Archives: People

Debbie Fonash

Deborah Fonash was a teacher for 50 years. She taught Kindergarten, Second grade, and was a Special Educator in Seventh Grade. She has helped her husband Roger Serfass design, build, and finish his unique inlaid furniture and wood accessories. Together they have exhibited in over 250 juried art and craft shows.

Roger Serfass

Roger Serfass of Village Wood Designs creates furniture and accessories as well as two and three-dimensional art in domestic hardwoods and exotic wood veneers combining the techniques of marquetry, inlay, and lamination. Since 1976, he and his wife Deborah Fonash have maintained a studio workshop in Lancaster County, PA. Here, they design and build unique wall units, bookcases, shelves, boxes, and wall art. Influences include George Nakashima, Frank Lloyd Wright, the Shakers, and the Art Deco movement. Artistic woodwork that is well-crafted, sustainable, and affordable is a primary goal.

Roger has been a juried member of the PA Guild of Craftsmen for 45 years, receiving the “Craftsman of Distinction” Award in 2014. He has exhibited and sold his woodwork at over 200 juried craft fairs in PA, DE, MD, and VA since 1975.

Evan Germann

Evan Germann is a highly skilled craftsman specializing in millwork, with a strong background in cabinet making, and furniture design. He has a Bachelor’s degree in History of Art with a minor in Business Administration from the University of Kansas, and a further specialized education from Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Cabinet Making and Wood Technology. Evan has seamlessly blended artistry with craftsmanship. His career has spanned roles such as the Specialty Millwork Department Lead and cabinetmaker at Seven Trees Woodworking, where he found a niche in elaborate exterior doors. Evan’s entrepreneurial spirit also led him to establish his own business, offering custom furniture, cabinetry, and millwork. With skills using both industrial and hand power tools, Evan is a dynamic professional capable of bringing complex designs to life.

Megan Hogeman

No Biography Provided

Aya Kinoshita

Aya Kinoshita is a mosaic artist living in Lancaster, PA. She is originally from Tokyo, Japan. She has enjoyed working with visual and performing artists and also researching and teaching about art management and cultural anthropology. Since 2016, she has been making mosaics and made multiple mosaic murals for Penn State Medical Centers in and around Lancaster. https://ayatrapeze.wixsite.com/mosaics

Lisa Stuckey

Lisa Stuckey is an artist, educator, and life long learner with 25+ years of teaching experience. She has a B.S. in art education, and earned her Masters in Art Education while staying home to raise her family. Lisa has worked in a variety of places over the years which enabled her to continue growing as an artist. She’s passionate about helping others unleash their creativity and encourages playful experimentation, fun, and JOY in her workshops.

http://@lisastuckeyart

Lindsey Sansoni

Born & raised in Harrisburg PA, Lindsey Sansoni was re-introduced to macrame during the pandemic and hasn’t put it down since. Sharing her love of the craft with others has become a passion of hers and now full-time job.

Lindsey has been teaching macrame classes every month since March 2021. She’s taught over 200 students how to create various projects. Her mission at Why Knot is to cultivate a welcoming environment for diverse learners, from novices to seasoned creators.

http://www.whyknotpa.com

Margery Erickson

Margery Erickson received Master Artisan status with the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen in 1991. She specialized in hand weaving and wearable art. Other fiber interests include spinning yarn, crocheting, and knitting. Her formal education includes a degree in Social Science from Penn State and a Masters degree from Millersville University in Special Education.

Andrew Reineberg

Andrew Reineberg received his BFA in Printmaking from Millersville University in 2016, but has been making since a child at the kitchen table with his grandparents. He has since taught community classes at local galleries and institutions and shown his work at Millersville University’s Sykes Gallery and locally at the Lancaster Museum of Art and various pop-up shows around town.

