INSTRUCTORS SUN

Harmony loves sharing her passion for indigo dying and Shibori techniques. She has taught indigo dyeing workshops at Pacifica gardens a nature-education center, and facilitated private group classes. I began natural dyeing in my young 20’s when I became dedicated to finding sustainable and eco friendly options for my children’s clothing. In the last eight years I have fallen in love with variety of beautiful blues that indigo dye offers us! Indigo dye has primarily been used in Asia and India dating back many centuries. Natural dyeing is found in all cultures around the world and is one of the oldest art forms. With utmost respect for the heritage of this plant and dyeing techniques originating in Japan, it is an honor to share the knowledge...

30 December, 2023

Harper Kitchens (she/her) is a poet, mother, artist, and florist living on Osage, Cherokee, and Muscogee (Creek) lands in Oklahoma. She has worked with the Moon Beams Camp at Spirit Weavers since 2016. She attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she studied poetry and performance art. Her work explores the erotic through the intersection of flowers, poetry, and breath, with a focus on safe and playful devotion to the Earth. Harper Kitchens will be sharing Pleasure Poetry...

04 January, 2024

Hélène Bisnaire grew up in an agriculturally rich area in southern Ontario, Canada where the art of preserving food was passed down for generations. Her mother taught her to can and preserve the diverse produce available in their area. As a certified Health Coach who turned to holistic health at an early age, one of Hélène’s first jobs was at a health food restaurant, where she had the opportunity to deepen her practice in the art of fermentation and herbal medicine. Ever since, she has incorporated different fermented foods into her own kitchen. She now lives on a small farm in Southern Oregon, where her abundant garden gives her the opportunity to share the traditions she learned as a child with her own children.   Hélène will be sharing...

29 December, 2023

Hosanna is an earth pigment paintmaker, earthenware potter, and earth artist of Northern-European decent living on Kalapuya land in the foothills of the Cascades in Western Oregon. Hosanna has been captivated by the elemental magic of working with wild clays for eight years, ever since learning about pit fire pottery at Spirit Weavers in 2016 from Caitlin Deane. The unique personalities of each clay, the language of the hands, and the depth of ceremony to the whole process has inspired her to learn all that she can from teachers in the Northwest and Southwest in hand building and traditional firing methods. Working with local materials is to work with local histories. The narratives of the stones and clays tell a dynamic story of their geological origins, as...

25 December, 2023

  Josie was born into a Mexican-Cuban family rooted in the healing arts of Curanderia, shape shifting and clairvoyance. At an early age she was introduced to the practice of Curanderismo, Folk Herbalism, as a way of life. Today, Josie is a modern day Curandera. Her role as a Yerbera, one who works with herbs, is to share her knowledge with depth, joy, and clarity. She has created various programs and retreats to share Curandersimo, Reiki, and other healing modalities to empower others in self-healing. As a Modern Day Curandera, Josie is a bridge between tradition and modern practices. Sharing the essences of the ancestral ways in an open and contemporary way. Josie Castaneda will be offering Modern Curanderismo - Medicine Making & Limpias....

31 December, 2023

  Karin is a fiber artist based in Orangevale California. She has worked in quilting, knitting, crochet, garment sewing and design, embroidery, and both synthetic and natural dyes. Her current project, spent flora, is an inclusive clothing line comprised of handdyed silk pieces. Mending is a natural extension of her reverence for the fiber arts that clothe our bodies. Karin Gillingham will be sharing Visible Mending....

31 December, 2023

Kelly (she/her) is a metalsmith, sewist, lover of crafts, mother and outdoor enthusiast. She has been metalsmithing for 10 years. Her passion for metals stemmed from a young age, being drawn to the art of jewelry making and metals. She has studied at Boulder School of Metals, Cabrillo College, and received a Bench Jeweler Technician certification at Revere Academy in San Francisco. She has worked in formal jewelry settings, repairing heirloom jewelry, as well as many hours in her home studio creating organic jewelry pieces inspired by nature. Since becoming a mother, she has explored a variety of other crafts and is enjoying combining her knowledge of metalsmithing into wearable art and practical art, such as spoons, bowls and combs. She currently lives in Northern California,...

02 January, 2024

Anna Liza McKeon has been a teacher for over twenty years. Always willing to pass on what what she has learned and experienced, the majority of those years have been spent teaching the art of Hula dancing and as of late herbalism and plant medicine. Anna Liza found inspiration for dance early in life. As a dancer, she began her journey with ‘Hula Halau he inoa no Ipu Lei Manu’, a dance troupe headed by Denise Bigelow. Driven by a need to expand her knowledge of the Polynesian arts, Anna Liza also sought teachers from different veins of dance and culture. Under the direction of Mapuhi Tuku Tekurio with “Tekurio Nui” she learned Tahitian drumming. With instruction from Mel Liufau of “Nonosina”, she learned the...

18 January, 2024

I am a Hawaiian Culturalist and have graduated in three different ancient lineages from Hawaiʻi. Kumu Hula Farrah Māhealani Linder carries the Tom Kaulaheaonamoku Hiona lineage from her Kumu, Auntie Noelani Mahana ʻO Kala McIntosh of Kaneʻohe Oʻahu. She continues her studies in ancient hula traditions on the Island of Molokai with Loea Hula Dj Pelekai of Pelekunu Valley, Molokai. In addition to her Hula lineage, she also holds the prestigious title of Alakaʻi Hulu of beloved Kumu Hulu Lokelani Reichert of Lei Hulu of California (Auntie Mary Kovich/Auntie Mary Kekuewa lineage) and is currently the Alakaʻi Hulu of Kumu Pilialoha Johnson and Kumu Robert Beebe of Lei Hulu O Hilo (Auntie Doreen Henderson’s lineage) in Hilo, Hawaii. In conjunction with these masteries of Hula and Lei Hulu,...

07 January, 2023

  Lauralina Melendez Is an indigenous multidisciplinary artist from the island of Borikke, also knows as Puerto Rico). A mother of two, she creates and channels dolls from her garden studio y the ocean in the west coast of the island. Her and her family steward a 4 acre food forest. She is a witchy mama with ancestral intuition from a lineage of radical birkeepers and medicine women. Dollmaking was passed down by her abuela and she is blessed to share it as a tool of empowerment, and remembrance. Lauralina is a queer, polyamorous, devoted wife and home-maker, in partnership with her beloved for over 13 years, they have challenged all beliefs constructed and created a life aligned with the heart, practicing self directed education and...

10 January, 2024