Cheng-Khee Chee is a very popular workshop instructor whose classes fill up quickly. His breakthroughs in concepts and processes have greatly influenced watermedia painting, and he shares these with his workshop students.

His work has won over 200 honors, including gold and silver medals. He has written and illustrated several books, including The Watercolor World of Cheng-Khee Chee and the children's books Old Turtle, Swing Around the Sun and Noel. He also has a six volume instructional DVD set.

Chee, Associate Professor Emeritus of the University of Minnesota, is a Signature member of the American watercolor Society (Dolphin Fellow), National Watercolor Society, and many others, and is a sought-after national show juror.

Chee’s ultimate goal in painting is to achieve the essence of Tao, the state of effortless creation. He hopes to produce paintings that will be neither East nor West, realism nor abstraction, but contain elements that communicate on a universal and timeless level.

Sterling Edwards is a contemporary watermedia master and photographer born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1951.  Most of Sterling’s paintings are interpretive statements that reflect his love of the outdoors. Using primarily large brushes, his main objective is to create and expressive and unique interpretive painting that is a choreographed balance of interlocking shapes, strong light and dark values, and unusual colors. The result is an expressive painting that is often a balance of abstract and representational design that captures the mood and dynamics of his subject.

In 1993 Sterling began teaching his style of painting at workshops throughout North Carolina where he now resides.  As his reputation as an accomplished watermedia artist and teacher rapidly grew, he was requested to conduct workshops in neighboring states. Today, Sterling’s workshops are attended by hundreds of people annually throughout the United States and Canada.

He was a featured artist in the fall 2001 issue of Watercolor Magic Magazine in an article titled, “Ones to watch” and has been featured in numerous newspaper articles. In 2007 he was awarded signature member status in the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour, an international organization based in Toronto, Canada that recognizes those who have mastered transparent watercolor. Also in 2007 Sterling designed and introduced a signature set of watercolor brushes and a watercolor palette that are marketed internationally. He is a co-founder of the Rusty Nail Painters, an international invitation group of professional artists that meet every two years for an intense week of painting, exchange of ideas, and philosophical discussions about art theory and techniques.  In 2010 he was awarded signature membership status in the esteemed Transparent Watercolor Society of America.  That same year he was selected as a featured artist in the book, “Best of America Watermedia Artists” published by Kennedy Publishing Company. He is the author of the North Light book” Creating Luminous Watercolor Landscapes, a Four Step Process”, published by F+W Publishing Company and is a contributing artist in numerous other magazines and books.

Today Sterling’s book, signature line of products, and instructional DVD’s are marketed worldwide. His award winning watermedia paintings are in private and corporate collections throughout the world and he is represented by several galleries in the U.S and Canada. He works from both his home and commercial studios in Hendersonville, North Carolina located in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains.

Karlyn Holman has had a studio-gallery for 40 years, and enjoys a full schedule of teaching workshops and painting in her studio.

Karlyn's watercolor paintings reflect a special kind of exuberance for her native area of Lake Superior and her travels around the world. Her paintings could be described as realism based on abstract structure.

She is a popular workshop instructor known for her enthusiastic, innovative and fun teaching techniques. She has illustrated four children's picture books, one illustrated book and four instructional books on watercolor titled Watercolor Fun and Free, Searching for the Artist Within,  Watercolor-The Spirit of Spontaneity and Watercolor Without Boundaries.

Karlyn has led adventurous and instructional tours all over Europe, New Zealand, Central America, Mexico, Ireland, South Africa and on cruises in the Caribbean.

She has an MA in Art from the University of Wisconsin and has taught at the college level for ten years.

Karen Knutson thoroughly loves teaching watercolor and collage, and teaches workshops all over the United States.

Karen is a signature member of Transparent Watercolor Society of America (formerly known as Midwest Watercolor Society), Red River Watercolor Society, the Montana Watercolor Society, and the Northern Plains Watercolor Society, the Minnesota Watercolor Society, the Missouri Watercolor Society, and has had many paintings accepted into many other national shows.  

Her paintings are featured in Splash 6, Watercolor, Fun and Free, and Searching for the Artist Within,  Watercolor- The Spirit of Spontaneity, and the magazine, Watercolor Magic (Aug.’04). Her work can also be seen in 2 new books, The Artistic Touch  3, by Chris Unwin, and Watercolor without Boundaries, by Karlyn Holman. 

