Master Weaver Certificate holders and their
monograph topics:
1955
Mary Black: Tartans and Mary Sandin: Linen
1958
Nell Steedsman: Two Frame weaving
1959
Grace McDowell: Box Loom Weaving
1973
Adrienne Whitelaw: Ceinture Fleché
1975
Mary Andrews: Fundamentals of Weaving
1976
Sandra Feenstra: Double Weaves and Dini Moes: The use of Colour in Handweaving
1979
Judith Rygiel: Stitched Double Weave
1980
Eileen Shannon: Point Twill Treadling Variations
1986
Jane Evans: Tied Latvian Weave; Linda Heinrich: Linen; Noreen Rustad: Beiderwand
1989
Anke Keizer-Bles: Exploring the Moorman Technique for Clothing
and Margaret Berg: Multiple Tabby Weaves
and Twills
1990
Sandra Fearon: Shadow Weave Design
1991
Patricia Corbett: Colour and Texture Variation in Knotted Pile;
Ruth-Carrol, ; Gaye Hansen: Twice warped
– Twelve Techniques for the Second Warp Beam; Kay Reiber: Summer and Winter – a System for All Seasons;
Frances Timbers: The Handkerchief.
1992
Valerie DePorto: Design Dynamics of Multishaft Swedish Lace
1993
June Bell: Finnweave; and Mabel
Verigin: The Forgotten Weaves
1994
Margaret Hahn: Opphamta
1995
Christine Hill: Wool – Fleece, Fibre and Fabric; and Evelyn
Oldroyd: The Wonder of Weaving Silk
1997
Laura Fry –
Transformations: Fulling Handwoven
Fabrics
1998
Carol Oberg: Brain-based Learning in the Weaving Studio –
process of regeneration
2001
Ruth Jarvis: Ramie
2003* Helene
Ruel: La Magie de l’Ikat (The Magic of
Ikat)
Today I learned that one of my mentors has died. Eileen Shannon was a big encourager and supporter and part of a ‘study group’ that was working their way through the Guild of Canadian Weavers master weaver program. They invited me to join them and encouraged me to work on the program as well.
I am grateful to Eileen (and Linda Heinrich, Noreen Rustad and Jean George) for including me in their group. I learned so much from them, and still have Eileen’s voice in my head ‘What have you learned since we last met?’ was her pretty standard greeting. She normalized making mistakes as part of the learning process. A mistake was never the end but the beginning of learning as far as she was concerned.
I lost touch with her a few years ago when she moved to Vancouver Island, and was very sorry to hear that she died the end of July.
*I’m no longer a member of GCW and not aware of any master weavers since Helene Ruel in 2003. If you are self motivated, able to work on your own, want to test your knowledge and skills, the GCW still runs the program. The test booklet is available and makes a good study guide along with Mary Black’s book if you want to push the boundaries of your knowledge and increase your horizons. It’s not terribly expensive compared to other programs and you can work at your own pace. Which is, in part, why it took me nearly 20 years to finish! But I did.