spaces available in Thurs. night weaving class

We have a weaving class starting Thurs. night at the Visual Art Center of Richmond. We meet from 6:30 - 9:00 pm and there are openings! Please join us for this 4 week session. In that time, you can learn to dress a loom, and weave off a project. We work on 8 harness Leclerc floor looms. There is a mix of new weavers (never woven before) and returning weavers, so no matter what your experience level, you will feel right at home.
Come join us.
804.353.0094
Thanks!

make a hat with a friend as a holiday gift!

Did you know you can buy a 3-4 person hat or rug felting workshop as a holiday gift? Here is how it works. You buy 3 or 4 gift hatfelting certificates for the amount of the workshop ($85.00 ea) and I print them out. You then confer with the recipients of the gifts, and book a date to take the class together. It's loads of fun. You lay out your design, and felt up your hat. Then you block and shape the hats as we all try different shapes and styles, laughing and playing together in this fun workshop. It's always a great time!
These workshops are from 10 am - 4 pm. Can be booked on a Saturday or weekday.
Dates are currently open for Dec. and Jan., for friends to gather and make hats. We do these in Goochland at my home, where we have access to all of my materials and supplies, instead of the limited supply I can bring to traveling workshops. Join me!
Here are a couple of fun hats from my workshops.

felting at Bay school - christmas tree

Here is an image of the type of felt rug we will be making at Bay school of the arts in Nov. The class was requested by some of my felting students who wanted to make a similar rug.
Hope you like it, and feel inspired to take the class. I will be leaving Richmond at 8 am, if anyone needs a ride,e-mail me.
Cherri

a few more photos

Hi, I came across another picture of the hat in the previous post. This is it's original styling. Of course, the hats get re-fashioned fairly often if they don't get sold right away. I just love to alter them, and re-shape them. Also is a picture of one of my felt wall hangings. It is called "Brookview at Night". It's a representation of teh organic farm who's website I do. It's also one of the very few signed felt pieces I've done.
Cherri

upcoming classes

I've got a very busy schedule for the end of Oct and through Nov. If you are interested in taking a class to learn to make felt hats, I have several hatfelting classes in Virginia. There is one Oct. 27, in Mathews, Va. We will be wetfelting hats from wool roving. Students will have the opportunity to make either berets, or broad brimmed hats. I am also offering that class at Crossroads Art Center on Staples Mill Rd, in Richmond In Nov. 12. Thats a Monday. We will be there from 10 am - 4 pm. The following Monday, I will be teaching rug felting at Crossroads Art Center. For either of the Crossroads classes, you need to contact me for registration. that's maidensweaver@earthlink.net

I'm teaching hatfelting at the Visual Art center of Richmond on 11/3, but that class is full, although the Cultural Art Center at Glen Allen has my hatfelting class on 11/10. It is not full yet.

Rug felting on 11/17 at Visual art center of Richmond and the last time I checked, there were 2 openings for that class if you can't get an opening at Visarts, you might still find an opening for rug felting at the Cultural Art Center at Glen Allen. The rugfelting there is on Dec. 1.

One last mention of the felting classes. I have a class in Mathews to felt a rug like my Christmas Tree rug. It is called "Oh Christmas Tree". It also had openings. You don't have to felt the Christmas tree, but it was a class put together by special request, so I will be showing how it was done.

My weaving classes at The Visual Art Center of Richmond have openings for the Nov. Session. I hope to get 3 more people in that class. It meets on Thurs. nights from 6:30 - 9:00 pm. I had an opening occur briefly for the Roseneath studio, but it was filled from the 'waiting list'. I know several of you are still looking for openings there, and I am still trying to get additional studio space there. Glen Allen has 2 openings for weavers, and we will be starting a couple of spinners there on sunday afternoons also. If you are interested in spinning lessons, e-mail me at maidensweaver@earthlink.net

The Visual Art Center of Richmond also still has openings in the spinning class for Monday nights beginning Nov. 12 and continueing through Dec. 3, i think. This class is for beginners or intermediates. We keep the classes small enough to offer very personal instruction to everyone.

I think that covers it. I think I have some pics of handfelted hats to add to this. I will see if there is anything else. Stay in touch.
Cherri

Oh, one more thing. My church does a re-enactment of Bethlehem the night Jesus was born. It's called Bethlehem Walk, and is wonderful. You can catch it in December (15,16,17 I think) on Broad St. Rd.just west of the Food Lion on the South side of Broad St. e-mail me with questions.
C.

