I have been working with fiber since the 1970’s: weaving, dyeing, spinning, knitting, felting, stitching, block printing, and making shibori. I have traveled all over the world in the pursuit of textiles to study, collect and most importantly, to meet other artisans. My explorations have taken me to Japan, Indonesia, Guatemala, Peru, India, Nepal, Mexico, Europe and China. I am also a teacher and lecturer. It is as important to me to share what I have learned with others, to initiate young and experienced makers to the deep satisfaction that comes from creating something with their own hands, as it is to do my own work. I am currently involved in a nonprofit organization dedicated to sustainability, creativity, and preserving traditional crafts, folklife skills, and agricultural knowledge named Sanborn Mills Farm (New Hampshire).

I have been fascinated by mica all my life. As I began to collect more of it, having found a plentiful source at an abandoned quarry in New Hampshire, I learned that mica was an early way to add bling to textiles. Prior to the availability of industrially produced mirrors in the 1850’s people in India and Indonesia stitched mica onto cloth to make it sparkle. This piece uses the technique of multiple dips in the indigo vat to create a gradation of color from the center out.