Work in cloth reflects the story of my journey in life.  One that has helped me to learn a great deal about myself and perhaps my place in the world ~ through experiments made, both public and private, through cherished failures, successes and the many obstacles I encountered, and continue to encounter, along the way. This is a very personal story, of a commitment to the handmade, of respect for the creative impulse, and of a healthy curiosity towards what can only be described as the unknown.

I am a textile designer/maker working in wool, silk and cellulose fibers. I teach workshops in surface design and hand dyeing techniques, and have exhibited my work at fine craft venues and textile exhibitions across the U.S. In January 2012, I will settle into a permanent retail location in Mill Valley, which will showcase many of the fine artisan textiles I have encountered throughout my travels to Europe and Scandinavia, as well as work that is designed and made by my colleagues in the U.S. and in my studio in Walnut Creek.

My Life in Cloth

jean williams cacicedo

Cloth is the primary element in much of my work. Combined with symbol and metaphor, my sewn constructions tell stories about images collected from journeys both physical and spiritual.

Jean Williams Cacicedo received a BFA in Sculpture from the Pratt Institute, New York, in 1970. She currently works out of her studio in Berkeley, California.  Cacicedo was a prime innovator in the Wearable Art Movement of the 70’s.For over three decades she has worked both on and off the body, incorporating a special process she developed for wool fabrics as well as works on paper. Known for her “signature coats”, her pieced and sewn, slashed, felted and dyed constructions have been exhibited throughout Western Europe, Japan and the United States. In 2000, a 30-year retrospective of her work was featured at the Museum of Craft and Folk Art, San Francisco, California. Her work can be found in the permanent  collections of the de Young Museum, San Francisco, Oakland Museum of California, Museum of  Art and Design, NYC.

http://www.jeancacicedo.com/

Charlie will show us a wide variety of baskets he has made using central California Indian coiling and twining techniques and designs, as well as other baskets employing European techniques, all using local plants. He will discuss the challenges of creating patterns while increasing stitch and warp counts, and the gathering and preparation of weaving materials.Charlie is a long-time student of California Indian basketry, as well as of several European techniques, including bee-hive weaving. He has been giving presentations and workshops on traditional uses of native plants throughout the Bay Area for adults andyouth for more than a decade, and is developing a basketry plant garden at the top of the MAGC property. Full-size tule boats built in his workshops are in the collections of the Oakland Museum, the Academy of Sciences, and Lake County Museum. Charlie is active in habitat restoration with Friends of Corte Madera Creek Watershed in Marin County, and is also a professional photographer.

Baskets and cordage in a sedge bed, photograph and handiwork by Charles Kennard

My Creative Journey and the Heroes I Met Along the Way

In this program Dotti will illustrate her creative journey with a brief slide presentation, share the gems of wisdom that she learned from many great artists/teachers and discuss some of her latest experiments in dyeing.

Dotti has been working in the textile arts since the 1970s.  Her creative journey began with weaving.  She started weaving large organic wall hangings, moved on to making rugs and interior design items, and ultimately arrived at fine-patterned weavings with computer-assisted designs.  In an attempt to add interest and variety to her weaving, she began studying surface design and became interested in working with dyes, hand painting, printing, patterning, collage, removing color and over-dyeing. “Studying and experimenting with surface design techniques, is to me, an endlessly fascinating process that has so many side-roads that I am certain I will be investigating them the rest of my life.”

Falling, Dotti Day

Please join the Tamalpais Weavers’ Guild meeting, guests welcome, Monday, March 21, 7 pm, Francis Young Gallery, Marin Art and Garden Center, 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd, Ross.  I warn you, once you come as a guest, you will be compelled to join!

Circles (2010), Marty Jones

Our speaker is the fabulous and talented Michelle Murray.  Who among us has had their work worn by Jane Goodall on TV or given to visiting diplomats by Conde Rice?  Her presentation of autobiographical wanderings within her career of spinning, weaving and dying will also  squeeze in some concrete explanations of a few favorite techniques.

Michelle Murray Shibori