Home         Meet Michelle   Workshops   Gallery   Blog    Useful Stuff

Artist's Statement String is what makes us human. Spinning was probably one of the first technologies developed by our ancestors, long before pottery, or metalurgy, and even before weaving. Ancient peoples celebrated string, adorning goddess figures with carved string skirts, burying their dead with string and textiles. For millennia, every scrap of clothing that every person on earth wore was made from handspun string. Entire empires rose and fell on the textiles, the string, that they made. String meant survival. Today, we do not need to make string to survive. Machines make our string, our textiles. But we can still spin string for our own enjoyment. We make the string we want to make, for our pleasure. We can find creative release in making string. The choices of fibres, colors, and tools that are available to the modern spinner would boggle the minds of our spinning ancestors. We, the spinners, celebrate string. Evertything I do as an artist, as a craftsperson, as a human being, is in celebration of string. My work focusses on the structure of string, staying to simple stitch patterns and weave structures so that we can enjoy the string that is the heart of the work. String, after all, is what makes us human.

Hi! I'm Michelle Boyd I am a fibre artist who lives and works in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. Originally trained as a graphic artist, I learned to knit in 1984 and discovered a passion for fibre. Since then, I have pursued studies in knitting design, spinning, weaving, felting, and beading. I now combines many of these techniques in my work, but my true passion lies in making handspun yarns. In 1999, my husband purchased my first spinning wheel for me, and I enrolled in the Olds College Master Spinner Program. In 2007, I received my Master Spinner Certificate, Honors with Distinction, from Olds College. I now instruct for that program, as well as for a number of guilds,conferences, and fibre festivals throughout North America. Among the many venues I have taught at in the past few years are the Handweavers, Spinners, and Dyers of Alberta's conferences, Gibson's Landing Fibre Arts Festival, and the Bisbee Fiber Arts Guild. I am also a passionate advocate for the fibre arts in Western Canada, having served on the executive of both the HWSDA and the Wood Buffalo Weavers Guild. I work with school children and re-enactment groups to educate the community about fibre arts, and I am currently Workshop Program Coordinator for Olds College's Fibre Week. I believe that anyone should be able to spin any fibre on any tool, and I design my workshops to give spinners the tools they need to make the choices that will lead to great yarns. Basic techniques, design theory, and esoteric art concepts all come together to elevate humble string into the perfect yarn. Above all, I believe that a solid technical foundation in your craft frees you to be even more creative and push the boundries of string and textile design.

© Michelle Boyd 2010 All rights reserved.