President’s Message
  On behalf of everyone who attended the Utah Fiber Arts Conference and the Daryl Lancaster workshops, I would like to extend my deep gratitude to Patti Pitts and Teri Jo Mauch and everyone else who helped to make these events so inspirational. I don’t know when I’ve been so inspired to pursue the artistic projects in my life, and I know that many others felt the same way. Daryl Lancaster was particularly inspiring, helping each person to feel better about herself and to feel that she can create beautiful fiber pieces. I was lucky enough to attend her two-day workshop on sewing techniques for handwovens and her evening address at the conference, and I feel that my life has been greatly enriched and I am better able to be a fiber artist in spite of all the demands of everyday life.

I enjoyed every minute of the conference, from buying yards and yards of Robyn Kruppa’s fabric at the Junque Jubilee to eating delicious food to learning how to weave tapestries and construct random weave baskets. The conference and the workshops were incredible bargains, and the small investment of money and time we each made was greatly rewarded. Thanks so much to everyone.

Besides thanking Patti and Teri Jo, I particularly want to thank Pam Hanrahan, who worked extremely hard to ensure that the facility worked well for our needs. We enjoyed the Pioneer Craft House very much, and I know that all of us are grateful for the efforts of Pam and others, without whom we wouldn’t have this resource in our community.

Now, of course, comes the challenge of leaving those inspiring days spent with other fiber artists and going out into the complications of everyday life. My life, like many others, tends to swallow up every available bit of time and energy and leave little for creative pursuits. But in spite of everything, I am trying hard to be more creatively productive. I find that for me, I must learn to think about creative time in small segments. I can often spend 20 or 30 minutes in the evening doing some small task on a fiber project, but I can seldom find more time than that.

However, I have found that over the years, these small amounts of time add up, and eventually beautiful projects get done! I have come to feel that small amounts of creative time have a large effect on one’s life, and it’s worth learning to be patient and break projects into small components, curbing the impulse to get frustrated or impatient. So I’m trying to find those 20 or 30 minutes on more evenings, and I look forward to creating fiber art that may not be the most beautiful in the world, but it will be my creation! ❖ 

 Susan Hainsworth

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