Miscellaneous Classes
All miscellaneous classes will be held in the Sparta United Methodist Church fellowship hall.
Viking Knit Jewelry with Amanda Griffen
Viking Knit is a technique used to create beautiful, flexible chains by "knitting" wire around a mandrel or dowel. Learn the basics of this historical reverse engineered technique while making a lightweight, colorful bracelet! Students will leave class with a handmade bracelet and the basic tools to make more pieces of Viking Knit jewelry.
In this class, you will learn best management practices for getting the most from your raw fiber. The class is a comprehensive presentation of how to utilize your fiber to get the best products possible. It covers farm management, shearing, preparing your fiber for the mill, product options in the milling process and a set by set discussion of the mill process. There will be a power point presentation with time for questions during and after the presentation.
Friday afternoon - $45.00 plus $5.00 or $10.00 materisl fee
Beginning Shuttle Tatting with Roiana Buckmaster
Learn a simple method of tatting for beginners that takes the mystery out of this wonderful lace form. In this class, students will learn the two halves of the tatting stitch, making a picot for decoration, making a ring and joining rings - all while creating a butterfly pin. Materials will be provided as well as a tatting shuttle for students to keep. Class size is kept small for plenty of individual instruction.
Saturday Afternoon - $55.00
Fabric Collage Meets Slow Stitching with Beverly Dyer
Join mixed media artist Beverly Dyer, RN, Certified Botanical Illustrator to learn how to create expressive, meditative fabric collages. Works can be fully abstract or representational with added inspiration with words printed on fabric. Techniques in slow stitching and
embroidery will be added to the collage. Finished works will fit into a 5 x 7 colored mat for framing.
Friday afternoon - $60.00 plus $8.00 materials fee
AMANDA JANE GRIFFIN is a jewelry artist inspired by nature and historical jewelry making techniques. She fell in love with wire in a sculpture class in college. She reignited her love of wire sculpture on a much smaller scale with her jewelry pieces. She is mostly self-taught through articles and tutorials. She also learned metalsmithing through classes at Chestnut Creek School of the Arts in Galax, Va. Amanda is a Round the Mountain Juried Artisan at Southwest Virginia Cultural Center and Marketplace in Abingdon, Va. She is a native of Carroll County, Va and now calls Galax home. Her “day job” is teaching special education at a middle school. When not making art she is spending time with her family
BEVERLY DYER is a mixed media artist who studied art and healing while obtaining her master’sdegree in nursing. She completed a Certificate in Botanical Illustration in 2010 furthering her interest in the natural world and art. Via her brand The Art Prescription, Beverly’s mission is to encourage creativity for wellness. She teaches watercolor and mixed media at
the North Carolina Botanical Gardens. In her backyard studio Beverly creates in watercolor, poetry, and fabric. She sells her one-of-a-kind Slow Stitch Kits on Etsy. She often weaves haiku into her works and shares them on her blog “The Art Prescription.” When no tin her studio, she can be found hiking, sketching in the woods or riding her horse Finn. Across mediums, Beverly’s work reflects the essence of nature.
ROIANA BUCKMASTER currently lives in Mount Pleasant, Tennessee, where she is working with her husband Mike and youngest son Nick to build a flock of Icelandic sheep (along with chickens, guinea fowl, ponies, puppies and whatever else she can smuggle into the barn when Mike isn’t looking). Roiana was given knitting needles at the age of 6 (to keep her out from underfoot), embroidery at the age of 10 (to encourage sitting still) and plunged headlong into the shadowy worlds of spinning, weaving, tatting and various other fiber arts from there. It’s a slippery slope, but what a ride!