Weaving is a Passion for me that flows throughout each piece. Weaving is visual music, as each thread is set up in a rhythmic pattern on the loom. The weft creates the music, and the product becomes the score. The visual music I weave is in the line of fine home furnishings — tablerunners, placements, napkins, tablecloths and bath towels — which are marketed nationwide.
I have continued to keep alive the tradition of my craft for over 35 years. My inspirations come from many avenues; for example, seeing the painted desert of the southwest at sunset, I become excited by the large array of color combinations surrounding me. The early morning hours of a solitary bike ride become the venue to see form and texture in the hillsides I ride past. Everywhere I go, I see Nature’s woven elements in her patterns and design that I bring home with me to my studio.
Three elements are vital in my design process — color, texture and pattern. Color is introduced by hand dyed techniques, either from a controlled formula or in random fashion where anything could happen. Texture comes from natural fibers (cotton, linen and rayon), or from something as diverse as hand made paper, wood or cut up canvas. The woven structure or pattern comes from how I manipulate the threads in the warp, to best express the form and function of each piece.
Through my work I share my passion of weaving and for life. This is my way of giving.
Timeline
2023 November 3-5 Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show – Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia, PA . Read more about this event in our Featured Work column Climate Beneficial Items.
2023 March 3-5 American Craft Council – Baltimore Marketplace, Baltimore Convention Center
2022 April 20-23 Smithsonian Craft Show. Washington DC
2014 to present Weaving School, Swedish Glimarkra looms and techniques and Membership Weaving Loom studio
2018 to present – Consultant for Huston Textile Company of Rancho Cordova, CA working on new Climate Beneficial fabric designs through Fibershed.
2016 to 2019 Taught Textile Arts and Weaving at Butte Community College, Oroville, CA
2013 to present Chico Flax LLC. Growing flax into Linen: a new Industry in Northern California
2001 Consultant and Weaving Instructor AVL looms, Chico, CA
1981 Established Sandy Fisher Woven (then known as the Flying Shuttle)
1980 Russell Gurney Weavers of Turriff, Scotland
1979 California State University, Chico; Bachelor of Arts in Art, emphasis in weaving
Awards
2018 to present – Articles in both Ply and Handwoven magazines
1996 Niche Award Winner, Fiber production-placemats, Niche Magazine
1982 Second Grand Prize, Teach a Friend to Weave, Handwoven Magazine
