A Workshop with Jane Moore

Fee: $48/$42 members (all materials included)
Registration: Registration is closed. Sign up for our e-list for information on future sessions.

This workshop is part of Fiber Fest, a month-long series of fiber offerings at Lynden. For more information, click here.

Wet felting is an ancient and magical hands-on fiber art process. It is also an excellent medium for exploring texture, color, and design. In this workshop, we will use our hands and our imaginations--and a little water and soap--to transform colorful, fluffy wool and silk fibers into uniquely designed felt vessels. No experience required.

About Jane Moore

Jane Moore is a lifelong fiber artist. She has been an avid felt artist for twelve years and has studied with internationally renowned felt artists. Her work has been featured in many galleries in the Milwaukee area.

A Workshop with Claire Hitchcock Tilton

Fee: $110/$99 members (all materials included)
Registration: Space is limited; advance registration required. Register by phone at 414-446-8794.

This workshop is part of Fiber Fest, a month-long series of fiber offerings at Lynden. For more information, click here.

Learn the basics of tapestry weaving using a Navajo-style loom. We will explore traditional Navajo weaving, and use Navajo rugs as an entry point to create our own contemporary designs. The looms, which we provide along with a variety of yarns and the basic tools required for weaving, are made from sticks sourced from Lynden's grounds. You will learn how to prepare your loom for weaving, as well as techniques for planning and weaving our own tapestry. Because weaving is a lengthy process, it is likely that your tapestry will not be completed during the workshop. All of the materials (including the loom) and skills you need to finish your piece with confidence will be provided. No experience required. Please bring a lunch.

About Claire Hitchcock Tilton

Claire Hitchcock Tilton is an artist, designer, and grower from Milwaukee. She works in many fine art and craft media from weaving and woodworking to painting and gardening. Hitchcock Tilton’s work explores the different ways the rural and urban landscapes affect her relationship to the land. She has studied weaving traditions with Navajo master craftswomen, and fibers, ceramics and woodworking at the Oregon College of Art and Craft. She received a BFA in Integrated Studio Arts from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design. Hitchcock Tilton’s time is split between managing the grounds of the Lynden Sculpture Garden and working in her Milwaukee homestead and studio.

A Workshop with Jamie Lea Bertsch

Fee: $85/$75 members (all materials included)
Registration: Registration is closed. Sign up for our e-list for information on future sessions.

This workshop is part of Fiber Fest, a month-long series of fiber offerings at Lynden. For more information, click here.

Learn the technique of marbling to decorate textile surfaces with swirling patterns reminiscent of natural marble stone. Create completely unique prints, and let the organic process guide your artistic decision-making. This workshop will provide you with all you need to create your own marbled tea towel set and silk scarf. 

No experience required. Bring a bag lunch and beverages. We have aprons, but please wear clothes suitable for artmaking.

About Jamie Lea Bertsch

Jamie Lea Bertsch is a maker. Whether itʼs creating pattern, knitting, arranging flowers, or experimenting with natural dyes—making by hand is her favorite thing to do. She swoons over combinations of color, texture and pattern. Bertsch received her MFA in Fibers from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a BFA in Graphic Design and Printmaking from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. She has traveled abroad, teaching art in Mae Sai, Thailand. Her design work has been featured in Domino Magazine and Wisconsin Bride, and she has shown her work at Lillstreet Gallery in Chicago and the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn, New York.

February is for Fibers

We all need a little fiber in February to keep us warm, engaged, and contented. Fortunately, Lynden is gathering up all of its fibers offerings--or at least a good handful of them--and weaving them into a February Fiber Fest. We'll cover surface design and fabrication, the sculptural and the functional, the beginner-friendly and the challenging (sometimes all in the same workshop). While most workshops are for adults, many will be of interest to teens. A few require some level of skill, but most are open to interested beginners. Those with younger children are welcome to drop into our family workshop to make a cardboard loom and braid friendship bracelets. All month long, we will be inviting workshop participants to take the work they make out onto the grounds for a photograph to create a cumulative Fiber Fest photo journal.

Thanks to the generosity of the Knitting Knook, we wrap up the month's activities with a Free Family Day and Fiber Fest Finale on February 26. Knitters and aspiring knitters of all ages and abilities are welcome to join us for a knitathon and yarnstorming (think cowls for trees). Yarn, needles, and instruction provided, but feel free to bring your own to this communal event. (If you have a small stock of yarn you would like to contribute, you are welcome to drop it off in advance at Lynden.)

Whether you take one workshop or several, sign up to acquire a new skill or to make yourself a pair of slippers, February Fiber Fest is an excellent opportunity to come out of hibernation and enjoy all that Lynden has to offer in winter.

Fiber Fest Events

Saturday, February 4, 10 am-4 pm
Textile Marbling: A Workshop with Jamie Lea Bertsch
More info: http://www.lyndensculpturegarden.org/education/textile-marbling-jamie-lea-bertsch

Sunday, February 5, 10 am-4 pm
Navajo Tapestry Weaving: A Workshop with Claire Hitchock Tilton
More info: http://www.lyndensculpturegarden.org/education/navajo-tapestry-weaving-claire-hitchcock-tilton

Saturday, February 11, 1 pm-3:30 pm
Felt Vessels: A Wet Felting Workshop with Jane Moore
More info: http://www.lyndensculpturegarden.org/education/felt-vessels-wet-felting-workshop-jane-moore

Sunday, February 12, 12:30 pm-2:30 pm
Family Workshop: Friendship Bracelets
More info: http://www.lyndensculpturegarden.org/education/family-workshop-friendship-bracelets

Saturday, February 18, 10 am-4 pm
Sculptural Crochet: A Workshop with Maggie Sasso
More info: http://www.lyndensculpturegarden.org/education/sculptural-crochet-workshop-maggie-sasso

