Please note: Exhibition start and end dates are subject to change.

There are many beautiful forms of fiber art, including wearable, functional and decorative or display art. This exhibit focuses primarily on decorative fiber art, that is, items which can be displayed in various ways as works of art. Some of the works are mixed media, that is, fiber has been incorporated into other mediums.

Participating Artists

MICHELE AUGER. Madeline Island has been my home since 1979. I came for a weekend of sailing and fun and never left. I fell in love with the spirit of Madeline Island and Lake Superior. Later, I fell in love with a local boy.

When you become a local, you find out what everyone does to make a living and what they do all winter to stay sane. Hence, I discovered Woods Hall Gallery and the weaving studio. The rest is history. I learned the basics from the local ladies then expanded my knowledge through many classes and experimentation. I specialize in custom work.

SALLY BOWKER. I am an artist living in Northern Wisconsin near Lake Superior.

My first degree was in sociology with a library science minor, but interests in photography and weaving drew me back to school knowing only that I wanted a way to connect with the natural world around me. I eventually received an MFA (U of Iowa, - Painting) ant this led to a a career formed by art.

The next twenty years were filled with studio work and exhibiting opportunities supported by a position as visual resources librarian and adjunct instructor at the Univ. of Wisconsin-Stout. Highlights along the way were a Bush Artist Fellowship project, grants from the Wisconsin Arts Board, and participation in Wisconsin Triennials along with solo and small group invitational exhibits. My position also led to experiences, the heart of a career. Walking in Emily Carr’s woods, sitting on Lee Kraesner and Jackson Pollock’s back porch and hiking Cezanne’s Mount St. Victoire all brought understanding as well as inspiration. Upon retirement, my husband and I moved north where my subject matter is all around me and feels urgent. My art has come full circle and again focuses on black and white photographs and textiles.

TINA FUNG HOLDER. I enjoy working with familiar, natural materials to create fiber objects. Anything that grows flexible is fair game. I like to explore traditional and new applications of basketry and teach them in workshops. My background includes extensive research in basketry techniques at the Field Museum in Chicago and the study of textiles at the Chicago Art Institutes. Creating unique, jewelry pieces from everyday, manufactured materials is also a passion. Born and raised in a rural village in Guyana, I eventually made my way to Chicago. I left urban life in 1996 and moved to Northern Wisconsin. My work is available in galleries throughout the region.

BARB & BILL GOVER. Barb Gover, a retired nurse and long-time quilter and Bill Gover, a retired engineer and emerging woodworker joined forces in late 2019 to create dimensional quilt art. The quilt is designed and constructed by Barb, mostly using an improvisational technique, and then turned over to Bill, who designs and constructs a form or a frame to accent the quilt without overwhelming it. Our work blossomed while being “safer at home” during the early days of the pandemic in 2020 when we began a hobby business, Thread and Timber Quilts. We have exhibited at Karlyn’s Gallery in Washburn, the Big Waters Fiber Art Show in Bayfield and will be at the Bell Street Gallery on Madeline Island this summer. All of our pieces are unique and ready to hang. Additionally, we are available for presentations about our process to quilt guilds and other groups with a focus on the humor found in learning to create art collaboratively after nearly 50 years of marriage. You may view all of our work at threadandtimberquilts.com.

JANE HERRICK. I am a practicing studio artist living on the south shore of Lake Superior in Wisconsin and the Catalina foothills in Tucson, AZ. My fiber, painting and mixed media artwork uses various materials and techniques to express meaning and emotion. Experimentation plays a big role in my personal approach to art. I earned my undergraduate degree in Art Education at Michigan State University and a graduate degree in Textile and Design at the University of Iowa. Retired from teaching in the Department of Art & Design at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, I show work in selected regional, national and international exhibitions. My work is currently on display in the North Country Seasons exhibit at Norther Great Lakes Visitor Center in Ashland, and the four collaged drawings are a response to listening to The Four Seasons composed by Vivaldi. I am also part of the Herbster, WI Studio Art Tour each August. I have discussed my work as a keynote speaker for arts organizations, and conduct workshops in painting, fiber sculpture and mixed media.

PATRA HOLTER. I am a painter, a printmaker, and often work with mixed media. I received my BS degree in art at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and an MFA at the University of California in Berkeley. Further study took me to the Royal Academy of Art in Norway and other art schools.

I was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship in painting to Norway with an extension to Lapland and am the author of a book on photography. I taught art at the University of California in Berkeley, other grade levels, and was the supervisor of art for the Scarsdale, New York School System.

As an artist who was born on Chequamegon Bay I am influenced by the natural world around me and am at home working realistically or non objectively. My work is currently at the North County Seasons exhibit at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center and at my studio in Ashland, also at Karlyn’s Yellowbird Gallery in Washburn and in private collections in the United States and Norway.

STEVE KREUSER. I moved to Washburn 36 years ago to practice medicine and still am doing so. I love to take photographs and did so for 25 years until my high end camera was stolen. Photography can be elegant in how it can take nature’s creations and present them in ways never seen before. I really missed it, but before I could buy a new camera, I fell into making abstract sculptures two months before Covid hit. These string sculptures are part of the other sculptures I’ve done. They are not depictions of nature’s creations, but rather come out of visual thoughts/feelings. It’s hard to describe the source of them.

Doing sculptures is more satisfying and motivating than photography, but when the visual thoughts/feelings slow down, I will buy a new camera.

REBECCA STUELAND. Only second to my husband, family, music (and perhaps, pies), fabric has been the love of my life since I was a tiny thing. Foraging through my mother’s sewing supplies, I was always searching for the little swatch of magic that might blossom into something no one expected to see. From my fledgling 4-H project apron, I worked my way up to tailor-made and was thrilled to win First Place for my teenaged Coco Chanel-style suit design. Retiring from the world of education, I recently rediscovered the joys of quilting, then grew to love the heightened creativity that smaller-space fabric art affords. I work primarily with a sewing machine, using different shades and colors, choosing fabrics that contrast and blend to fashion the background. Layering on top of this palette, I begin the design or portrait using raw edge appliqué, and finish with topstitch quilting. Husband Rick crafts many of the frames for my work, so it is labor of love and a true family affair. My greatest enjoyment is yours — I hope you like what you see!