2010 Maiwa Textile Workshops
Karen Selk
$295 (Includes $100 Lab Fee) Three full days

September 24 - 26 (Fri - Sun) 10 am - 4 pm
Maiwa East 1310 Odlum Drive, Vancouver, Canada
Class Limit 16
Registration Opens June 21, 2010

Silk felt. Silk paper. Silk fusion. By any name it is exciting and beautiful, innovative, rich in lustre, with a smooth or textured surface. A spectrum of unspun silk fibres is arranged and fused with an adhesive medium to produce a ÒfeltÓ of varying thicknesses. Silk-fused fibres can be crinkled while wet and they will hold their shape. Other fibres, feathers, and ribbons can be incorporated into the silk felt. It makes a perfect canvas for machine- or hand-stitching, quilting, three-dimensional sculptures, jewellery, wearable art, book coverings, collage, and almost any project imaginable.

Participants will make numerous samples and then move toward patterns for hats, bags, or boxes. Embellishing techniques and ideas will be applied to the completed project. The possibilities are endless with this new medium.


KAREN SELK

Karen Selk has been a textile designer and artist since 1972. Her primary focus has been weaving and fusing felt with silk. As managing director of Treenway Silks, she designs and develops new yarns, fibres, kits, and colour palettes. A former director of product development for WomanKind.com, she also organizes and leads textile and cultural tours to India, Bhutan, and Laos.

A quest for knowledge of all aspects of silk has taken her throughout Asia researching the history and heritage of silk traditions. She teaches and lectures worldwide and has produced numerous magazine articles, an educational poster about the life cycle of the silkworm, and a silk fusion DVD. The cloth, culture, and people of other countries as well as the life in her own garden are the source of Karen’s creative spirit. Visit Karen at www.treenwaysilks.com.


Student Supply List
- Jar with lid to transport liquid.
– Variety of threads, ribbons, silk organza, lace or anything else for your special stash to insert into the fusion.
– Variety of needles, sharp - large eye, blunt - large eye and embroidery needles
– Materials from your collection that you would like to use for embellishing – beads, buttons, feathers… etc
– 12 clip clothes pegs with your name in permanent marker.

All other materials supplied.

Look for the full course calendar on the web in early May. A print version will be available in June. Registration opens June 21, 2010.