Natural Connections October
Join us for Natural Connections on Saturday, October 26th. Come for the full event or just stop in for the portions that interest you.
Here is our schedule for the day:
10 AM: Creative Free Swap & Art Demos
Come to the Creative Free Swap – Supplies for all mediums welcome!
- Are you looking for the perfect yarn, fabric or art supply?
- Want to try a new art medium without an investment?
- Need more fiber to spin?
- Looking for new materials to spark your creative juices?
Come find new to you supplies to get creative with & stop by the demonstration tables for great ideas.
Interactive demonstrations may include ceramics, weaving, kimekomi, hardanger, collage, no-sew totes bag making, upcycled clothing, and more! Some demos will allow you to try it out or take a new self-made creation home with you. Come participate in a “Community Painting”. Staff will lead us into our colorful and creative flow on this art piece that will contain the passions of everyone who participates.
Swap Donations
Are your artistic supplies bulging at the seams or do you need to downsize? Let someone else turn your unused fabric, fiber or yarn into their own new creations. Supplies for all mediums welcome – art, sewing, quilting, weaving, crafting etc. Drop off clean, new or gently used materials and supplies to the Sandpoint Library information desk in advance. Advance donations are encouraged but not required, you can bring them early the morning of the swap. For more information, call volunteer Karen at 208-304-7369.
The remaining donations will be shared at the Clark Fork Library and then donated to the community.
12:30 PM: Playful & Practical Watercolor Class
Join professional artist, Genie Higbee, as she demonstrates 5 basic watercolor techniques. Best, she personally guides each participant. She’s there to help as you practice the techniques, one by one. She then leads you step-by-step through a project which utilizes and combines these techniques. The skills you gain can later be applied to artwork you’ll frame, to social media posts, and to journaling. Genie also offers her experienced advice on choosing your own materials. You’ll take home a painting and a worksheet that is an overview of what was taught and includes suggestions for your continued enjoyment of making watercolor magic. All materials are provided by the Library.
About the presenter:
For most of her life, Genie Higbee, 20-year resident of Hayden, has been exploring the visual world. She sketches, photographs, and chances upon imagery, scanning for striking color and design elements, no matter how momentary.
She remembers drawing from a young age — page after page displaying groups of people holding hands. Kids, Adults. Families. Friends. Genie’s kindergarten beau, Michael, daily proved his affection for her as they walked home from school. He would eat her drawings! The crayoned ones counted the most. Art and a love story, all tied up together. Teachers regularly predicted she’d become to be a writer/illustrator. Such foresight! After a career as a graphic designer/copywriter, she’s had time to explore art and writing for pure enjoyment. Her tools are usually pencil, charcoal, oil paint, watercolor, and technology. Genie’s been fortunate to have generous, successful, artists as mentors. The desire to explore techniques and to accelerate her skills hasn’t reached an end. Always “seeking the eternal through the ephemeral,” Genie chooses to depict imagery that engages the viewer emotionally. Her infatuation with the Isle of Capri appears in landscapes. Her archived collection of figurative work, shows humanity in natural, everyday, beauty. Her charcoal and dry brush drawings are accomplished in twenty-minute poses with live models; appreciable are the freshness and honesty. Her “portrait sketches” are painted in oil, from life as well, and with the same vitality.
You can view her art at her gallery website—with an invitation to return. New work is always blooming.
Your feedback for Genie Higbee is super welcome at [email protected]
Instagram: @geniehigbee.artist.author
To suspend the fleeting & impart significance… this is my passion & pursuit.
2 PM: Get Twisted with Weezil, Copper Wire Jewelry
Join us for copper jewelry making with Weezil Samter! Experience the craft of twisting copper wire into rings through this hands-on workshop. The principles and plier techniques he shares can be applied to many different creative projects. Be inspired, and see firsthand Weezil’s amazing, original creations.
Collect now, create later! Discover how everything is a resource for creating something else. Weezil will also share how to upcycle cast-off metals into jewelry or other objects. All materials for this workshop will be provided.
About the presenter:
THE WIREBENDER, Weezil Samter is passionate about creating from cast-off materials and sharing his knowledge with those taking the time to show an interest. Combining the creative with the useful—from copper jewelry to Viking drinking horns to armor for full-contact fighting in the Society of Creative Anachronism—Weezil is always exploring new ways to imaginatively reuse discarded materials. Active at farmer’s markets, craft shows, and renaissance fairs, he shares his talents and materials freely. Hammering a musket ball or pipe, twisting a wire all while chatting, Weezil is never without a bit of copper, a pair of pliers or an interesting idea.