Mary Louise Ravese

Mary Louise Ravese specializes in nature and travel photography from locations across the world. In 2020 she was recognized as “Master Artisan in Fine Art Photography” by the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen. Her photographs are in private, university, and corporate collections in over 40 states and are exhibited nationally. Mary Louise is an experienced photography instructor who has trained hundreds of amateur photographers. She enjoys teaching on a wide range of topics related to nature, travel, and creative photography. She leads classes and workshops at a variety of locations across the United States and abroad. For more information, visit her website at https://shop.bellavistaphotography.com.

Paula Lewis

Paula Lewis has been experimenting with fiber art for some ten years. She is a Master Artisan of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen and has served them in various volunteer roles for almost 20 years, most recently “retiring” from the position as vice president of standards. Paula is always happy to share the joys of studio play (and gardening and cooking). The process is equally important as the finished work – both should make us happy.

Barry Miller

I live in Denver with wife of 30 years, Diana, and we have three adult children; Emily, Andrew and Allyson. We also have two grandchildren; Olivia and Jeremiah. I work locally for an Alarm Service provider as a Fire Alarm Designer and Systems Engineer. We enjoy camping when we have the time as well as hiking. I grew up in Lancaster County PA and graduated from Cocalico High School and then served in the United States Army for three years and the Oregon Army National Guard while in College.

Amanda Church

I have loved crafts since I was young and always enjoyed paper crafts since it is a material easy to obtain and inexpensive. Having spent many years as a Bookkeeper, crafting has always been a good way to relax and unwind. Modular Origami is my main passion as the designs that can be produced are limitless. It is a way to spread joy with paper without words.

Tara Labosky

Tara Labosky is a York County artist, architect, construction manager, and educator whose fascination with buildings began at a young age. She has been designing and drawing buildings since the 8th grade and counts architectural drafting as her favorite class in high school.

Tim See

I am a ceramic artist born in Syracuse, New York in 1979. I have lived in the Greater Syracuse area, commonly known as Central New York, all of my life. I began working in clay while an art student at Onondaga Community College and completed my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics with Honors at Syracuse University in 2004.

My work has been shown at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C, the Everson Museum in Syracuse, NY, the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, NY, and, at Baltimore Clayworks in Maryland – as well as many other galleries and shows. The work has been recognized with awards every year since 2003.

I have taught beginning, intermediate and advanced pottery to adults in a community-based ceramics studio at Clayscapes Pottery, Inc. since 2006. I also have taught children and teens at the elementary, middle and high school levels in workshops, as a visiting artist, and, in year-long after-school programs. I have really enjoyed traveling throughout the northeast engaging potters in half-day, full-day, and multi-day workshops tailored to their unique goals.

As a founding member of the Independent Potters Association, I work collaboratively with fellow artists to organize and implement several charitable events each year as well as group exhibitions. I help organize group shows, an art trail, and a high school ceramics competition annually as well.

Social media have provided me with many platforms to communicate with more than 11,000 potters nationally and internationally. Since 2007, I have produced 92 educational videos on pottery that have been viewed almost 2 million times and attracted more than 13,000 subscribers.

My wife Brenda Pierce and I live in Bridgeport, NY with our cat Viggo.

Sara Gallo

Sara Gallo is an artist, jeweler, and CAD designer based in Lancaster, PA. She earned her BFA and BSE from Millersville University and MFA with a concentration in Metals/Jewelry/CAD-CAM from Tyler School of Art at Temple University. Sara exhibited in the prestigious PMA craft show in 2011 and 2016. She currently works part-time as a custom jeweler, teaches with the PA Guild, and is a stay-at-home mom to her two kids.

Lauren G. Koch

Lauren G. Koch is an internationally exhibiting, interdisciplinary artist and musician. She is originally from Georgia with strong roots in Appalachia; however, she has been based out of Maryland since 2017. Lauren received her MFA from the University of Maryland in the midst of the 2020 COVID lockdown. When she is not teaching printmaking, sculpture, watercolor, and creative mindfulness workshops in the DC area, she is supporting art non-profits as a graphic designer and marketing manager. Lauren’s work is strongly influenced by her heritage, drawing from fleeting personal experiences and remnants of collective memory.

