Meet Laura Berlage, Fiber Artist and Lessonface Instructor!
We’d like to introduce you to one of our top Fiber Arts teachers, Laura Berlage. Laura is a storied practitioner within her local fiber-shed. She weaves together local stories, antique ballads, and homespun techniques to create a truly folky online class experience. She teaches for many folk schools and fiber arts organizations, helping to support her family’s fiber and dairy farm in Wisconsin. She has taught tapestry, wool embroidery, felting, loom beading, crochet, leatherworking, and more. Our friends at John C Campbell Folk School conducted an interview with Laura, so our students can learn more about her and some of her upcoming Lessonface classes.
John C Campbell Folk School: Tell us more about your upcoming Lesssonface classes.
Laura Berlage: Yes, there are LOTS of classes coming up. I’m very excited about them. The class I have coming up in February is Tapestry Skill Builders: Nordic Mug Rugs where students will learn to make a set of four traditional Scandinavian tapestry mug rugs. I’ll also be teaching a few different Wool Embroidery classes throughout March and April where students will learn to stitch a beautiful design in wool embroidery yarn from my sheep!
JCCFS: What can students expect to leave with?
LB: I purposely keep my classes sizes smaller (max 12), so we can become a community. Often, new friendships are formed, and groups love requesting the next class and checking schedules, so they can take it together! As we get rolling, I’m curious to know more about you and what you are looking to gain from this experience, so I can tailor what I demo or discuss to facilitate student interests. While the class itself pivots around the making of the project, the emphasis is on the experience, on the journey–learning how this medium thinks, how to troubleshoot problems that arise, and inspiration for future adventures in these techniques. I contextualize where processes come from, and why they solve particular problems in the medium. Precision and good process discipline create such better outcomes than chasing ever-elusive perfection. We are creating something handmade, and it’s beautiful to embrace that!
JCCFS: Tell us a little more about yourself for those who are unfamiliar.
LB: I grew up in a house of handwork–sewing, embroidery, crochet, etc.–and learned from my mom and grandmother. I loved the process of using simple materials to transform an idea into form, infused with color and meaning. When I was 13, I took up tapestry weaving with master Navajo weaver Fran Potter, deepening my path into fiber arts, which were a part of both my undergrad and graduate studies as well. I love how fiber arts serve as a catalyst for connecting us with heritage, stories, mythologies, and more–an interdisciplinary approach I weave into all my classes.
JCCFS: What is your favorite aspect of the John C. Campbell Folk School and our online Lessonface program?
LB: I love the community of the online learning environment the Folk School has fostered. My home and studio are on my family’s regenerative homestead farm, tucked in the remote woods of northern Wisconsin. My Zoom community have become my friends! I also love how this online option has created such a haven and cherished learning option for students all across the country, many of whom would find traveling to campus a barrier to participating. In some classes, I’ll have folks from Hawaii, Alaska, and Florida in the same session!
JCCFS: What’s something you’ve made recently that you’re proud of, and why?
LB: I recently completed a major piece as part of my Oxford Punch Needle Rug Hooking teacher certification. While much of the medium is worked with punch needle, there is also tapestry weaving, needle felting, rug braiding, and more. It’s a “tour de force” of mediums, made with wool yarn from our farm’s sheep! The piece is 2×3 feet and took 5 months to complete.
JCCFS: What tips would you give an aspiring artist? Anything you wish you knew earlier in your career?
LB: It’s never too late! I have students who start in their 80’s and 90’s. If it’s something you have always wanted to do, jump in. All are welcome!
JCCFS: Where can folks find you if they want to stay up to date on your work?
LB: On my website erindaletapestrystudio.com Also watch the Lessonface landing page! You can find me on Facebook Erindale Tapestry Studio: Laura Berlage
JCCFS: Anything else we should know about you, your class, or your practice?
LB: Many of the mediums I teach are in a sequential curriculum (level 1, level 2, level 3), with skill builder projects in between. This helps students climb the mountain in a way that makes the material approachable, encouraging, and interesting. Jump in and start your fiber arts adventure!
Take a look at some upcoming classes with Laura Berlage.
Upcoming Classes
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