Instructor Bios

Barbara Setsu Pickett and her son Michael create highly textured silk scarves for their Mihara Shibori Studio collections. Barbara is an Associate Professor Emeritus in the Department of Art at the University of Oregon. The focus of her teaching and creative practice is velvetweaving, shibori, natural dyeing and artists’ books. Michael specializes in indigo dyeing and shibori and has created unique shibori patterns.

Carol James has been exploring sprang and other low-tech, easily transportable textile methods for 30 years and is of the opinion that anywhere is a good place to weave. She has examined sprang items in collections across North American and Europe, and has made replicas of some of these items for clients such as George Washington’s Mount Vernon, the German Archaeological Institute, and the Norwegian Army Museum. A very patient teacher, she has taught in Canada, the US, New Zealand, and Europe. She is the author of numerous articles and three books: Fingerweaving Untangled and Sprang Unsprung and a new book of Sprang Lace Patterns.

Jane Dunnewold teaches and lectures internationally, and has mounted numerous oneperson exhibitions, including Inspired by the Masters (Visions Quilt Museum 2016) Her work won Best of Show in the exhibition Timeless Meditations (Tubac Art Center/2013). She is a recipient of the Quilt Japan Prize, and Gold Prize at the Taegue (Korea) International Textile Exhibition. Dunnewold has authored numerous books, including the classic,Complex Cloth (1996). Interweave Press published Art Cloth: A Guide to Surface Design on Fabric (2010.) In 2016 North Light Books will publish Creative Strength Training: Prompts, Exercises and Stories to inspire Artistic Genius. She is the former President of the Surface Design Association.

Having briefly learnt to weave from his father at the age of 18, Jason returned to the discipline 6 years later and setup his own workshop in 1986, located in Nayland, Suffolk. Over the last 29 years Jason has woven to commission somewhere in the region of 2000+ rugs. Mostly for private clients, though also for some corporate clients, and worked with numerous architects and interior designers. Large commissions include a series of 24 rugs for the Sheraton hotel in Dar-es Salaam, in Tanzania; and a series of rugs for a castle in Switzerland. Exhibitions include a one man show in Amsterdam, and two man shows in Oxford, Connecticut (USA), and Portland (USA). The rugs can be woven to any size and colour way, are strong and durable for use on the floor, but equally can be used as wall-hangings. In addition to designing and weaving, Jason spends 3 - 4 months each year teaching at various art schools in America, Australia, Canada and Europe. This has led to Jason having his own brand of rug wool in America, as well as instructional DVD's and publications.