Karen O’Lone-Hahn

A professional artist with 30 years of experience as a painter. Awards in local and regional shows. Paintings and prints are in public and private collections around the world. Ten years as a ceramic artist creating functional illustrated pots with white porcelain and paper clay. Awards in local and regional shows. Exhibitions: Ceramics: Havre de Grace 57th Art Show, Havre de Grace, Md- Second Place, Oct. 2022 Artists of Yardley 10th Juried Exhibition, Yardley, Pa. – Honorable mention, May 2022 York Arts Festival, York, Pa. – First Place, August 2021 Rehoboth Beach 48th Annual Fine Craft Exhibition, Rehoboth Beach, De. -First Place, July 2021 Rehoboth Beach 47th Annual Fine Craft Exhibition, Rehoboth Beach, De.-Honorable Mention July 2020 Education B.A. in Art Education, Buffalo State College, Buffalo NY, 1991 Ceramics Penland School of Craft, 2014 Arrowmont School of Crafts 2016 The Art Studio, Wilmington De. 2012-13 Skills and specialties: Hand building, wheel throwing, Mishima technique, altering thrown objects, surface decoration and illustration, porcelain and porcelain paperclay 35 Kimbelot Lane, Landenberg, Pa. 19350- cell: 610-299-3210 karenolonehahn@verizon.net IG-@karenolonehahn/FB-risingstarart www.karenolonehahn.com

William Jefferies

Hello there! My name is William and my obsession with the fashion industry started in 10th grade when I first learned screen printing and I began making t-shirts for family and friends. After high school, I embarked on a mission to gain further knowledge about the fashion industry attending Bradley Academy for the Visual Arts(AiYork) and the Art Institute of Philadelphia, graduating in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science in Fashion Design.

Laura Scott Steiger

No Biography Provided

John E. Ruggles

John E Ruggles is a maker currently living and working in Berks Co, Pennsylvania. A native of the area, he enjoys birdwatching the many beautiful parks and woodlands. He has been making and exhibiting work professionally since 2005. His work can be found in private and corporate collections internationally. He has been an educator for many years, teaching at both Penn State Berks Campus, and Rochester Institute of Technology. He is a freelance photographer and graphic designer.

Laura Scott Steiger

Laura Scott Steiger is an internationally exhibiting fine artist and crafter, based in Berks Co, Pennsylvania. Since graduating from Kutztown University in 2007 with a BFA in Studio Art and minoring in Fiber Arts, Laura has been creating and exhibiting her work; ranging from portraits, landscapes, and interior/exterior murals to felting, weaving, sewing, sign making, window art, graphic designs for small businesses, privately teaching, ice carving, sand sculpting, pumpkin carving, body painting and more. Laura loves all forms of art and the creative process and enjoys sharing them with others.

Karen O’Lone-Hahn

No Biography Provided

Tom Antonishak

No Biography Provided

Allen Androkites

Ilene Schenkel

Ilene is a member of the PA Guild of Craftsmen. She is on the Boards of the PA Guild of Craftsmen (PGC) as well as the Lancaster Designer Craftsmen Chapter of the PGC. She has a successful Etsy shop and has participated in some local art fairs. Her glass works are displayed at the Guild store, other shops in Lancaster, and in other locations in Pennsylvania. Ilene has been flameworking for over 15 years and recently completed classes at the Studio at Corning and at the Tuscarora Lapidary Society.

Etsy site – beadsbyileneshop – https://etsy.me/30m2RtN

Beckie Hynes

Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based textile designer Beckie Hynes blends her passion for weaving with her love of recycling by creating woven goods from salvaged t-shirts. She slices the shirts into a continuous strip and then weaves the t-shirt “yarn” on her upright tapestry loom. This is the same exact loom on which she learned to weave in 1998. She then sews that fabric into pillows, purses, rugs, or mounts it to be hung on a wall.

