Introduction to FIBRATIONS STUDIO

One day, many years ago, a master weaver and a furniture designer met, and fell in love. The day was in September of 1987. Their names were Kathy and Rob. They both loved to create, and they discovered they both loved to collect things – things like books, music, movies, art deco and mid-century items, and they loved finding unique discarded “stuff”, stuff they saw as abandoned little treasures – “found objects”.

 Soon they were creating things together.

Kathy would make a weaving, and Rob would design and make a tasteful top mount piece by which to hang and display the weaving on the wall. They were also embellishing the pieces with the found “little treasures” they were collecting. They got better and better at making these fiber mixed-media art pieces, and in 1992 they began participating around the country in juried art and craft shows displaying under the name Fibrations Studio.

Hello, I’m Rob. The pieces Kathy and I create have always been sculptural in form. We have always also paid close attention to what our patrons request. Over the years, a frequent request was for pieces that fit in narrow or limited wall spaces, such as skinny wall sections between multiple picture windows, cupboard filled kitchens, slender bathroom wall spaces, and the like. One of the options we offered was cylindrical.

Influenced by the traditional Cook Island wrapped “god staffs” she had learned about at college in the early 80’s, Kathy has been wrapping cylindrical substrates of different diameters and adding them as accents in her artwork since the early 1990’s. Helping Kathy with this wrapping, I had become enamored with the technique.

I became equally fascinated by the cylindrical shape. I saw almost a mystical element in the shape. It was the perfection of the circle, drawn out to what, if not disrupted, would continue to infinity. Infinite perfection, a very magical concept. The cylindrical shape epitomizes the exiting essence of visual motion, and conjures a captivating mystery – just what is around the other side? The cylinder has proven time and again to be an ideal answer to our client’s requests for slender art pieces. We call these cylindrical artworks Serenity Totems. Each is a one-of-a-kind creation.

Over the years we’ve come to wrap more than just Kathy’s slender weavings around one of these tubes. We wrap leathers, suedes, metallics, satin cords, ribbons, etc. we also wrap luxurious couture remnants. In addition, we use exotic wraps, like Japanese Chiyogami/Yuzen handmade, hand-silkscreened fiber stock, which is still created today by the same exacting centuries-old techniques of their ancestors. Among the exotic wraps we employ are handmade, sun-dried Lokta from Nepal, and hand-silkscreened, recycled ragstock from India; both also created in strict adherence to the practices of their forefathers.

I also hand assemble adornments for our Totems, using jewelers tools and techniques. They are carefully composed of the many bits, pieces, and discarded “stuff” Kathy and I collect everywhere. I call these little creations Talismans.

Well that’s the introductory story of Fibrations Studios. To learn more, and to get a closer look inside Fibrations Studio, click on the “Inside Fibrations Studio” link found on this page. We thank you for exploring our website, and we hope you enjoy your visit.

If you are interested in commissioning a woven wall hanging, contact us at fibrationsstudio@gmail.com To learn which of our Serenity Totems are available for immediate purchase log on to: etsy.com/shop/SerenityTotemsStudio …thank you!