Me and Deb Tewell at Rocky Mountain National Park |
I met Deb Tewell in March 2022 at Felter's Rendezvous in Colorado Springs, CO. She organizes this annual event (on hiatus since Covid) and hired me to teach a 4 day vest workshop. Although there are a total of five instructors, she decided to take my class. You can only imagine how nervous I was having the event organizer in my workshop. But after an hour in, she asked if I could move to Colorado and I knew then that all was well.2022 Felter's Rendevous.
Deb and I really hit it off and earlier this year she came to Long Beach to take a one-on-one workshop at my studio.
In 2021 Deb nominated me for the 9th annual invitational juried show called FACE of Fiber in the Rockies. The annual international show is hosted and organized by the Fiber Arts Council of Estes (FACE) and presents a wide variety of fiber pieces.
About a month or so before the opening reception for the six week FACE event, I spontaneously decided to attend. I contacted Deb and asked if she wanted to join me. She informed me that she was going to be a vendor at the Estes Park Wool Market which is always held at the same time as the reception for the FACE show. I said I would help her with her booth. Talk about serendipitous synchronicity - win/win! It is terrific helping Deb in her booth and styling customers with her felted garments. And Deb, who was formerly a naturalist, showed me around Rocky Mountain National Park on our spare day.
I felt so fortunate to not only have my three felted garments juried in to the show but to have two of them win awards! The purple pull over vest won the EXCELLENCE award and the white dress won the Surface Design Association Award. All three pieces are for sale at the show.
This pull over vest called "Grape Vine" won the EXCELLENCE award. I was thrilled beyond belief when I was the first name called and for such a prestigious award. Thank you FACE of Fiber. |
This vest is called "About Face" and was created with merino wool roving and my hand painted silks. |
The dress called "Spattered Ink on Words" won the Surface Design Association Award. The criteria for this award is creativity, originality innovation and excellence of surface design and technique. I feel so honored to have won this award. I created this dress with super fine merino wool, viscose, hand dyed silks and other silks. Once it was felted I embellished it with sumi ink. It is so comfortable and wearable. |
FACE committee members Pauline Bustamante (far left) and Lis Lord (far right) and me and Deb Tewell in the middle. |
I was shocked and thrilled to have my name called a second time and to win the Surface Design award. Here's judge Margaret Tullis and beaming me. |