Beckie’s experience as a commercial textile colorist, textile designer, and wallpaper stylist has fashioned her unique sense of color play.

Jennifer Domal

Jennifer Domal is a Pennsylvania-based contemporary folk artist and educator. Growing up in a family that practiced traditional ethnic folk arts and customs impacted the batik egg art and folk pysanky she creates now. Jennifer received her BFA in Studio Arts with a concentration in Sculpture and Crafts from West Chester University as a second career after being encouraged by a colleague. During her Senior year, she interned at Chester County Art Association. The pinnacle show of the year was BRAvo, a fundraiser for families affected by cancer, with each artwork a page in a weekly planning calendar that Domal designed. After graduation, she became an instructor at Chester County Art Association and Center for the Creative Arts in nearby Hockessin, Delaware. Jennifer has exhibited her art in Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. She enjoys doing speaking engagements, demonstrations of pysanky for all age groups and especially workshop of this ancient folk art. Domal teaches drawing and sculpture and delights in combining science with art.

Juliana Kapusta

About the Instructor: Juliana is a certified rug hooking teacher whose main objective is to teach students to create beauty whether as folk art or fine art. Her early formal training is in advertising and design. Currently, she teaches adults in her home, Lancaster Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen, Tyler Park Center for the Arts and has taught at various guild-sponsored workshops, evening education classes, and children’s home school art classes in both rug hooking and dyeing wool. Juliana is proud to have had her rugs published in Celebration of Hand Hooked Rugs 20, Celebration of Hand Hooked Rugs 24, Hooking Animals, and Design Basics for Rug Hookers. It is her joy to help people find a relaxing way to fabricate art. To view more of her work see https://www.jkfabricateart.com

Donna Lashof

Jeff McCombie

About the Instructor:

I am a retired educator who has been been working with hardshell gourds for over 25 years. I am driven by the beauty and imperfections of nature. My artistic goal is to create impressionistic representations of nature’s elements. Techniques borrowed from potters, woodcrafters, and blacksmiths result in artistic and sometimes functional art for today’s living.

Nicholas Tucci

I have been making things all my life, with much thanks to my parents who had the care to nurture my creativity. I have always been a woodworker and in 2008 I graduated from Millersville University with a degree in Earth Science and a minor in Fine Art Metals. Shortly after I worked for several years at ART Research Enterprises, a fine art foundry in Lancaster, PA. Since then, I’ve made furniture and metal sculptures of my own. I believe in being a good steward of the planet and find it proper to use the values of “reduce, reuse, and recycle” in my artwork; for that reason, most materials I use are recycled. My work can be seen at the State of the Art Custom Framing and Art Gallery in East Petersburg.

Beth deVitry

Beth deVitry is a studio artist selling her work at craft fairs and galleries on the east coast. Beth graduated from the Maryland Institute of Art with a degree in Fine Art. After 25 years as a goldsmith for a fine jewelry store, she uses her skills to design her own creations in her home studio. devitrydesigns.com

Phil Hackman

John Hunter

Working with clay is a way of life. John Hunter has been potting for 53 years and resided in Windhoek, Namibia until August 2021. He now lives in Denver, PA in Lancaster County.
The Hunter’s have been working in Windhoek for 24 years training teachers and in 2005 established a primary school in the township of Katutura where the majority of Blacks live since their forced removal from the center Windhoek in 1960. The school has grown and been very successful. Empty Bowl events at exhibitions of John’s pottery have been useful to promote Community Hope and share the need for quality education. Rather than relying on local potters to donate bowls for events, Hunter has produced over 5000 bowls at his studio. This unique way of forming bowls without a wheel has been a way to train his local apprentices in production pottery giving them skills needed to be successful potters themselves.

