I have been immersed in fibers, fabrics, and friends recently. A wonderful friend from the town down the road was asked to teach a fiber art class at a northern Wisconsin resort, and I jumped at the chance to go. At the risk of sounding all ‘fan-girly’ I have taken some of her classes before, and I adore her art style. She is all whimsy and color, and non-perfect anything works, and it’s a perfect stress-free creative let-loose. Yee-hah.
Well, she had to cancel last minute due to a health problem, but found a stand-in instructor. I decided to still go, even though I wouldn’t know a soul. I think my husband was worried I’d drop out, but duuude, it’s fiber, it’s art, and everyone there had that in common. Was I worried? Heck no! I gathered all my supplies, said goodbye, and off I went. Thank goodness for navigation apps.
I arrived Saturday afternoon at the same time as two ladies and we got ourselves checked in. Little did i know, we would become instant besties and hang out all week. I sent my hubby a selfie with my new friends and he responded in all caps HON, I AM SO PROUD OF YOU! (A little background here – he is such an extrovert and loves his fishing and golfing getaways, but feels a little guilty. I prefer to be at home most of the time, (chronic illness – that’s for another post), so he was thrilled I was getting out of my comfort zone.)
The resort was cool enough, but wait, there’s more. We were completely spoiled and catered to for five days with scheduled dinner reservations, 24 hr access to the studio, lovely lunches, a pontoon ride on the lake, a private trip to an art gallery, s’mores and campfire (cancelled due to rain), fresh baked cookies with fruit and nuts delivered to the studio mid-afternoons for a little pick-me-up. Come. On. I didn’t want the week to end. There was even a champagne celebration with graduation certificates.
OK. So let’s get to the good stuff. The entry halls to the studio looked like an explosion of samples, supplies and gobs of fiber goodness. My friend may have had to get a sub, but she brought what looked like a small U-Haul’s worth of stuff to play with. We started with glue batiks, and over the next couple days we did slow-stitching, embroidery, needlefelting, and rope wrapped baskets and trivets. We didn’t get everything finished, I brought home a bunch of in-progress projects, but I am dedicated to completing them. Feast your eyes on the photos below.
Some of the above photos are of samples provided by Jeanne, the original instructor. Others are photos of work done at the retreat. I hope this improves your fiber intake.