A Workshop with Jeremy Stepien

Fee: $25/$22 members (all materials included)
Registration: Registration is closed. For information on future sessions, sign up for our e-list.

Cure your cabin fever by designing a candle mold that can be used to transform candle stubs and wax drippings into an attractive new candle. Using simple slab-building techniques, we will design a low-relief pillar candle in clay, make plaster candle molds from these forms, and cast new candles using recycled wax. Take home a candle of your own design and a mold that can be reused to recycle spent candles. No previous experience needed. We'll supply you with an apron, but please wear clothes suitable for art making.

Bring a bag lunch and beverages. We’ll be taking a lunch break while the plaster dries.

Free.

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

Thanks to the generosity of the Knitting Knook, Lynden opens its doors to the community for a February Free Family Day. Join us for our February Fiber Fest Finale, peruse our Fiber Fest photo journal, or simply enjoy Lynden's many winter pleasures. Knitters and aspiring knitters of all ages and abilities are welcome to join us for this day-long 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 or some spare needles you would like to contribute, you are welcome to drop them off in advance at Lynden.) Expect some treats from Knitting Knook, including special discount coupons, patterns, and door prizes. Knitting circles, solo knitters, and neophytes all welcome.

Hot cider and cookies will be provided.

Sponsored by:

A Workshop with Claire Hitchcock Tilton

Fee: $85/$75 members (all materials included)
Registration: Space is limited; advance registration required. Registration is closed.

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

Wet felting transforms fluffy wisps of wool fibers into a durable, insulating textile. In this workshop we will use the process of wet felting to make functional three-dimensional objects: slippers or oven mitts. After we finish the design phase, prepare for an arm workout, some splashing, and some miraculous shrinking: your slipper or mitt will be reduced by a third as it becomes felt. No experience required. Aprons provided; please bring a towel and 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 Maggie Sasso

“Crochet,” Wood, Cotton Rope, Video, 2007

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

Fee: $85/$75 members (all materials included)
Registration: Space is limited; advance registration required. Register by phone at 414-446-8794.

Using a crochet hook, yarn, and other materials, we will learn a range of techniques that will enable us to depart from traditional methodologies and courageously construct an intuitive, non-linear sculptural form. Some crochet skills are preferred. Please bring a lunch.

About Maggie Sasso

Maggie Sasso is a sculptor and fibers artist living and working in Milwaukee. She was a 2015 recipient of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation's Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellowship for Individual Artists. These days you can find her in the sewing lab at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, where she teaches and is the lab technician.

"Archeological Dig, Rawhide Rock Door Stopper,” Rawhide, Rock, Stick, 2010

Free to members or with admission to the sculpture garden. All ages welcome, though best for ages 6 and up; children younger than 12 should attend with an adult.

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

Drop by the art studio between 12:30 and 2:30 to learn how to make a simple cardboard disc loom. We will use colorful yarn, felt, and fibers to braid friendship bracelets--a perfect addition to your Valentine’s Day cards.

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.