After studying at Penland School of Crafts with Cynthia Bringle and other well know potters and ceramic artists such as Toshiko Takaezu, Bruno LaVerdiere, Jane Peiser and others he launched his career at “The Pot Shop” in Venice Beach California where he met master potter Ned Sloane. Bringle’s, Takaezu’s and Sloane’s influence of Asian ceramic style stuck and he developed a love for the simple yet elegant work of Shoji Hamada and Bernard Leach that has guided his work until the present day.

While Hunter’s true passion is education and teacher training, working with clay is central to all he does. He has done workshops worldwide with his potter’s wheel, demonstrating throwing, glaze decoration and Sumi-e brushwork for potters in Southern Africa, Europe, Australia, the Middle East, and North and South America.

He uses electric, gas and wood-fired kilns to finish his work. In 2017 at the Potter’s Association of Namibia’s Biennale two of his Elephant Mug Sculptures were awarded the Premiere Award and purchased by the Namibian Arts Association for their permanent collection. In 2019 he won the Premier award again, this time for one of his wood-fire tea pots.

After moving to a new studio and home last year Hunter built a 50 cu. ft. wood fired, cross-draft, salt glaze kiln. Hunter plans to publish a guide to Kiln building for the complete idiot soon with detailed instructions of what not to do!

While Hunter’s love of clay and fire provide a baseline for his life and work it is his passion for education that truly inspires him. The opportunity to bring the quality of learning that his own children had into the Damara location at Community Hope School is what drives him. Selling pots in Namibia with its limited population and lack of sophistication for ceramic art as a whole has been a challenge and Hunter packs up most of his pottery for sales in the USA and Europe each year as he and his wife travel and fundraise for the school.

Seth Carlson

Seth’s jewelry and sculpture career began in his Father’s stained glass studio where he fashioned jewelry and art pieces from scraps of discarded glass. It was also during this period of time that he began to experiment with metalsmithing.

After attending the Savannah College of Art and Design’s BFA program in metals and jewelry I was employed as a silversmithing instructor, a bench jeweler, and studio goldsmith, while building my brand Seth Michael Studio. Additionally I earned a graduate degree in art therapy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where I researched and wrote about the therapeutic benefits of metalsmithing. I believe that being a craftsperson and being altruistic are synonymous, and giving back to community is an essential part of mastering a craft.

Seth, his wife Rosa and four cats live in Philadelphia. In 2019 Seth lived in Hong Kong for four months as an artist in residence with Loupe – a design incubation space sponsored by Chow Tai Fook Jewelry. Seth continues to be inspired by the wildlife, people and experiences of his surroundings.

Jim Hiser

I am a full-time wood carver from Carlisle Pa. specializing in caricature carving. Always enjoying the humorous side of life, I found Caricature Carving allows me to express this and feel there is no better praise than to see people smiling and watching their expressions while looking at my carvings. In 2015, I was inducted into the Caricature Carvers of America and now the current President. I am a member of the Conewago Carvers – East Berlin Pa, the Lancaster County Wood Carvers – Lancaster Pa, the West Shore Wood Carvers – Mechanicsburg Pa, and the Yellow Breeches Chapter of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsman. I am fortunate to teach seminars across the country and regularly speak to various groups on the art of Wood Carving.

https://www.jhiserart.com/about

E. Douglas Wunder

My experience derives from working in jewelry design and production for over 30 years.
The jewelry pieces involve constructed forms in mixed metals primarily titanium,
assembled in layers, and cold connected with rivets to give the finished piece a three-dimensional
effect. Inspiration draws from nature and technological objects.

I travel extensively throughout the United States demonstrating, showing and selling my work at
exhibitions and art shows such as The ACC Craft Shows, The Chicago Old Town Art
Fair, Longs Park Art and Craft Festival in Lancaster, PA. Recent exhibitions include
Wearable Expressions, CraftForms and The Mesa Art Museum’s Contemporary Crafts
Exhibition. My work has appeared in several publications, such as Making Metal
Jewelry, Wrap, Stitch, Ford and Rivet, Showcase 500 Art Necklaces, Ornament Magazine
and Art Jewelry Magazine.

