Montana clothing designers highlight 4th Annual “Festival of the Thread” in Livingston Montana

Livingston's Shane Lalani Center for the Arts will host the 4^rd Annual “Festival of the Thread” Sept. 1-3.

Friday Sept 1, 5:00 -9:00 pm, The Festival begins with the artist reception.  Meet the textile artists in The Shane Center Ballroom whose works in fiber include: quilts, mixed media textile art, weaving, batik, knitting, felting and apparel. 

At 7:00 pm, Cactus Blossom Collective of Livingston, will present a fashion show of Montana Designers of handmade clothing and accessories.  Cactus Blossom Collective is collaboration between Kristi Reed of Windy Peak Vintage and Jessi Conley of Paper Airplane Designs. This Collective grew out of a common desire to work with Montana artists as well as makers from around the globe and their passion for leading a purposeful and conscientious existence.  The Collective is a thoughtfully curated shop and cooperative work space. 

Out in the Shane Center Lobby help Livingston Sister City raise money through their sales of Japanese Kimonos and Kimono Fabric.  Refreshments and cake will be served at this family friendly opening.

This year the Festival of the Thread opened the call for entry beyond Montana to include artists from Idaho and Wyoming.  From Boise, Idaho, Lily Martina Lee is an Assistant Professor of Sculpture at Boise State University. Working in sculpture and fibers, Lee’s work is a contemporary portrait of the Northwest, stripped of idealization and steeped in idiosyncrasies and paradox. She is a board member of the Handweavers Guild of the Boise Valley.

On the local scene, this year’s textile exhibit includes: Carol LaRue, a past Livingston resident now living in Texas, quilts as well as paints on fabric using silk dye sand other media. Her favorite subject continues to be Equine related and geometric designs. From north of Big Timber in Melville is artist Laurie Gano, who’s elegant and intricate tapestry work captures the beauty of our Montana landscape.

From Bozeman and Southwest Montana, 3 artists including Carol Kimble who creates her art quilts using commercial and recycled fabrics combined with hand-dyed fabrics and embellishes with thread painting to add to the visual substance, dimension and emotion.  Gina Gahagan spends much of her life in the outdoors, in Montana’s fields, forests, and wild areas. Loving fiber, she creates one-of-a-kind art quilts. Amika Ryan of Sheridan runs Copia Cove, a sheep ranching operation dedicated to promoting the Icelandic sheep breed, sustainable ranching, and humane treatment of all animals.  She creates unique felted rugs and pillows from her herd stock.

From Eastern Montana we have 3 artists, Debbie Smith of Miles City who credits the vast openness of the landscape along with her solitary lifestyle for the mystical nature of her mixed media art figures. Debbie is a Certified MAP Artist through the MAC.  Peggy Lynn is from Red Lodge, who is not likemost batik artists, she does "picture" batiks with stylized western themes with an impressionistic look. Also from Red Lodge is Chris Mullaney, whose quilting has transitioned to more dyeing and less piecing.  She uses whole cloth, Procion dyed, over-dyed, screen printed, painted, stamped and quilted using many colors of thread. 

From Western Montana we have 2 artists. Heidi Zielinski from Stevensville is an abstract fiber artist inspired by nature.  Extensive stitching and numerous surface design techniques including beading enhance her free-form quilting style. Rickie van Berkum of Missoula is a fiber artist who creates elegant hand painted yarns and hand-spinning fibers and original art garments in colors inspired by Montana landscapes.

Saturday Sept 3 the Exhibit opens at 10:00 am. At 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm attend “Quilting As Art: Connecting Tradition to the Creative Soul” Trunk Show presentation led by Montana fiber artists, Gina Gahagan, SAQA member and Carol Kimble, SAQA Representative for Idaho and Montana. The Trunk Show’s 50 small art quilts were created by international and national SAQA artists.  SAQA is aninternational non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the art quilt and techniques used as well as the artists who create them.

Sunday Sept 4 the morning kicks off at 10:00 am with Livingston Sister City coffee and pastries in the Shane Center Ballroom and the Textile Exhibit continues. 

All events are free to the public. 

