Visual Artist: Fiber Art / Fine Craft Artist Categories

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Barb Bend

Visual Artist: Fiber Art / Fine Craft

As a fiber artist, I am drawn to the rich heritage of cloth and the story it tells through its content, color, design and cultural history. I work with fabrics that have their own integrity and voice. In my fiber sculptures, I explore the interplay of cross cultural fabrics stitched side by side with a reconfiguration of contemporary “throw away items” that share the pattern, color or texture. I look to these contemporary items, such as snaps, perm rollers, zippers, for their design elements and ability to attach and repeat thus creating a rhythmic pattern to sew on to these fiber sculptures. The armature of my sculptural forms are welded metal, fencing or electrical wire. The shapes are built up by tightly wrapped strips of knit t-shirt fabric to create a solid form. The result is a firm, self supporting structure that can withstand the weight of the materials I choose to use. This structure also allows my forms to flare out with movement to express the spirit of life and energy of emotions.

Alycen Brothen

Visual Artist: Fiber Art / Fine Craft

My work integrates traditional counted-thread embroidery techniques with freehand surface embroidery to create encrusted surfaces that are complex in their variety of stitches. Hardanger, drawn-thread, freehand embroidery, needlepoint, and tatting are techniques found frequently in my work. A common theme is the juxtaposition of structured and organic forms. The fabric itself is a structural foundation and counted-thread techniques further emphasize that structure. Explosions of freehand embroideries interact with the structure; at times obscuring and overtaking it and at other times weaving itself harmoniously. I work with silk, cotton, linen, and wool threads on cotton and linen foundation fabrics. Each piece is stitched in layers; slowly filling in and then building over the earlier layers. I may begin with an image or an idea of combining particular techniques, but soon the stitches find their own voice and my work becomes purely intuitive.

Morgan Clifford

Visual Artist: Fiber Art / Fine Craft

Morgan works with textiles because first and foremost she loves to handle them. If someone asks her “why weaving?” She feels the answer in her fingertips. The tactile quality of beautiful linens, silks and bristly, hand-spun hemp combined with her own dyeing processes fills her with enormous pleasure. Morgan is happiest in her studio handling fibers, sorting them, dyeing them, untangling them, testing ideas, planning new pieces and finalizing them. If you wanted to really punish her you would make her go outside and play.

Jane Dreis

Visual Artist: Fiber Art / Fine Craft; Visual Artist: Jewelry; Visual Artist: Sculpture; Visual Artist: Metalsmith

You’ve been ogling Jane’s Fine Silver Shotglasses for Poker Players, haven’t you? Great! Because Jane truly had a blast spending several days creating these pieces. Start each one by sawing an arc out of a flat sheet of fine silver; hammer it over a blowhorn stake to form the vessel wall; create the card suit design in the base with hammers, embossing and liner punches and a bowl of warm pine pitch (smells like a lovely pine forest!); then finally solder the base to the vessel with a hot propane torch. Can you believe Jane used to wear a paramedic uniform and served 18 years in emergency medicine? Even harder to believe is that she spent more than a decade wearing suits, pantyhose and high heels as a news reporter and corporate PR writer. So. Much. Better. Spending the day in jeans and a shop apron in her own studio! You also can find Jane’s handmade jewelry and metal art the Stillwater Art Guild Gallery, where she is a member artist and one of the owners. It’s Jane! LLC handmade jewelry and metal gifts can be found on display daily at the Stillwater Art Guild Gallery, 402 North Main Street, Stillwater, MN, in the historic Isaac Staples Sawmill building. The Art Guild Gallery is a cooperative of about 65 artists and is staffed 7 days a week by volunteers. Jane became one of the six owners of the not-for-profit gallery in early 2012.

Melanie Ebertz

Visual Artist: Fiber Art / Fine Craft; Visual Artist: Textile

Melanie Ebertz started ArtAndes, her textile & travel business in the Peruvian Andes during the mid-eighties. ArtAndes infuses Textile Design with Andean Travel, with a mission of preserving both culture and craft. ArtAndesTextiles are incredibly complex in technique and rich in cultural heritage.The rugs are artful to look at, organic in nature, highly functional & hand woven on a tapestry loom. Many traditional designs have been reintroduced to today’s weavers through Melanie’s collection of classic textile books, museum visits and extensive historical research. In addition to recreating the historic patterns, the designs are a combination of pre-Colombian, Midwestern and Scandinavian influences!. ArtAndes rugs reflect an ancient tradition of expression and human fortitude. Unique and timeless, each rug is a meaningful heirloom, infused with the spirit of the Andes. Melanie has led over 50 custom designed trips to Peru, she is knowledgeable about the biodiversity of the country and it’s people. The long term rich connections that have been developed over the past 30 years have helped preserve culture & hand-craft through rural community visits. Traveling to Peru with ArtAndes is a memorable way to really know Peru, and have fun doing it!

Joy Gerard

Visual Artist: Fiber Art / Fine Craft

I am a retired senior citizen living in Stillwater, MN. I have a degree in Textiles and Clothing from Iowa State University. I have been weaving and spinning for over 40 years with wool and mohair as my favorite fibers to work with. Taking a raw fiber through the full process of cleaning, spinning, dying, weaving, fulling and then tailoring into a garment is very satisfying. Using natural and synthetic dyes provides a wide range of colors and interesting end products. My hand woven garments are often embellished with knitting, crocheting or braiding techniques. Exploring historic weaving patterns and techniques adds variety to finished items.