Spinning yarns from the spinning wheel

This class started tonight at the Visual Art Center of Richmond. It is a small group - 3 students. Two people came in with their own wheels, and the third's is coming from Louet in a week or so. One student is a returning student. She is doing well with her spinning, but not finding time enough, as she is in a masters program right now. The other two are very new, but both have tried drop spindling.
As usual, the new spinners didn't feel adept at what they were doing, but both were doing quite well by the end of the class. The one with her own wheel spent some portion of class working on the center's wheel. When I got a chance, I checked out her wheel, got it going, and she switched to her own wheel, and had great success with is. I suspect both students will return with a
voracious desire to spin more.
It is fun teaching the fiber arts and my life is very fulfilled at the moment. Take care, and I'll be back.
Cherri

Gospel, Rock-a-billy, Bluegrass?

Ha,Ha,Ha! Last night I went out to a Valerie Smith and Liberty Pike band concert at The Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen.
It was soooo funny.....fun. I went into it without a clue who this band was, but they were billed as gospel, rock-a-billy, bluegrass???? Sorry, come again?
Well, they do some pieces similar to "Down to the River to Pray" in "Oh, Brother Where Art Thou?", and Valerie Smith is the most 'high energy' musician I have ever seen. I like her singing voice, but the band has this technique of crowding the mike, and then moving back and forth closer and farther away from the mike that 'works' well, except Valerie has the vocal power of a fog horn. It just didn't seem like there was enough room in the place for little Valerie, and her BIG voice.
Then, Becky Buller, another musician in the group came to the mike, and is sounded like the sound guys turned the mike off?! What in the-----?!?
Valerie was on stage, switching off several different instruments, as are the other band members, but she is bouncing around, clogging and just pumped with energy and never missing a beat musically.
It was more than I am used to. Most concerts for me are laid back old mellow rock, or classical...even some jazz. I just wasn't ready for this rock-a-billy bluegrass stuff.
The group was definitely worthy of a much larger audience. The auditorium was only 1/3 full, and some crackpot in the middle of the auditorium wouldn't shut up making cracks about the warm up musician, so after the brief intermission, there wasn't another person sitting within 10 feet of him.
I checked out their music online, and it's much more traditional sounding than the booming and fading they did last night. And Becky has some very nice pieces also. All in all, my favorite was a piece called buzzed. Itunes has it, but if you want a sample of the song at itunes, you won't get it because the piece they chose to use as a sampling of Buzzed is just band member intros?
Oh well, they won't be back in Richmond in '07, but I definitely reccomend them if you like Blue grass. You can find out more here: http://www.valeriesmithonline.com/
Toodles for now.
I have to go to church, and then teach my Sunday afternoon weaving class.
Cherri

Gospel, Rock-a-billy, Bluegrass?

walking the nickle bridge

Ok, so I've been a Richmonder all my life. I remember when the nickle bridge was a nickel (and I say that, which all old Richmonders do). I walked across it today because I wanted to take pictures while the water was very low, and the rocks were sunbathing. I love sunbathing rocks. They are so shameless, revealing EVERYTHING!. Well, here are a couple of the nudes of the rocks in the James.

images of daily life

As you can see, I am still weaving off that warp I used for the last tallit. This is a piece of merino fabric that is embroidered as it is woven. Some of the embroidery ends are actually woven is as weft, to validate the fact that the weaving and embroidery are integral. Probably just important to me. So, in general, I am having fun. Tomorrow, back to the grind. Good thing I like 'the grind':0)
This is the green and blue scarf I took off the loom today:
Another watercolor just waiting to be painted:
Here are some pics of the beauty in my daily life and some of ongoing work now that the commission glut is over.
These are the morning glories at my parents house. It is enriching just to walk up to the door and see these beauties, but I have almost always felt that about blue morning glories.

Would you like a cuppa?

Folks, I have just discovered a wonderful treasure in Richmond. We have a delightful tearoom. My parents and I went to a quaint little victorian house on Morris St. for tea today and were pleasantly surprised. The tearoom is called Cuppa Tea.
It's owned by VMI graduate, Alan Wagner and his wife Lurline. You may order a cuppa, or 'tea'. There are a variety of selections of 'tea', including cream, luncheon, asian, or dessert. Cream is basically a scone and clotted cream, luncheon is several savory selections (sandwiches/canape), a sweet (scone), and your cuppa, asian is a dim sum plate and dessert is (ahem) as you would expect, several dessert selections and a cuppa. They have a variety of wonderful tea blends and the ambiance is fairly flawless.
Please treat yourself and visit these kind folks and if you enjoy yourself, I will be expecting an invitation to join you next.
Here is a link, so you can plan your visit: http://www.cuppateacompany.com/
Have fun!
Cherri