Friday Sept 1, at 7:00 pm during the Artist Reception, Cactus Blossom Collective of Livingston, will present a fashion show of Montana Designers of handmade clothing and accessories.  Five Montana designers will be presenting their collections. After the show, the collections will be exhibited as part of the Festival of the Thread and will be available of sale at Cactus Blossom Collective at 111 West Callender Street in downtown Livingston.

We often don’t think of fashion design when we think about Montana, but a wealth of talent does exist and here are the artists who will take part in this year’s fashion show.
Two Designers from Bozeman:
Alayna Rasile-Digrindakis of Absorka in Bozeman is a weaver working across disciplines. Her textile work spans from durational sound installations and new-material innovation to commercial product design and bespoke clothing. With a practice based in natural and re-claimed materials, Alayna makes use of plant dyes, foraged fibers, deadstock yarns and vintage fabrics.  She has been a resident artist at the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn, New York; Cabin Time 7 in the Penobscot Bay, Maine; the Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale, New York; and is currently an MFA candidate at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. Alayna is the co-founder of May West, a milkweed based textile design studio, and the founder of Hi-Altitude Center for Textiles, a forthcoming artist residency program in Helena, Montana. 
Laura Lee Laroux of Revivall Clothing is inspired by the women of the Wild West and the bygone era of durable clothes, warranties, and American manufacturing. She believes we can do fashion better...better for the planet...better for the people making the clothes and better for us. She has a fashion degree from Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and has been designing clothes for over a decade. Her passion is up-cycling and using dead stock fabrics and materials to reduce the impact on the planet. Everything is made with love and intention in Montana.

Three Designers from Livingston:
Jordan Reed of Lone Reed Designs began sewing several years ago as a side passion to her career as a professional ballet dancer. She decided to set up shop in early 2012 when her designs starting to gain popularity. She creates custom leotards for dancers around the country and around the world. Reed recently has expanded her offering into custom clothing and swimwear. Corroborating with Kristi Reed of Windy Peak Vintage, these two have been creating gorgeous swimwear and are currently working on a line of hand dyed, raw silk peasant tops. 

Carly Schoen of MAYDAY Denim specializes in jean jacket revival, embroidery, and denim-centric fiber arts. Using ancient techniques, she creates one of a kind pieces of wearable art.   Schoen finds escape from the busy world and enjoys the repetition of hand work. 

Jordan Reed of Lone Reed Designs began sewing several years ago as a side passion to her career as a professional ballet dancer. She decided to set up shop in early 2012 when her designs starting to gain popularity. She creates custom leotards for dancers around the country and around the world. Reed recently has expanded her offering into custom clothing and swimwear. Corroborating with Kristi Reed of Windy Peak Vintage, these two have been creating gorgeous swimwear and are currently working on a line of hand dyed, raw silk peasant tops. 

Designer from Missoula:
Julia LaTray of DonkeyGirl in Missoula, started her design studio after winning a local fashion design contest. She has always been drawn to beautiful fabric and rich colors, so it is not surprising to find her working exclusively with silk and hand mixed dyes. She has tapped into a movement towards buying fewer clothes of higher quality, and loves that silk has a smaller ecological footprint than even organic cotton. LaTray strives to design pieces that will remain stylish through many fashion cycles, providing comfort and beauty for years to come.
Cactus Blossom Collective, the hosts of this fashion Show is collaboration between Kristi Reed of Windy Peak Vintage and Jessi Conley, of Paper Airplane Designs. This Collective grew out of a common desire to work with Montana artists as well as makers from around the globe and their passion for leading a purposeful and conscientious existence.  The Collective is a thoughtfully curated shop and cooperative work space. 

Livingston's Shane Lalani Center for the Arts, 4^rd Annual “Festival of the Thread” is located at 415 East Lewis St. in Livingston, MT. dates: Sept. 1, Friday Opening Reception from 5:00 - 9:00 p.m., Sept. 2, Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sept. 3, Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Visit www.thefestivalofthethread.com for more information.   
General Information Contact for the Fashion Show:
Jessi Conley, Cactus Blossom Collective
406-600-3800