Amy Putansu is available on a limited basis for workshops, lectures, or seminars for craft guilds, colleges, and other organizations.
To study Amy Putansu’s woven artwork, one will recognize multiple textile techniques and complex strategies beyond a woven fabric that create her fascinating wall compositions. Listed below are examples of talks and topics she may offer, including pricing and required facilities/equipment- all of which she includes in her own artwork. For questions or to schedule choose the Contact page.
One-Day Seminars: Typically 10am to 4pm with a lunch hour. Seminars include image presentation lecture and demonstration, with Q&A and discussion welcomed. $600 plus travel and meals.
Topics:
Ondulé Weaving: includes a brief history, description of technique, image presentation of ondulé fabrics far and wide, in-depth discussion of ondulé work by Amy Putansu including many fabric samples, and finally a demonstration (depending on loom availability and pre-set up options). This seminar has been delivered at Maiwa School of Textiles (2016 and 2018) Vancouver, BC; and Chatahoochee Handweavers Guild (2010) Atlanta, GA. Amy has taught ondulé workshops at Peter’s Valley School of Craft (2014) New Jersey, and Penland School of Craft (2017 and 2019) Penland, NC.
Net Making: Amy’s native home of coastal Maine provided much exposure to commercial fishing and all industries supporting it. Her first fiber memory is that of her Dad “knitting heads”, or making nets for the lobster industry in the slow, quiet time of winter. In this seminar/mini-workshop Amy will share hand made net examples, explore the possibilities of nets for fiber artists, and then demonstrate and teach an introductory technique. Ultimately it was not her father who taught Amy to make nets. After many attempts to teach herself, finally a colleague in the textile field taught her one-on-one, and she has been including hand made nets in her wall work ever since.
Lectures: Including Q&A/discussion session. A/V equipment can be provided by the artist, specifically projector and/or laptop (if needed). All lectures are image presentations (power point). $250 per hour, plus travel.
Topics:
Contemporary Textile Designers: A brief survey of remarkable yet often lesser-known textile designers, fiber artists, and fashion designers of the 20th and early 21st centuries, focusing on their significant contributions to the field to textiles design. *This lecture can be scheduled as anywhere from one to three total hours, or a lecture series (there is a lot of content!) After much research, Amy has been lecturing on this topic for 11 years.
Artist Talk: In this one-hour image presentation Amy will share her journey of textile designer and maker, contemporary fiber artist, and educator. She will talk in depth about her inspirations and motivations for the work she is compelled to create. This talk is especially suitable for emerging fiber artists and textile designers as inspiration for developing authentic content for their work. Amy has been involved with textiles on a professional level in many capacities for 24 years, including well over a decade in textile teaching roles.
Workshops: Can last from one to four days. $600 per six-hour day of instruction (10am - 4pm) A materials fee will be added for each participant for a printed spiral bound booklet, and necessary materials for the workshop, never to exceed $40 each.
Topics:
Double Weave Blocks: This workshop requires 8 harness looms for each participant. Three days is the best option for this topic. Students may pre-warp their looms (beaming on only/back-to-front warping required) and begin the workshop by designing the block threading pattern and threading accordingly. Various block design arrangements are explored. Students create a group of woven samples, with documentation for later recreation, with a focus on the methodology of designing and understanding tie-ups and treddlings for double weave block configurations. Material fee would include a pre-wound warp. This workshop topic has been offered countless times in various settings, most recently the Southeast Fiber Forum (2019) at Arrowmont School of Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN.
Resist Dyeing and Organic indigo: This workshop can be one, two or three days. We explore resist dyeing on fabric including techniques of stitching and gathering, folding and clamping, and binding to create organic and surprising patterns in white-on-blue. These ancient techniques are known as shibori, adire, or plangi depending on the region of the world. Students will participate in mixing an organic indigo vat and create original resist-dyed fabrics. Required equipment would include area for hanging fabrics, rising fabrics and a hot plate/burner with sink access and appropriate pots and buckets for dyeing. This workshop has been offered in countless forms over many years in various settings.
Natural Dyes on Embroidery Thread: In this workshop students work with sustainably sourced high-quality mercerized cotton thread. Depending on the length of the workshop, processes can include preparing skeins, scouring, mordanting and pre-treatment steps, and finally dyeing in a wide range of natural dyes such as indigo, cochineal, madder and weld. Over-dyeing and color mixing can be explored. Students take away a large collection of hand dyed cotton skeins for embroidery. Required equipment would include heat sources such as hot plates, small pots for dyeing, sink access, and related bowls and dyeing implements. This workshop has been offered at Cloth Fiber Workshop (2018) Asheville, NC and John C. Campbell Folk School (2019) Brasstown, NC. It is scheduled to run again at John C. Campbell Folk School again in late June 2020.
**Driving travel cost= .58 per mile round trip from Waynesville, NC.
