**Liz Halsted, “Think of All the Crossings”**

One of the organizations I belong to is the Missouri Fiber Artists Organization (MoFA). There are regional groups within MoFA, and although I live 2 hours away in Kansas, I was able to be included in the Kansas City group.

I attended my first meeting a little over a year ago and came away feeling rejuvenated and excited to be part of an organization actively focused on promoting fiber arts. The Kansas City group seemed to be especially intent on showing work and furthering members careers as artists. And a very creative, talented, and prolific group they are. The show at the Smalter Gallery in Kansas City, Mo is just one example of many opportunities available to the members of Missouri Fiber Artists.

The show at the Smalter Gallery is only up through the 27th of this month and by appointment only to allow for social distancing measures. I, myself, have only seen bits and pieces that I was able to glimpse when I dropped off my work. There are many talented fiber artists in this show, but to narrow the scope, I’ll just be focusing on those that chose weaving as a medium.

Liz Halsted

Liz Halsted had some beautiful pieces that were featured the first night in a virtual opening put together by Emily Smalter. You can find it in Emily’s IG feed here. The piece above by Liz is titled “Think of All the Crossings”. She has this to say about her weaving process:

I am a methodical and results oriented person, but also one who loves color, texture, and design. Weaving satisfies both. The warping and planning is methodical and mathematical. The weaving process is meditative and spontaneous. I lay out my colorway on my work table using hundreds of pieces of yarn in the form of cones, skeins, and scraps. I adjust until it feels good. Then I start weaving. When I sit at my loom and weave, I don't think too much about the end result. It's all about the colors and textures unfolding in my hands.

She also has another piece in the show called “My Grandfather’s Dreams” that has an interesting story behind it if you listen to the talk. You can see more of Liz’s work on her website.

Sue Ferguson

Sue has been in a lot of shows lately and I always enjoy seeing her work in all it’s shapes and forms! In talking about her work in this show, she had this to say:

The four fiber collages I have in the Smalter Gallery show are part of a collection of eight collages that focus on wildfires. "Tick Fire," "Camp Fire," Victoria Bushfire" and "Piute Fire" are named for wildfires in California and Australia. They are all interpretations of photos of the global impact of climate change. They feature a range of fiber art techniques, including weaving, knitting, felting, stitching, deconstructed clothing and fabric, and yarn manipulation. In the fall of 2019, in the before times, I taught a composition course at Johnson County Community College, in which I encouraged the students to research, study and write essays about climate change issues around the world. One of the issues that students kept returning to was wildfires, because they were in the news. Their essays and various news photos of the fires inspired me to try to interpret the photos in a different medium. A single technique wasn't going to do it, so I used several fiber art techniques to capture the colors and mood of the fires.

Sue was also featured in one of the IG videos. To see more of Sue’s work, visit her website.

Barrie Mason

I was in another show last fall that Barrie was also in and I find myself struck by the diversity of her work. Her comments on this piece:

This piece was my first venture into using Theo Moorman's inlay method. Theo was a prolific weaver from England beginning in the '20s and taught many classes here in the US in the '70s. She made this in-lay famous in her work and has said she developed it to be able to do tapestry-like weaving quicker. When I did my Instagram talk for the Smalter (on the web site it is the one with the dog as the icon) she zoomed in and let people see the secondary, smaller thread which is used to lock down the weft material. I thoroughly enjoyed this new way of working and plan on making additional pieces with this technique.
As to the theme of joy, I started this piece in January 2020 and was exhausted from all the fears, and the drama I'd been seeing and experiencing. Decided to make a conscious effort to be joyful, seek joy, as a way of healing myself and my worldview. Thus the butterflies motif was born and the use of bright silks and ribbon. I don't usually work with such vivid colors but it seemed the thing to do. Even the white rod and ribbon for hanging lent it a playful and child-like feel. A light heart was my goal.

If you’re not familiar with this technique or want to know more, pick up a copy of Theo’s book: Weaving as an Art Form: A Personal Statement. (affiiate link). It’s a wonderful read and loaded with gems. The instagram feed Barrie refers to is here.

Judy Santner

Judy is the only artist mentioned here I’ve never met, but hope to some day. She works with varied materials in her weavings; this one features beading and paper. She wove with rusted yarn in portions of her other weaving on display.

And then there’s me!

You may already be familiar with my work (since you are on my website). Three of my pieces in the show are from an ongoing series I’ve been doing on trees and their ability to nurture. Above is “Conversations”. The others are Tree Companions, Tree Companions 2, and Ode to Ancient Plants. These pieces mark the beginning of my path using the Soumak technique.

To see more of the other work in the show, and catch some videos put together by Emily Smalter, owner of the gallery, check out her IG feed.

Oh, and I forgot to mention her interview with me is here.

And if you’re interested in joining MoFA, you can do that here. And, ahem… I just happen to be the new membership chair so you could also email me if you have any questions!

KC Missouri Fiber Artists Exhibit

Liz Halsted

Sue Ferguson

Barrie Mason

Judy Santner

And then there’s me!