Birgit O'Connor is a sought after self-taught artist / instructor that teaches many National and International workshops. Her work has been published in over 40 national and international publications along with being included in many collections throughout the world. Her most current publications include Dobry Zank, (publication in Poland) Artist Magazine, Watercolor Artist Magazine and "L'Art de l'Aquarelle from France. Birgit has won numerous National and International awards and is a signature member of LWS & CWA, her other memberships include Cambridge Who’s Who, Who's who in America, Who's who in American woman. Birgit has written two books by North Light publications “Watercolor in Motion”, “Watercolor Essentials” Birgit is a contributing editor to Artist’s Magazine and Watercolor Artist Magazine and has also developed her own line of successful instructional DVD programs which are available on her website www.birgitoconnor.com

Tony van Hasselt teaches plein air watercolor workshops in this country and abroad. His ability to graphically explain problems and solutions as they arise during a workshop demonstration, combined with his energetic and enthusiastic teaching style, have made him a highly popular instructor, appreciated for his empathy with student struggles. In his workshops, van Hasselt concentrates on logical outdoor painting methods and the art of picture-making.

Tony grew up in The Netherlands before settling in the US. He studied under Frank Reilly, and, while organizing and attending workshops, well known watercolorists such as John Pike, Edgar A. Whitney, Robert E. Wood, Tom Hill, Milford Zornes and Rex Brandt became his mentors and friends. His books include A Studio Visit and Outdoor Watercolor Workshop (Watson-Guptill), and he co-wrote Painting with the White of your Paper and The Watercolor Fix-it Book (North Light Books). His works and teaching methods are also the subject of several instructional video presentations. Tony has been featured in magazines such as Southwest Art and American Artist and on the covers of Artist's Magazine and Watercolor Magic.

He is a signature member of the American Watercolor Society, has won numerous awards at national, state and regional exhibits and shows, and is often asked to judge at national and international watercolor shows.

Sally Brown has taught painting and drawing for 35 years in Minneapolis and St.Paul, Minnesota

She is a founder of the Women's Art Registry of Minnesota (WARM) and was recently exhibited at the Weisman Museum of Art, University of Minnesota with early members of that group.

Ms. Brown has done set design with the Red Eye Collaboration, has been exhibited in Chicago, New York and throughout the Midwest and was the McKnight Grant finalist in 1992.

She has been a summer resident on Madeline Island since 1987.

India Flint lives and works in the driest state on the driest continent. Her textile practice is centred on hand-making and marking cloth objects; embracing occasional costuming for dance & theatre as well as writing. The highly distinctive ecoprint, an ecologically sustainable plant-based printing process giving brilliant colour to cloth remains something of a trademark in her work even though it has been shared worldwide. Costume clients have included Leigh Warren & Dancers and the West Australian Ballet Company. Her books ‘Eco-colour’ and ‘Second Skin’ were published in 2008 and 2011 respectively.

Elin Noble was born in Munich, Germany, grew up in the United States, the Far East and Europe, and now resides in New Bedford, Massachusetts. She studied art history in Florence, Italy and has traveled and studied in Japan, India, Turkey, Peru, South Africa, Europe, and Mexico.

Elin is the author of Dyes & Paints: A Hands-On Guide to Coloring Fabric, winner of the 1999 Independent Publisher book award for the best “How-To Book”.  She has a BFA in Fiber from the University of Washington.  As former Lab Manager at PRO Chemical & Dye, she has a vast experience and understanding of dyeing.  She has appeared on PBS, lectured, and conducted dye and paint workshops across North America as well as internationally.  Her work has been reviewed in Fiberarts, is on the cover of Fine Woodworking Design Book Six, and was included in the traveling exhibition, Fiberart International 2004. She was nominated for the teacher of the year award for 2005 by Professional Quilter magazine.

Mary Nowakowski’s involvement in the field of historic costume and textiles spans over 35 years. She served as patternmaker for the State Historical Society of Wisconsin on the “Patterns of History” project. As curator and assistant professor of historic costume at Mount Mary College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Mary oversaw the development of a 6,000-piece collection into what the Metropolitan Museum of Art called “one of the finest regional costume collections in the nation.” The collection of clothing and accessories ranged from the 1770’s to the present, with an emphasis on 20^th century designers.

Mary became a contributing writer f or Threads magazine in 1989 and penned eight major articles about American fashions designers. Her article on designer Adrian was voted one of the top 5 reader favorite articles in the magazine's first 10 years of publication. She also provided numerous historic costumes for the popular “In Detail” feature of the magazine.

The Milwaukee Art Museum has called on Mary since 1986 to serve as a docent and staff trainer and give public lectures on paintings that feature historic costume as an important component. Her lectures are a spirited look at costume and social history – one student calling her “The People Magazine of Costume History.”

