Through May 15, visitors to the Folk Art Center can see an exhibition of works by members of the Western North Carolina Fiber/Handweavers Guild on the center’s second level. This is the first Main Gallery exhibition of the year for the Southern Highland Craft Guild and the work spans a variety of textile disciplines including spinning, shibori, batik, silkscreen, weaving, natural dyeing, needle felting and knitting.
Martha Owens, artist
Joan Berner is a member of both guilds and her work will be featured in the exhibit. “Each guild stimulates my creative design in a different way,” Berner says. “With the Southern Highland Craft Guild, my focus is usually on high quality—staying current and looking for salable items. On the other side, the Handweavers Guild is focused on the techniques used to create the cloth. The Handweavers Guild members can quickly identify the tiniest of mistakes in the weave structure that others might not notice. One guild nurtures my design side and the other guild stimulates technical expertise in a weave structure the visiting public may not know anything about.” Berner will have two jackets on display in this exhibit, one made in an Ikat design and the other made of nuno felt.
Eileen Hallman, also a member of both guilds, will be exhibiting a piece of yardage woven on a white cotton warp with alternating white wool and handspun natural brown cotton weft. “We take cloth for granted,” says Hallman, “but there is a lot more to cloth than meets the eye. Cloth can be simple or complex. This exhibit shows the range of techniques that can be done with fiber, by people who all live within this region.”
The Folk Art Center is located at Milepost 382 on the Blue Ridge Parkway in east Asheville. For more information about the exhibit or the Southern Highland Craft Guild, visit CraftGuild.org. For more information about the Handweavers Guild, visit wncfhg.org.