Sunday, February 19, 10 am-4 pm
Functional Felting: A Workshop with Claire Hitchcock Tilton
More info: http://www.lyndensculpturegarden.org/education/functional-felting-workshop-claire-hitchcock-tilton

Sunday, February 26, 10 am-4 pm
Free Family Day & Fiber Fest Finale: Knitathon & Yarnstorming
More info: http://www.lyndensculpturegarden.org/Knitathon

Thursday, March 2, 5:30 pm-9 pm
Fiber Fest Follow-Up at the Jewish Museum Milwaukee
More info: http://www.lyndensculpturegarden.org/calendar/fiber-fest-follow-up

Sponsored by:

A Workshop with Bruce Knackert

Fee: $10/$5 members
Registration: Space is limited; advance registration required. Register day of or by phone at 414-446-8794.

Bruce Knackert manages Lynden's indoor collection of paintings, small sculpture and works on paper. In this series, he demonstrates framing practices and pitfalls for works on paper to help you speak knowledgeably to framers and preserve your own collection.In this last session, Knackert talks about the five factors harmful to artwork on paper (light, acid, relative humidity, temperature, pests) and expands on the techniques and materials discussed in previous sessions.

About Bruce Knackert

For the past 30 years, Bruce Knackert has worked at a number of university art galleries, art museums, a natural history museum and a private art gallery. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in studio art from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and a Master of Arts degree in painting and drawing from Ball State University where he held an assistantship in the registration and preparation departments.

Fee: $110/ $99 members (all materials included)
Registration: Registration closed. For information on upcoming workshops, sign up for our email newsletter.

Enameling is a timeless art form that involves sifting colored glass onto a copper base and fusing it in a kiln to create shiny, colorful works of art. In this workshop, Leslie Perrino teaches the basics of enameling, covering a variety of techniques including stencils, sgraffito, threads, silver foil, screens, and decals. You will complete sample pieces for practice, and can then choose from a variety of projects ranging from wearable items to small bowls. No experience required, and all materials supplied. Please bring a bag lunch and beverages.

About Leslie Perrino

Leslie Perrino is an artist and "art evangelist" who loves to share the power of art and creativity with people, particularly in her beloved areas of metals and enameling. Her artwork is a quirky mix of traditional and found objects, most recently combining computer/electrical components with enamels. She is a charismatic and effective teacher who encourages skill building and exploration of the medium.

Fee: Free to members or with admission to the sculpture garden.
Registration: The lantern-making workshop is now full; however you are still welcome to bring your own lantern and join Naomi Cobb for the lantern walk, beginning at 5 pm.

What better way to experience Lynden in the winter than by lantern light? Join Jeremy Stepien in the art studio beginning at 3 pm for this popular annual family workshop to make a lantern (or bring your own). Visitors of all ages can enjoy designing and decorating lanterns made from recycled jars and tea light candles. Embellishments include tissue paper collage, punched-tin lids, and reeds and wires (for handles). Make your own or work together to create a lantern for your group.

At 5 pm we embark on a lantern-lit walk through the garden, led by naturalist Naomi Cobb. She will guide you safely through Lynden's back acres, introducing you to the mysteries and unique features of outdoor life after dark. We'll end with a bonfire and hot cider.

The garden will open at 10 am as usual; the walk will begin at 5 pm.

Free to members or with admission to the sculpture garden. Please RSVP by phone at 414-446-8794 to let us know you're planning to attend.

March's full moon has many names: Crow, Crust and Sap Moon. Come walk Lynden's grounds after dark with naturalist Naomi Cobb to delve into those moon names and to discover what is happening in the light of the moon and in the shadows of the sculptures. All participants must be able to hike, be carried, or pulled on a sled if there is snow. A bonfire with stories and treats awaits us at the end.

Please note: due to the weather forecast, this event has been CANCELED. Please join us for the Full Moon Walk in March.

This is the moon that signals the long, dark, cold season ahead. Join naturalist Naomi Cobb for a walk, a bonfire, and some cocoa.

A Workshop with Jan Alba & Dennis Lukaszewski

Fee: $25/$22 members.
Registration Space limited; advance registration required. Register by phone at 414-446-8794.

Lynden is offering a series of holiday giftmaking workshops between November 13 and December 11. They range from simple activities suitable for families with smaller children to more advanced workshops for adults. To enhance the celebratory spirit, we will have light refreshments available for participants. Whether you are making a gift for yourself or another, these workshops should provide a cheerful atmosphere for art making as we head into winter. To see a complete list of holiday giftmaking workshops, visit our Workshops page.

The Lawn and Garden Series moves indoors for a workshop that makes decorative use of the things we find in our gardens in the autumn. Work with Jan Alba and Dennis Lukaszewski to create seasonal containers and swags that can be used indoors or out.

About the Instructors

Jan Alba has been an active Master Gardener Volunteer with SouthEast Wisconsin Master Gardeners for more than 25 years. She has been in the employ of the University of Wisconsin-Extension, working with the Urban Agriculture and garden rental program, for 21 years. While working alongside Dennis Lukaszewski, she has learned that many seasonal floral arrangements can be crafted from otherwise expendable garden refuse.

Dennis Lukaszeswki has had three successful careers: as a banker, a floral designer and floral shop owner for over 20 years and, most recently, as a registered landscape architect who works at the Milwaukee County UW-Extension. Currently the director of the Urban Agriculture program at UWEX, he oversees the design, operations, and education of the UWEX community gardens, as well as the gardeners at peripheral partner sites. He has always been a champion of the "reduce reuse recycle" mentality and regularly incorporates much of his waste greenery in his designs.