About the Art Textile and Fibre Craft Workshop Experiences
New Zealand offers the most gorgeous of places to visit, not only visually but creatively.
NZ Textile Experiences invite local residents and visitors to the region to take time out and indulge in one or more of our hands-on fibre craft or art textile workshop experiences where you will create your own unique piece or design to take away with you.
Based in the Nelson Tasman region, this scenic area is renowned for its proliferation of art, artists and myriad of creatives, including a diverse range of textile and fibre craft practitioners.
The vision for NZ Textile Experiences is for you to enjoy those special experiences by creating textiles and fibre crafts in glorious New Zealand locations, with our fabulous tutors sharing their individual specialist skills along with knowledge of their local environment.
By participating in a fibre or textile workshop, you will learn more about our country, meet local people who are also passionate about textiles and take home a unique piece of textile art.
Textile and Fibre Craft workshops can be taken individually or in small groups, each taught by an expert in their field. This is an intimate experience, working in the artist's own studio or workshop, ranging from rural locations in bush settings to an eclectic art gallery and an inner city creative space.
Workshops on offer so far are Unconventional Textile Materials, Wild Basket Making, Screen Printing, Hand Loom Weaving, Stitch-Embroidery, Harakeke - NZ Flax Weaving, Screen Printing, Eco Dyeing, Tapestry Weaving, and Felt Making with more to follow ...
If the workshop dates don't suit you send us an email at info@nztextileexperiences.co.nz and we may be able to tailor a workshop to suit your individual availability. Please also inquire about our Workshop gift vouchers.
Meet the team and tutors at NZ Textile Experiences
Colleen Plank
Contemporary Textile Artist - Tutor - Exhibitor - Workshop Coordinator
Colleen's passion for creating textiles has taken her to many exciting and interesting locations, that has at times included attending workshops. The most memorable of those have been in the artists own creative spaces where it has been possible to fully immerse herself in the creative experience.
What drives Colleen's enthusiasm is the opportunity to share her extensive knowledge of Felting, Dyeing, Fibre and Textile Manipulation techniques with anyone wishing to try out something new or to inspire and mentor the more experienced students ready to extend their skills.
Maggy Johnston MFA (hons)
Sculptor - Contemporary Textile Artist - Exhibitor - WOW Finalist - Tutor
Maggy has been a maker all her life. Translating her ideas by playing with unconventional materials that she often finds by fossicking, then turning them into unusual contemporary sculptural objects sometimes with purpose, other times evolving into Objet d'art.
If you attend Maggy's workshop be prepared to be challenged as she shares with you her philosophies of creating textile art with inherent meaning supporting her belief surrounding gender and environmental issues. Whether you are a complete beginner or bring experience with you Maggy will gently guide you through her processes to create innovative fibre and textile works that are meaningful to you.
Maggy has her Masters in Fine Arts (hons), she actively exhibits her current work and has attended numerous international residences. Maggy has been selected multiple times for the WOW event, her highlight being winning two awards.
Anita Peters
Contemporary Basket Maker - Multi Media Artist - Writer - Tutor
Anita, a multi media artist, has a passion for using found and foraged materials to weave and sculpt baskets and other art forms. Over the past several years Anita has adapted her basic construction techniques to accommodate raw and natural materials and inorganic materials to create ‘Wild Baskets'. Anita's creative energy is infectious; you will not only learn traditional basket making methods but she will also encourage your wild ideas to flow.
Rosie Horn
Contemporary Stitch - Traditional Embroiderer - Photographer - Artist - Tutor
Embroidery has always represented this un-obtainable world of patience, something I was short of, a love of for embroidery was something I had in bundles. Eventually the desire to embroider won over, and the patience gradually developed.
I saw the opportunity to combine photography with embroidery during my Photographic studies when I embarked on a project photographing modern interiors, buildings and objects devoid of surface embellishment. I tentatively stitched into these images trying to find a balance between maintaining the integrity of the photographic image while giving the embroidery a place in its own right in the final object.
Karuna Peralta
Textile Weaver - Designer - Tutor
Karuna has a rich knowledge of hand woven textiles in industry and as a freelance designer, always being drawn to traditional techniques, quality natural materials and vibrant colour combinations. ‘I’m inspired by my beautiful surroundings, experiences and research findings. I love the connection that weaving gives me – to an ancient tradition and to this land which supplies the beautiful fibres I can weave into cloth.”
Marilyn Rea-Menzies
Contemporary Textile & Multi-Media Artist – Exhibitor – Tutor – Studio/Gallery Director
Marilyn has been passionate about tapestry for many years – She loves the process and feels that she is very much part of a long continuum of tapestry weaving on this planet, dating back over 5000 years.
An Award winning artist, drawing and painting has always been huge in Marilyn’s life and still forms a large part of her art practice, but once she discovered the wonderful medium of tapestry weaving in the early 1980’s it very quickly took over her life and became her major passion. Tapestry is a medium that full of intense visual and tactile beauty. Colours blend in an optical way, and every crossing over of warp and weft forms a pixel of colour. The original pointillism…!!
Judith Ritchie -
Contemporary Textile Artist - Screen Printer - Arts Writer - Tutor - Costume Designer
Judith’s effervescent personality is contagious while learning all the tricks and tools of screen printing. Judith is an experienced tutor, has a passion for sustainability and loves to share her vast knowledge of colour and pattern when screen printing iconic kiwi designs.
Judith has recently returned from living in the Cook Islands bringing many new skills and experiences to add to her arts practice.
Yvonne Hammond
Flax Weaver 'Harakeke' - Fibre Artist - Exhibitor - WOW Finalist
Having woven with NZ flax/harakeke for more than 30 years, Yvonne has acquired an in depth knowledge of the tikanga, the passing of knowledge and of maori protocols to learners. Yvonne is passionate about working alongside students either new to the medium or to those already with harakeke experience wising to extend their skills, ideas and creativity in a fun and supportive environment. “It has been my personal journey to grow through raranga/flax weaving and the care of the harakeke plant. I go forward learning and sharing my art.”