Marian started designing on the Commodore Amiga in 1988 when she needed many different color gradations to shape her ideas for optical illusions. Her eldest son then wrote a weaving program for her. Since then, she can’t imagine how weavers can do without it for their designs. The Dutch weaving program WinWeef now offers her all the possibilities to quickly and accurately work out elaborate designs based on a pattern line.

Marian is the author of Weaving with Echo and Iris, Stubenitsky Code and Double with a Twist.

Marian will be presenting A Parallel Universe – Echo & Corris jointly with Marg Coe.

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Lynn Smetko, a weaver of 25 years, enjoys the design phase of weaving the most. She combines a fascination with weaving, technology and art when designing for her 40-shaft computer-assisted loom. Photo-editing and weaving software are used to create weave plans that not only define fabric, but an entire piece. Lynn is a past president of Complex Weavers, past editor of the CW Journal, past president of the Fort Worth Weavers Guild, and also belongs to Cross Country Weavers, Contemporary Handweavers of Texas, Dallas Handweavers and Spinners Guild, and HGA. Her articles have appeared in the CW Journal and Weavers.

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Alice Schlein has been weaving and teaching for 55+ years. Although a self-taught weaver she has augmented her education with workshops and seminars; she has woven on dobby and jacquard looms, rigid heddle looms, and tapestry looms. Alice is a former contributing editor to Weaver’s magazine; author of Network Drafting: an Introduction, The Liftplan Connection, Lampas for Shaft Looms, Amalgamation, and co-author, with Bhakti Ziek, of The Woven Pixel. She currently weaves in her Greenville, South Carolina studio and blogs at https://weaverly.typepad.com.

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Most of my work focuses on the exploration of the tactile and organic nature of fiber and related materials while pushing the boundaries of the expected definition of body adornment and 3D objects.  This is accomplished by actively involving the use through the concept of “transformation” — the idea of actively engaging the user with shaping and transforming the art piece — thus making the user part of the creative process.

My work has been shown in many juried and invitational national and international exhibits.  Selected work has been reproduced in textile and jewelry books and can be found in private and museum collections.

I have written for Ornament Magazine and Handwoven Magazine, published a monograph on Kumihimo in Italian and have written the book “Kumihimo Wire Jewelry.”  I have also delivered workshops and seminars for national, regional and international fiber organizations and numerous fiber guilds. Until October 2020 I had an online business where I sold a number of unusual yarns imported primarily from Italy.

I have taught workshops and seminars for national, regional and international fiber organizations, and numerous fiber guilds, such as CNCH, ANWG, HGA, CHT, Braid Society, Japan Kumihimo Society, and Le Arti Tessili (Italy).

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Beth Ross Johnson was introduced to handweaving in 1970 and quickly directed her attention to the folk textiles of Japan where she has had two extensive stays to work and study. She has been a student of Norman Kennedy for decades and completed an MFA in textiles at Georgia State University in 2006. During her COVID year, Beth started researching the history and technique of sashiko-ori and the cotton and linen ikats of Europe, especially France. Both research projects have required work on the loom reconstructing these textiles as a way to understand them. Beth weaves in her studio in Black Mountain, NC and teaches at a number of institutions including Penland School of Crafts and the John C Campbell folk School.

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Nancy Arthur Hoskins, a former college weaving instructor, is the author of The Coptic Tapestry Albums; Universal Stitches; Weft-Faced Pattern Weaves; and has contributed chapters about Egyptian textiles to five other books. Nancy has researched Pharaonic, Coptic, Early Islamic, and ancient textiles in  Canada, England, France, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Peru, China, Australia, and America. She has presented lectures and workshops both nationally and internationally. Hoskins’ art fabrics have been in solo, group, and invitational exhibits. In 2009 and 2010 she led The Textiles of Egypt Tours, in 2013 presented a lecture at Yale University’s Peabody Museum, and in 2015 took a Textile Tour of Peru, taught in England, and exhibited her art fabrics in Oregon. Her most recent project has been researching, weaving, and writing on a long-range “experimental archaeology” project to analyze and weave the patterned textiles that appear in Egyptian tomb paintings.

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Sara learned to weave in the late 1970s while living in Germany for 20 years. Sara is largely self-taught through books, some lessons, observation of professional weavers, and extensive museum visits/connections. (Textilmuseum Neumunster/Klaus Tidow, Freilichtmuseum [Open Air Museum] Schleswig-Holstein in Kiel/Molfsee/Dr. Karl-Ingwer Johansson, and Museumsweberei Meldorf where the hand operated Jacquard looms still weave old fashioned Beiderwand pillow and throws.)  She has always been interested in textile history and archaeology.

Sara founded a group (Webgruppe84) to share weaving/weaving history with the public at Freilichtmuseum Kiel (“descendants” of that group still work there).

She weaves on countermarche looms, a 16-shaft computer assisted dobby and a 50 pattern shaft drawloom with 8 ground shafts, single unit drawloom, and Jacquard looms. Her woven work centers on household linens and rugs, decorative items from the drawloom, and clothing fabrics/scarves. Sara is a member of HGA, Wisconsin Handweavers, Complex Weavers, and the European Damask Network.

Her educational experience includes drawloom weaving with Joanne Hall and three courses in Jacquard design at Eastern Michigan University, Oaxacan rug weaving with Wence Martinez, Navajo weaving techniques with Sarah Natani, Marilou Schultz and Mary Walker, and Jacquard weaving at Oriole Mill with Bethanne Knudsen.

She has taught at conferences (Convergence, CW Seminars), guilds and gives studio instruction at the Woolgatherers. Sara’s woven work has been exhibited in a variety of venues including Convergence, guild shows, conferences and galleries.

She is currently owner of the full-service fiber shop, The Woolgatherers Ltd. in Fond du Lac, WI, selling looms – from inkle and rigid heddle to countermarche floor looms and drawloom equipment – as well as supplies for weaving, spinning and felting.

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