This workshop will explore the combination of natural materials with fiber arts to create small experimental works. Collect some pieces of nature - Pine needles, small sticks, rocks and grasses can all serve as the basis for your unique abstract composition. You will learn the basics of stitching into watercolour paper to create designs and to incorporate natural materials. Students will complete the workshop with small, experimental works of art utilize the beauty of nature and are bound together with thread.

Much of Amanda’s current work deals with natural systems and environments. She translates environmental phenomena like clouds, flowers or ice into embroidery. She will share this exploration of the natural world through thread in this workshop exploring leaves, flowers and botany.

The workshop will be taught via Zoom. The limited number of spaces means that students will get real-time, individual feedback on their work. Students will be sent a direct link to join the zoom meeting and prior to the workshop.

deCordova is pleased to present this workshop that investigates the intersection of art and nature.

Materials List for students:

• Embroidery floss for hand stitching
• Hand sewing needles also for hand stitching
• Scissors
• Watercolour paper
• A Pencil
• Embroidery hoop
• Collected natural materials

About the Instructor:I make installations and objects by folding, cutting, coating, stacking and stitching into different types of materials. I create systems of combining materials and processes within my studio where I am simultaneously making and unmaking in my constant rearrangement of objects and materials. I am motivated by an interest in the natural formations of plant life and mineral structures which manifest themselves in interpretations of these phenomena. These mimicked forms act as the marks of drawings where the lines are sculptural and exist in three dimensions

Amanda McCavour holds a BFA from York University where she studied drawing and in May 2014 she completed her MFA in Fibers and Material Studies at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, PA. McCavour shows her work in galleries nationally and internationally with solo exhibitions in 2018 in Tulsa (OK), Stratford (ON), Annapolis Royal (NS), Grande Prairie (AB), Antigonish (NS) and Edmonton (AB). She has recently completed residencies at Harbourfront Centre’s Textile Studio in Toronto, at Maison des Métiers D’art de Québec in Quebec City and the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture in Dawson City, Yukon. She has received numerous awards and scholarships from The Canada Council for the Arts, The Ontario Arts Council, The Toronto Arts Council, The Handweavers and Spinners Guild of America, Craft Ontario, The Ontario Society of Artists, The Surface Design Association and The Embroiderers Guild of America.

Limit: 12

Email Sarah at sbuyer@thetrustees.org for information regarding partial or full financial assistance.