Love textile travel? Connect to your inner adventurer via this story about the applique-driven journeys of artist Nell Sonnemann. Patricia Malarcher, esteemed former Surface Design Journal editor, has spent the last several years editing Sonnemann’s far-flung inquiry into varieties of applique. Check out the set of 12 travel journals she created to document a process – and a quirky and exceptional spirit….

Let master weaver Catharine Ellis tell you the many reasons why she now uses only natural colorants in her work. Though not necessarily easier, faster, less expensive or lightfast, the study and use of natural dyes has taken her on a mind-expanding journey to heightened sensory awareness, ecologically sound practices – and spectacular color….

Becoming part of a fiber-focused community is one of many reasons why makers join Surface Design Association. Find out how SDA area representative Mary Elmusa nurtures networks in Kansas/Missouri area by partnering with Kansas City Art Institute fiber department faculty and students. It’s a win-win! And get some tips for growing your creative community, here….

This issue reveals enticing tactile intersections of wax and fiber, from encaustic wall works and batik textile design to installation art and sculpture….

Check out The Patternbase, a multi-faceted collaboration of artists Kristi O’Meara & Audrey Victoria Keiffer. It’s a surface and textile design studio, digital pattern archive and pop-up gallery as well as a generator of hand-painted and sewn housewares, apparel items and innovative digital patterns. Meet 2 high energy design entrepreneurs who also offer a range of services plus collect and sell vintage apparel and textiles. It’s all here!…

If you are – or aspire to be – among the fashion cognoscenti, you’ll want this annual fashion conference on your radar. Held every November in New York City, Initiatives in Art & Culture presents the who’s-who and what’s-what of the latest fashion culture trends & ideas. Hear and meet iconic designers, authors, curators, retailers, filmmakers & thinkers. This event is not to be missed!…

With so much of our time spent looking at screens, who doesn’t relish the hands-on experience of a good book full of inspiring images and words – bound in paper fiber? Find 20 such books on textiles and art here, all published in 2015, to give or get for that delightful analog joy. Purchase them through Amazon.com’s philanthropic programs to generate a donation to support SDA – at no cost to you….

This issue celebrates socially engaged artistic practices from natural dyeing and slow fibers to sustainable fashion and political art projects that unite communities around the globe….

Ever tried itajime? Let shibori artist Ana Lisa Hedstrom show you the history, process – plus contemporary adaptations – of this time-honored resist technique that uses folding, clamping and dyeing to create stunning pattern on cloth and other substrates. The only limits are your imagination! Learn this compelling process from a master via this 2nd in her series of shibori DVDs….

Whether or not you were able to attend, get an overview of some hot spots & highlights of “Made/Aware: Socially Engaged Art” – Surface Design Associaton’s 1st Craft + Concept Intensive held at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in October 2015. Emerging artist, educator (and 2nd generation SDA member!) Tamryn McDermott shares her play-by-play experience here.
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