News & Events

Center for Craft, Creativity & Design Announces November Textile Events

November 3, 2011

The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design (CCCD), a center of UNC Asheville, is pleased to announce a series of events taking place in conjunction with the current exhibition, “Common Threads: Innovative Textile Practices in India & Western North Carolina.”

Textile artist Catharine Ellis will lecture on her weaving and dyeing processes at 12:45 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8, at UNC Asheville’s Owen Hall, room 237. Ellis is known internationally for her woven shibori, a process of weaving and resist using natural dyes that she developed in the 1990’s based on the traditional Japanese shibori technique. Ellis has worked closely with Bethanne Knudson, lead designer at The Oriole Mill and an expert on JacqCAD software, to design fabrics on the jacquard looms. Together, they developed a unique process of creating woven shibori fabric using industrial loom weaving.

A tour of The Oriole Mill, 701 Oriole Drive, Hendersonville, is offered from 1 – 2 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17. The mill is the only place of its kind in the United States where a textile artist can be trained to design cloth that is then woven on industrial Jacquard looms. The tour will include a slow-motion demonstration of the industrial jacquard weaving machine, as well as a glimpse at products and how they are made. Closed-toe and closed-heel shoes are required. Be prepared to walk and stand on concrete floors. To sign up for the tour, call 828/693-5500. This tour will also be offered at 10 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 8.

Julie Holyoke, instructor at the Lisio Foundation near Florence, Italy, will give a lecture titled, “Studying Figured Weaving at the Lisio Foundation,” 3-4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17 at the UNC Asheville Kellogg Center, 1181 Broyles Rd., Hendersonville. For two decades, the Lisio Foundation has trained teachers, designers, artists and weavers in the art of jacquard design and weaving.

All events are free and open to the public, as is the exhibit “Common Threads: Innovative Textile Practices in India & Western North Carolina,” which remains on view through January 27, 2012. Gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. weekdays. CCCD is located at 1181 Broyles Rd., Hendersonville. For more information, visit craftcreativitydesign.org or email info@craftcreativitydesign.org.