Gil Gragert

Visual Artist: Drawing Illustration; Visual Artist: Fiber Art / Fine Craft; Visual Artist: Mixed Media; Visual Artist: Painting

Never a day goes by when I’m not inspired to create art using what I observe around us. I treat these observations as invitations to react; sometimes seriously, sometimes whimsically, sometimes just as a recorder. The most powerful work of any artist tells a story that stirs people deeply. Fortunately I don’t need to always work so seriously. My work doesn’t stand on its own. It is also an invitation to the audience to find their own connection and/or question my motivation. Art doesn’t have to please every body, it just needs to get a reaction. Striving to have an open pallet of experience, I work in many different media. I don’t consider myself a master in any of them, but thrive on an experiential spirit that doesn’t need perfection. I seek a handcrafted look that demonstrates a human rather than manufactured touch. It’s important to leave behind a finger print or another sign of human meddling.

Sharon Grosh

Visual Artist: Fiber Art / Fine Craft

My art is inspired by the beauty and complexity of the natural world. I incorporate earth, sky and water in my artistic intention as a reminder of where inspiration emerges. I bridge several process-oriented techniques to create texture and color from both paper and fabric. As a mixed media artist, there is no limit to the sources that can be combined into art on various substrates. Each time I learn a new technique it generates newly-sourced materials that I use. I find this allows me to create unique, deep-colors that are themes from the natural world. I live in Afton, Minnesota with a studio containing large, garden-view windows that frame the natural wooded environment.

Carrie Katzenmeyer

Visual Artist: Fiber Art / Fine Craft; Visual Artist: Painting

My work is whimsical and inspired by nature with influences from my Indigenous and Scandinavian heritages. I draw on themes of connection between us along with animals and nature. My art is a safe space for viewers to begin their own story and interpretation. In a deeper context I focus on color theories, stories and myth passed down through cultural ties, along with my own personal stories and memories. I graduated from the University of Minnesota with an Art Degree. I currently reside in a small town called Marine on St. Croix with my family and rescue dog.

Michaela Mahady

Visual Artist: Fiber Art / Fine Craft; Visual Artist: Painting; Visual Arts: Textile

My background is in both art and architecture. Earlier work, such as the Warroad Library, are site specific public art pieces, done through Pegusus Studio, Inc. They are leaded and beveled handblown art glass. Recent works are intended more for gallery display. They include plein air oil paintings and fibre art: knit “vestments,” to be worn or hung as tapestries, made from cotton, silk, bamboo, linen and wool yarns. These works were part of “e-qui-nox,” an exhibition at ArtReach St. Croix in August-September 2017. All are inspired by continued exploration of the relationship between the individual and the environment: earth, water, and sky as felt and understood by the human being.

Judy Markham

Visual Artist: Fiber Art / Fine Craft; Visual Artist: Mixed Media

I have lived in the St. Croix Valley for 30 years and continue to find inspiration for my work in the natural beauty of my surroundings. The changes of the seasons provide new views, colors, and textures in daily life in and around Stillwater, MN. My formal training led me to start my art career in commercial interior design. That work was on a large scale, coordinating materials in environments to inspire and please the eye of its inhabitants. Today, I design mainly handmade greeting cards and small canvases. Each one is a tiny little creation. I still love to use many of the same materials, wood, metal and fabric, to create something new and different. But now, on this smaller scale, I hope each one can be a special little personal gift for the buyer and the final recipient.

Christina Rolf

Visual Artist: Fiber Art / Fine Craft

As a young artist, I am in the process of finding my voice in my work. My art is deeply inspired by nature, as my works are tangible extrapolations of ideas that I see which can then be shared with others. I am exploring the natural geometry that is present with inorganic forms. This is a fascinating concept for me: the paradox of design in a spontaneous form which exists in the natural world. I am just beginning my explorations there is always more to learn and observe, and this curiosity is what is leading me to develop the style and tone of my work.

Jocelyn Suzuka Figeroua

Visual Artist: Fiber Art / Fine Craft; Visual Artist: Mixed Media; Visual Artist: Painting; Visual Artist: Sculpture

Born in Kyoto, Japan and raised in Stillwater, Minnesota, i am an with a focus on fiber and painting. My work examines the role of inherited legacies and family traditions within histories altered by immigration, loss, and war. I create stuffed dolls sewn by hand using the naminui (wave stitch) I leaned from my Japanese mother when I was a child. Four generations of women in my family have used naminui, passing the stitch from the hands of mothers to daughters- connecting generations of hands that will never touch. My duty to preserve this craft legacy stems from my belief that I have a responsibility to raise up the stories of those who came before me and preserve their memories for those who come after.

Ruth Thompson-Klabunde

Visual Artist: Fiber Art / Fine Craft

I have combined my background in Biology, Floral Design and the love of flowers with the ancient and versatile medium of wool to create whimsical and colorful vases. These designs emanate from my heartfelt connection to sea, sky, the love of nature and the need for color. As I arrange the whisps of wool on the table I have in my mind’s eye the perfect image. After rolling and fulling the fabric I always astounded at the results. One never knows what will exactly happen. These vases can be used for flowers, branches, dried grasses. Some of the vessels are transparent enough for candles. The glass is recyclable, the wool and silk will biodegrade. Enjoy this visual and tactile piece of art

LeslieAnne VanHouter

Visual Artist: Fiber Art / Fine Craft; Visual Artist: Mixed Media; Visual Artist: Sculpture

Leslie Anne grew up in Northern Minnesota on the north flowing Mississippi River. Her childhood was led with books, nature, and art. Being born to an extremally artistic mother and earth conscience forester father, the early exposure to art and nature molded Leslie Anne into the artist she is today. Primarily working with rejected bits and pieces of rusted metals, discarded glass items, nuts, bolts, doll heads and, limbs. Leslie Anne assembles these items into art dolls and collages. Leslie Anne’s hope is that her art stirs something in the viewer and hopefully that is joy. Leslie Anne resides in River Falls, with her talented artist husband, Samuel, and their two crazy angora cats.

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