SASHA DUERR is an artist and designer who works with plant-based palettes, natural dyes and place-based recipes. She is a professor at the California College of the Arts with a joint appointment in textiles and fine arts where she designs curriculum and teaches courses in the intersection of natural color, slow food, slow fashion and social practice.  Her work has been shown in galleries and museums across the United States and abroad.

In 2007, Sasha founded Permacouture Institute to encourage the exploration of regenerative design practices for fashion and textiles. Her extensive work with plant-based palettes and ecological principles through local land-based sources and community has been featured in the New York Times, American Craft Magazine, Selvedge, and the Huffington Post. She is the author of The Handbook of Natural Plant Dyes (Timber Press/Workman 2011) and NATURAL COLOR (Watson-Guptill/Ten Speed Press August 23rd, 2016). She lives with her husband and children on their urban farm in Oakland, CA.

Karen Meadows – My Life as a Textile Artist 

From Karen Meadows:
My fascination with textiles started when, as a child, I spent hours at Stinson Beach weaving reeds together.

This led to my first loom, a frame with string heddles and a cardboard reed.  My room was covered with macramé and woven hangings.  At College of Marin,  I was lucky to study under Carole Beadle, learning the technical aspects of working a loom.  This is where I made my first painted warp wall hanging, that hung in a student show.  I loved all types of pattern weaving, clothing, and even furniture.  Following my passion for connecting threads, I traveled to Guatemala to study back-strap weaving in the backyard of a family in San Antonio Agues Calientes, where I wove about one inch a day, and felt happier than I could remember.

I collected weavings and met with weavers in Greece, Morocco,  and Turkey. In Bali, I studied with a family in the ancient village of Tengenan, where they have kept the art of double ikat alive for many centuries.  I spent 6 weeks learning about their natural dye techniques, weaving and writing my M.F.A. Thesis for Calif. College of Arts and Crafts, (now CCA)

My hand woven clothing company supported my time in Grad School, I started out weaving dyed scarves and it turned into a 10 year business, with weavers and seamstresses working with the thousands of yards of yarn that I dyed in an ikat style.

The culminating experience of my life as a weaver happened when my piece was chosen for the Lausanne Biennale and traveled to museums across Europe.  I continued to paint warps for wall hangings, commissions for public and private buildings.

MEETING LOCATION:  Marin Society of Artists, 1515 3rd Street, San Rafael
(corner of 3rd and E Streets).  Click here for directions:  https://tamalpaistextileartsguild.org/meetings/

Meetings are from 7 to 9pm.

PROGRAM – October 16, 2017

Felting, and Show and Tell

The program for October 16 will be a followup to Edgar Furlong’s program from the September meeting.

We will have a brief demonstration of how to do “rolling felting” and a hand’s on demonstration of how to do “rubbing felting”. You will go home with some felted acorns!

There will also be a show and tell of how to make needlecases and also indigo as it has been done at the retreat the past 3 years.

Please bring your ideas for programs you would like for this coming year. If you know of someone who does something you like, let us know and we will be happy to contact them for you.

Also, we will have a return of our popular 45 seconds of what you are doing these days! If you have an example to show us all, even better.

See you there!

MEETING LOCATION:  Marin Society of Artists, 1515 3rd Street, San Rafael
(corner of 3rd and E Streets).  Click here for directions:  https://tamalpaistextileartsguild.org/meetings/

Meetings are from 7 to 9pm.

PROGRAM – September 18, 2017

Edgar Furlong – Wet felting and needle felting

Edgar Furlong will be our speaker on Sept. 18. A former member of the Guild, he is now Program Instructor for the Cedars of Marin. He usually works with 8 – 10 clients at a time, from cooking to gardening to crafts. He is going to show us the wet felting and needle felting they are currently doing and talk about the programs. We all know about the lovely store they have in downtown San Anselmo and maybe we will soon see some felting there!