Fiber Arts
Threads Through Time
A family event Saturday, October 7, 2023
Featured Artist, Margo Macdonald
The Fiber Arts: Threads Through Time Show will be held on Saturday, October 7th, 2023, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Longbranch Improvement Club (LIC), 4312 Key Pen Hwy SW, in Longbranch on Key Peninsula, WA. For seventeen years, this FREE family-friendly event has been a focal event for the Key Peninsula Farm Tour, which is held this year on October 7th and 8th.
The Festival features approximately two-dozen artists demonstrating, exhibiting and selling their work. Only items made by the artists themselves are available for sale. Inside the historic clubhouse, exhibitors/vendor displays will include a range of artists who utilize both traditional and modern techniques that show the utilitarian and artistic uses of fiber in the creation of quilts, hand-woven baskets, jewelry, wall hangings, dolls, embroidery and wearable art made from silk, wool and alpaca fibers. The LIC will also be offering food for sale and an Antique car show.
This year’s featured artist is Margo Macdonald, a tapestry artist who resides on the Key Peninsula.
Margo says of her work, “I have always been a visual person and was never a good history student. Although I was interested in hearing stories, if there wasn’t a statue or painting involved, I couldn’t remember anything. My passion for making art led me to the Rhode Island School of Design and ultimately to teaching art at Charles Wright Academy in Tacoma, WA. Along the way I picked up tapestry weaving and was a partner in a collaborative studio in Tacoma that created large work for Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital. I work out of my home studio and have pieces in public and private collections around the US. In June I had a piece in the 10th anniversary show on Bainbridge Island Museum of Art.”
“I fell into tapestry after the birth of my first daughter when life was unpredictable and, as an artist, I needed a medium that I could pick up or leave at a moments notice. Goodbye paints and hello wool. While I still paint occasionally, the texture and slow rhythm of working on a loom has been satisfying and allows me time to fully visualize the image. Most of my work now, whether in tapestry or painting, is focused on the environment, particularly the rivers in Washington State. Every river tells a story and our watersheds are critical to the health of our environment. I hope my work causes the viewer to reflect on their own experiences with our rivers.”
Some of Margo’s work is commissioned and some is sold by word of mouth. She explains, “There are year when I don’t sell anything, but selling is nice because it means the piece is going someplace. But, for me, it’s about the process, the problem solving. I want to capture something that says here is my experience of this place.”
The Key Peninsula is approximately thirty minutes from Gig Harbor, WA. The Longbranch Improvement Club is approximately sixteen miles down the Key on the Key Peninsula Highway. You may also access the show by boat. There is guest moorage available at the Longbranch Marina, located south of the Improvement Club.
More information about Margo and her work is available in the September issue of the Key Peninsula News,
https://keypennews.org/stories/fiber-arts-show-to-feature-margo-macdonald,6946
Booth Registration
For booth availability and information, please email
Barb Green, Fiberarts.LIC@gmail.com.