process, toying with the colors and forms and letting the work just happen.

Lesley Hansard and Rebecca Welsh are inspired by the glories of nature! We hand make each piece using the non-woven process of feltmaking by layering natural fibers such as merino wool, silk, mohair and 'fulling' them together with warm, soapy water on a glass washboard.

It has been my life's work creating fashion with fabrics. The collection of Metallic fabric is the current new material. The cutting, dying, and finishing processes have been the challenge. Tension of the metal gimp yarn's twist creates textures with twist. Styling feminine drape and fluidity in the garments has applied the natural infinity of this fabric. Color is now applied to silk over metallic gold, silver, and copper opening the color palette and its complexities. I've but only begun to scratch the surface of the possibilities for beautiful wearable metallic garments.

White silk is dyed first, using various techniques, and then screen printed with up to three different screens. Scarves and clothing are pieced from several original prints and types of silk. Many combinations are one of a kind. All the scarves are reversible.

I create one-of-a-kind accessories, body textiles and sculptures. I color, weave, felt, stitch and bead fiber, primarily employing natural dyes, protein fibers from silk cocoons and animal fleece, and a variety of found materials chosen for their textures and metaphoric possibilities. I am inspired by humanity's age-old relationship with the protective qualities of fiber through which I convey issues relating to human vulnerability and the need for physical and mental security. I explore a range of wearable textiles, some solely of visual and textural pleasure while others more deliberately reference armor and defensive boundaries. The handbags function as safe receptacles for items that provide us psychological and bodily comfort. Occasionally, concepts are so powerful that I will create sculptural pieces that demand contemplation without the distraction of function, relying on the manipulation of the fiber medium and found objects to suggest the notion of protection.

Felted, dyed and cut, limited edition dream vests and scarves.

Drawn to the textures, colors, and patterns found in nature, my resulting scarves are nubby and uniquely three-dimensional with a mixture of fabrics and tones. Those who wear them can express their own individuality and satisfy a need for style and comfort. I achieve the quality I strive for in my work by manipulating traditional knitting looms and finding innovative ways to use them. I also enjoy experimenting with combinations of yarns that are effected differently by heat and water. smARTWORKS, Inc. was founded in 1994 in order to foster an environment where I could focus my work on designing and producing scarves. My scarves are well regarded and are found in fine galleries, boutiques and craft shows in the US and abroad.

My life is fiber - linking futuristic fabrics with abstract designs I integrate my coats into the next century.

My sweaters are influenced by my fine art background and my training as a textile designer. These custom made designs are knitted by machine, hand blocked and hand sewn. The embroidery is done on a chain stitch machine as well as by hand.

Knitwear using plaiting sewing and felting with viscose and merino wool, and silk.

There is a parallel between the process and meditation found in creating any textile, to that which is found in Mother Nature's rhythm's and undulating patterns. The perfect harmony of color, its hues, brightness, lightness and contrasts saturate the world around us." This work is the tactile evidence that I have for the countless observations of her delicate balance between the simple and the complex, my interpretation of greatest and most delicate resource." These one of a kind textiles are individually crafted. Hand dyed silk is puckered and gathered when combined with merino wool. Traditionally these pieces are used as scarves, shawls, and wraps, but their function is only limited to that of the imagination.

Innovative scarves that create a sculptural sense of aesthetics to knitting.

I individually hand loom each piece in my textile collection. My love of form, fabric, and texture is a natural extension of my background in sculpture. I enjoy creating original patterns that feature many unconventional approaches to knitting. My favorite fiber to work with is Bamboo because of its silky texture, slight sheen, and eco-friendly attributes. I also have been exploring innovative ways to knit and felt merino wool in a new line of sculptural scarves. I strive to create work that is highly functional, elegant, and contemporary.

My work emerges from gift wrap. Unwrapped, re-wrapped and draped around the body, knitted geometric forms come to life in response to movement and fuse with the personalities they envelop - uniquely precious packages. Hand-knitted cardigans with 100% cashmere. Detailed with hand manipulations and suede braid strings. Felted sweater coats and scarves with merino wool. Dimensionally detailed with contrast color knitted motifs in applique.

Following a long career as a clay artist, I moved the techniques of the ceramic studio to the cutting table, slicing fleece yardage like clay slabs into elements of draped forms that are both decorative and functional - in this case vests, tunics, capes, and jackets. I design and sew free-associatively, working one garment at a time, each one shifting line, emphasis, and detail while maintaining clear stylistic reference to the common ancestors - the medieval tunic, cloak, and doublet.

Recycling used garments to create innovative products provides daily inspiration for eko logic's designer, Kathleen Tesnakis. To say that her work is made with care is an understatement. Using only secondhand clothing that is 100% cashmere or cotton, Kathleen individually hand-cuts her patterns and, working like a painter, combines elements to create each unique item. What was once discarded is now the source of warmth, comfort and individual expression.

My work is based on fabric designs conceived and produced with a painters compositional approach. All fabrics are designed and knitted, cut, sewn, quilted and embellished in studio