Foraging and Extracting Natural Dyes in California 

Join Linda Illumanardi in Los Angeles as she shares her most recent explorations in the foothills of the San Gabriel foothills in Los Angeles. Linda bases her selections on pigment and tannin content, seeking a stable dye on both protein and cellulose fibers. Linda will share her processes of extraction and testing while also presenting the results of these experiments. 

Linda Illumanardi was born and raised in the mountains of Vermont, toddling behind her grandmother reciting the names of local weeds, flowers, and trees. Now in California, she does the same thing with her 3 grandsons, basket in hand, gathering gently leaves from trees that become the content and design of her books, fabric, and ceramics. Linda began eco-printing on paper, to accompany her handmade book designs (artist book limited edition Otis College, Los Angeles, CA 2001, published in Lark 500 Handmade Books, second edition, 8 collagraph plates).

With a Master’s degree in painting, and multitudes of printing classes and residencies, Linda loves to make impressions in each environment that she visits. She states, “Whether in the mountains, forest, at the ocean, or in the high desert, there are always multitudes of textures, colors, and natural objects waiting to be immortalized.”

Wanting to expand her explorations, Linda naturally shifted to making botanical prints on silk and wool, cotton fibers, leather and ceramics, working as a mad scientist in her quiet studio in the foothills of the Angeles National Forest on the outskirts of a horse stable. Linda is clearly an artist in each world she inhabits. She loves testing local botanicals for natural dyes and tannins.

Linda has been teaching since 1987 for public, private, and charter schools, as well as writing curriculum and teaching out of her home studio for artists ages 3-83. Please see her lifestyle and work on her public Instagram account at linda.illumanardi .

This will be a ZOOM meeting at 10 am on Saturday, April 2nd. The ZOOM link will be posted closer to the date or CONTACT us for the link.

March 5, 2022 10:00 am Zoom Guild presentation by Taiana Geifer , on her experiences felting art pieces, wall hangings, scarves, and pieces for the home. Her title: “Twelve Years Later, I’m Still a Felter! ” Taiana writes: “As a felter, my mission is to create timeless, versatile pieces of art by bringing ancient felting techniques to the modern textiles world. Each piece is unique and 100% handmade by me. I began experimenting with handmade fabrics in 2007 while visiting family in Germany. What started as simple artistic curiosity quickly grew into a passionate and inspired desire to create with and share the ancient felting process. Collaborating with Calvin Klein’s head designer Francisco Costa, I created a number of custom felted fabrics for CK’s 2009 fall RTW runway show. Since then I have worked on my own collections of scarves and blankets, selling to stores world wide. I have also collaborated with a number of other designers, including Helmut Lang, Maiyet and Rick Owen, creating fabrics to be used in their collections. After almost a decade of making textiles for the fashion industry, I longed to bring my craft into the eyes of the art world and home interiors realm. “ For more information, visit taiana.com

If you would like the ZOOM link (Members will get it automatically) please CONTACT us!

SPRANG is coming (sorry, couldn’t stop myself)

Carol James has always been interested in playing with strings and is of the opinion that anywhere is a good place to weave. Seeing her passion for diverse textile techniques, local military re-enactors asked her for reproduction sashes … sprang sashes, and Carol had to explore that technique as well. She quickly discovered that sprang can be used for much more than sashes. Here she is wearing a sprang shirt that was accepted in the HGA Convergence Fashion Show that never happened last summer! Wanting to learn more about sprang and the ways it has been used in the past, Carol has taken the opportunity to visit collections across North American and Europe. To better understand these items, she maps out the patterns, and has made replicas of some of these items for several important museum collections. She has also made modern wearables, which more than once have been accepted by the Handweavers Guild of America’s Convergence Fashion Show. Happy to share her knowledge, and hoping to provide an easier learning-curve for others, she has taught classes across Canada, the US, New Zealand, and Europe. Her students find her to be both patient and enthusiastic. Her students urged her to enter the world of publishing, making her handouts available as books. She is now the author of three books: Fingerweaving Untangled, Sprang Unsprung, Sprang Lace Patterns, as well as numerous articles and 2 DVDs.

This is ZOOM meeting with pre-registration required. Here is the link:

You are invited to a Zoom meeting.
When: Mar 6, 2021 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMofumrpz4pEtUv7TM4y5nUTcNZTNKScM2M

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Dye Day at Tucker’s Grove Park – August 4th (9 am to 3 pm)

Once again we will have multiple dye vats set up for sampling.  This year it is indigo and mushroom plus cochineal and oxalis! (if everyone remembers to bring their frozen flowers!)

This is always a fun day.  Please remember to bring a picnic lunch and any dye vat you want to share.  There will be some shibori tools available. Bring gloves and wear old clothes. Bring something to dye, please note it must be a natural fabric to take the dye well.  Nothing large or bulky and not too many items.  The public is welcome.  Bring your lunch and something to drink, it may be warm

Tucker’s Grove is at the intersection of Turnpike and Cathedral Oaks.  Look for us at one of the picnic areas not too far in.

We will NOT have our regular monthly meeting in July because so many members will be off attending Convergence www.weavespindye.org/convergence-2018 .

Use the extra morning to prep for our August Dye Day in the park (August 4th at Tucker’s Grove).  Details here mid July.  Or you might want to work on a piece for our Fiber Show at the Goleta Library in October!

Adventures in Rug Hooking

Local fiber artist, Mary Stanley, will present a brief history of rug hooking, many of her rug hooked creations, and some from her friends. She will present a demonstration of the art of rug hooking and give everyone the chance to try it out.
Mary has been a member of a local rug hooking group called the Association of Creative Females for many years and shared adventures meeting other rug hookers in different countries over the years.

We meet at 9:30 for social time/short business meeting and then the presentation!

The Maravilla Clubhouse is the Guild’s location for June 2nd. The Clubhouse is a
freestanding building with columns in front and it’s the first thing you see
when entering the main Maravilla entry road from Calle Real.
From 101 N, exit at Patterson Ave.; turn north, toward the mountains, onto
Patterson and then left onto Calle Real. Continue on Calle Real, the entrance to
Maravilla is on the right at the stoplight. Or, take the Fairview exit and follow
Calle Real past the Calle Real Center, and Maravilla will be on the left at the
light. The street address is 5486 Calle Real, Goleta.

Personality, culture, history, and art are woven into the vintage material that
Georganne Alex has chosen for her line of accessories and clothing. Nowhere
is this more apparent than in her use of the Japanese kimono, a primary
source for inspiration and design in Georganne’s work.

Georganne started weaving through Adult Education classes in 1982 and has
continued to perfect her craft for the past 27 years. She practices both onloom
and off-loom weaving which makes her work a fusion of techniques as
well as fabrications.

Visit www.alexclothing.com for more info about Georgeanne’s work.

The Maravilla Clubhouse is the Guild’s location for May 5. The Clubhouse is a
freestanding building with columns in front and it’s the first thing you see
when entering the main Maravilla entry road from Calle Real.
From 101 N, exit at Patterson Ave.; turn north, toward the mountains, onto
Patterson and then left onto Calle Real. Continue on Calle Real, the entrance to
Maravilla is on the right at the stoplight. Or, take the Fairview exit and follow
Calle Real past the Calle Real Center, and Maravilla will be on the left at the
light. The street address is 5486 Calle Real, Goleta.