My work has garnered a variety of recognition in 2017: The
Saul Bell Award as a Finalist, Wearable Expressions for Honorable Mention, Krasl Art
on the Bluff, First Place in Category and The Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsman for The
Resolved Design Award.

Andy Williams

Ali M. Williams

Ali M Williams is an artist from the Philadelphia area with a BFA from Moore College of Art and Design. She has exhibited her work and murals internationally.

Ali is interested in how visually altering a space with public art affects the surrounding environment. Her murals invite you inside a collaged, fabricated dreamscape of paint, mysterious beauty, and contemporary iconography. Her work touches on the complexity of the human spirit. She is passionate about women’s issues and often utilizes the female portrait as a means of self-reflection and identity. Her advocacy for animal rights, environmental and wildlife conservation are also prevalent in her paintings. She regularly uses negative space, juxtaposing methods and visuals to help tell a story. Symbolic elements, graphic imagery, and muted tones in contrast with vibrant colors and realism are frequent components of her work.

She has worked with numerous education and community outreach programs such as Cancer Treatment Centers of America, The American Foundation For Suicide Prevention, The Pennsylvania Conference for Women, Riverside Correctional Facility, Zambia Tukongote Community Projects, The Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society, Mural Arts Philadelphia, The City of Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services, and at-risk youth and adults, as well as a range of participants of all ages. Some of her most recent clients include Zappos, The NFL, New Balance, Nasdaq, and The Schulson Collective.

Hattie Weselyk

Born into a family of artists, creativity was ingrained in Hattie from a very young age as she explored her creativity through several different artistic disciplines. As a young child Hattie began her intensive training in ballet. At the age of 14, she was accepted into the prestigious School of American Ballet, Juilliard School, NYC. Drawing from her experiences in the artistry of dance, Hattie evolved into a recognized sculptor with her work exhibited in galleries and shows. “I loved sculpture but something was missing. I needed something more.”

Hattie’s eagerness to grow and expand as an artist blossomed into her crafting jewelry. “Being self-taught in jewelry has allowed me to cultivate my own unique style without outside influence. I don’t plan any of my pieces. I just start. My designs are constantly changing as I mature through life. My work is an extension of me.”

Hattie works and resides in her 18th-century farmhouse studio in the quaint historic town of Unionville, Pennsylvania with her wonderfully supportive husband and three beautiful children.

Pam Wenger

Carol Welsh

Susan Weaver

Susan has been a hand weaver for many years, as well as a weaving instructor for over 25 years. She began her textile studies at The Mannings Hand Weaving School, in East Berlin, PA, as well as at an art school in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. She worked as a Textile Educator at Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum, a PA German living history museum, in Lancaster, for a number of years, exploring many traditional textile structures. This led to the writing of her book, Handwoven Tape ~ Understanding and Weaving Early American and Contemporary Tape. She is a member of the PA Guild of Craftsmen and Central PA Guild of Hand Weavers. She sells a variety of her hand weavings, locally and nationally.

Elizabeth Tokoly

Elizabeth Tokoly is a graduate from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. She is the founder of EatMetal Art Jewelry Gallery and Metals Studio. Her work exhibits nationally and can be found at events such as One of a Kind Chicago, Craft NY, New York NOW, and Peter’s Valley Fine Art Market. Elizabeth is an educator at 92nd St Y, Visual Arts Center of Summit, and The Art School of Old Church. She conducts workshops at Peter’s Valley School of Craft, Snowfarm School of Craft and Touchstone School of Craft. Elizabeth is published in numerous jewelry books and magazines such as MJSA, Metalsmith, British Vogue, 500 Earrings, and Lapidary Journal. Elizabeth’s Japanese Hexagonal Collar is on the cover of Chain Mail Jewelry Contemporary designs from Classic Techniques, with over 1200 jump rings making up her design.

