Text on Textiles
Instructor: Bonnie Meltzer
Week 1: July 30 - August 5, 2023

A project oriented, creative exploration of ways to get words onto fabric by hand techniques— stitchery, appliqué, crochet —alone and mixed together. You don’t have to be a calligrapher or even know how to sew, but if you do have experience with fibers or lettering you will learn techniques to deepen and broaden your skills. Find which materials, tools and techniques work well for text, which don’t. Learn tricks to keep text straight and legible. Play with the shapes of letters and think outside the (text) box to turn words into shapes. Discover aids and short cuts that make the process less labor intensive. Develop the text you want to stitch with individual and class participation word play. Each student will get personalized instruction.

Class Material Fee $12 (to be paid directly to the instructor)
Click here for required class supply list

About Bonnie

Bonnie Meltzer’s art-making, activism, community building and gardening are linked together like crochet; one thread looping with itself creating an interlocking fabric. Born in New Jersey, Meltzer moved to Seattle to get an MFA at the University of Washington. There, she found her medium, her social commentary voice, and installation as a format. Throughout her career she has used fiber art techniques and found objects to make social commentary. In the last five year she has added stitched and crocheted text to her body of work. In her recent interactive Installation, Tikkun Olam - Mending the Social Fabric at the Oregon Jewish Museum, she embroidered text on 75 handkerchiefs. At the same exhibition, visitors mended and patched a torn parachute, a metaphorical social fabric.

She has exhibited throughout the Northwest and beyond;  Maryhill Museum, Hallie Ford Museum, and Tamastslikt Cultural Institute.Her work is in private and public collections; The National Science Foundation, University of Washington, Baylor University, and the City of Portland. Her sculpture is on the covers of the books “The Fine Art of Crochet”  and “Artistry in Fiber: Sculpture”.

You can read about her latest projects at:

https://subjectivjournal.com/fall-2022/ 
https://www.orartswatch.org/exquisite-gorge-ii-power/