I began taking weaving classes about twenty-two years ago. I have had the joy of working with two excellent teachers at the Fine Line Creative Arts Center in St. Charles, IL. It was challenging to figure out ways to create complex braille weaving patterns and work out techniques so that I could do the entire weaving process independently — designing my patterns, measuring my yarn, threading my loom, and finally having the joy of throwing shuttles and having my fingertips discover the complex patterns coming alive on the loom. At first I only worked with textures, keeping the color schemes simple. But my current teacher, Heather Winslow, has helped me to understand color theory and has encouraged me to work with a variety of colors. I tend to think of them as music — one color might be like a cheerful little melody in a major key, another might sound bold and strong. Add them together and you have a new piece of hand-woven artwork.
I have also helped to organize nine 4-day weaving classes specifically designed with persons who are visually impaired or totally blind in mind. I create the patterns, braille and large print the handouts and assist the weaving instructor. We had eight students in our summer class in 2017 coming from Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois.