Elizabeth’s artistic approach is through math and nature. She loves to break down the raw beauty of nature into simple elements. Elizabeth uses techniques such as forging, forming, replicating, growing and simplifying to create intricate designs. Her pieces use simple lines, primary shapes and structures in which the growth of these forms create original and unique pieces of wearable art. Her work is edgy, classic and timeless.

Heather Stief

Inspired by the natural world around her, the work of Pennsylvania-based metalsmith Heather Stief is a study in the contrast of light and dark. She is fascinated by the transition from day to night, and the subtle changes that occur. To form her jewelry collection, she incorporates sterling silver, gemstones, and other found objects into shapes found in nature to create original works of wearable art with a fresh and modern perspective.

In her work, Stief strives to create a balance between hard and soft, modern and organic, contemporary and traditional. To emphasize that contrast, she often incorporates alternative materials such as rubber and found objects into her work. Stief’s body of work endeavors to maintain an organic quality while still feeling modern, and aims to not simply mimic nature, but to interpret and celebrate it.

Stief’s passion for jewelry design began in college where she attended Kutztown University of Pennsylvania and was exposed to all facets of a career in Fine Craft. During this time Stief received training in traditional metalsmithing fabrication techniques and took several workshops to expand her skill set. After graduating Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a minor in Crafts in 2007, she launched Heather Stief Jewelry. In 2013 she began exhibiting her work and was a selected participant in the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen’s EMERGE program for emerging artists. Stief was juried in to the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen as a Master Artisan in 2015 and was awarded the Benchmark Award for Unique Voice in 2016. Stief works out of her Mount Joy, Pennsylvania studio and currently exhibits her work at fine craft fairs along the east coast.

Rod Spotts

Liz Spencer

With experience tending organic natural dye gardens nestled between rows of a family heritage orange grove in southern California, the urban sidewalks of Brooklyn New York, and in the tradition of an English community garden in London, Liz Spencer has devoted an artistic practice to her insatiable curiosity of coaxing color from plants.

She grew up watching the Carolina dogwoods bloom each spring, and their arrival each year signified the beginning of a new season of color and life. After time in the Carolinas, Massachusetts, Oregon & Washington states as well as the South of France & the UK, she now splits her time between Southern California and New York City teaching with the ambition to increase sustainable literacy & practices in the fashion and textiles industries.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Linfield College & a Master of Arts from the world’s leading sustainable fashion graduate program ‘Fashion & the Environment’ at the London College of Fashion. She has taught fashion, sustainability, and natural dyeing at Parsons the New School and continually teaches at the Fashion Institute of Technology. She was a venture fellow at the Brooklyn Fashion and Design Accelerator (BF+DA) and an intern in the inaugural year of the Sewing Seeds Program at The Textile Arts Center.

She has years of experience foraging, growing & processing natural dye plants as well as experience in fiber farming with sheep, alpacas, llamas and goats. This work taught her much about the importance of the links between a balanced environment, happy animals, thriving farmers & resilient local economies.

Liz is now finding a new rhythm by the ocean in San Clemente, CA.

TheDogwoodDyer.com

Emily Beidler

Biography: Emily Smucker-Beidler has been teaching art in public schools for 22 years. She currently teaches in the Hempfield schools. Her artistic education began at her grandmother’s knee, who once confided in her that she’d “rather quilt than eat.” She also provided Emily’s first color theory lesson. “In braiding rugs,” she said, “you should always start with two dulls and one bright.” Then she leaned a little closer and added, “But my mother liked bright colors. Sometimes she would use two brights and one dull.” Since then Emily’s knowledge of color theory has been broadened by a degree in art education from Goshen College and a master’s in art education from Millersville University.