This will be her first class with the Madeline Island School of the Arts. Mary is excited to be able to inspire artists by examining the rich detail in clothing through the ages. Be prepared to learn, laugh and add another dimension of inspiration to your fiber arts.

Douglas Beasley’s personal vision explores the spiritual aspects of people and place and is concerned with how the sacred is recognized and expressed in everyday life. He hopes that his photographs act as prayer-like offerings meant as a departure point for the viewer’s own visual or spiritual journey.

After receiving a BFA from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, he worked for many years as a commercial photographer while pursuing his vision in fine art. Much of his art is supported by grants and commissions and has been widely exhibited and collected. His work has been featured in numerous magazines and published and exhibited internationally.

His first book Japan; A Nisei’s First Encounter, published in 1999, offers insight into his journey to his mother’s homeland. His new book, Earth Meets Spirit, based on a personal vision of the sacred landscape, was recently published by Five Continents Editions in Milan, Italy.

As founder and director of Vision Quest Photo Workshops, Beasley provides workshops that emphasize personal expression and creative vision over the mechanics of camera use. He also photographs various fine-art based commercial assignments locally and throughout the world.

Douglas continues to explore the notion of what is sacred in his photography and in his life. He lives in a small wooden home surrounded by trees in Saint Paul, MN where, when not out traveling the world, he can be found tending his Japanese gardens or enjoying a strong cup of coffee while listening to loud music.

Specializing in photographing Lake Superior, Craig Blacklock is one of country’s most distinguished nature photographers, internationally renowned for his inspiring landscapes, nudes and technical virtuosity.

Photographer and author of seventeen books, including Apostle Islands—From Land and Sea, Craig is regularly featured in photography magazines such as American Photo, Fine Art Photo and Outdoor Photographer. His original prints are in the museums, private collections, and health care facilities throughout the U.S.

Craig’s background in over 30 years of working in large format, shows in his digital images, with precise, exquisite compositions and hyper-real clarity. Craig has taught photography workshops since 1982, providing guidance in capture, editing and printing.

Hank Erdmann is a professional natural history photographer and photographic educator who resides in Will County, Illinois.  He has photographed throughout North America, making the Midwest his primary geographic area of interest.  A love of history, especially the maritime history of the Great Lakes, kindles a special interest in the ports, shorelines, islands and natural areas of Lakes Michigan and Superior and their surrounding environs.  Hanks image of the Lake Michigan shore with a curved wave was selected for the cover of the 2012 Sierra Club Engagement Calendar.

John Gregor  graduated from the University of Minnesota in with a degree through University Without Walls, his degree was entitled “Documentary Expression of American Culture Through Photography” a combined degree of Social Sciences and Fine Art Photography.

During his career Gregor has worked on some interesting projects and photographed for some great publications, they include: 2 years as the Official Track Photographer at Canterbury Downs Racetrack, a month long photographic project in Africa documenting the first attempted kayak decent of the Blue Nile from Lake Victoria to Lake Albert, an on-going photography /research project on  horse-mounted military musical bands remaining worldwide with trips to England, Belgium, Austria, Denmark, and Sweden, funded by the University of St. Thomas,  photography documentation of over 75 Scientific and Natural Areas in Minnesota funded by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Nature Conservancy resulting in numerous publications including Worlds Within A World, Minnesota Bookstore 1999 winner of the Minnesota Book Award. Gregor has four other book projects with title page credit including: Growing Home; Stories of 32 Ethnic Gardeners, UofM Press, 2000 (winner of the 2000 American Horticulture Book of the Year Award), Northland Wildflowers a guide to the Minnesota Region UofM Press, and Northern Treasure, The University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum’s 100 year commemorative book .

Gregor has taught photographic workshops for over 20 years, including workshops for University of Minnesota Split Rock Arts Program, Great Plains Photographic Workshops, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Compleat Scholar Program and many others.

Gregor currently lives near Two Harbors, Minnesota were he co-owns Waterfront Gallery.

Suzanne Rose is an award recipient of the Fellowship in the Visual Arts from the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts (NFAA), Peninsula Arts Association (PAA) & Wisconsin Arts Board (WAB) and the first individual artist to receive the Fred Alley Visionary Award from the Peninsula Arts Association. Most recently Suzanne was the Artist-in-Residence at the Paine Art Center and Gardens in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where she was invited to turn her lens on Oshkosh. Making two thematic bodies of work as well as writing an extensive on-line journal of her experience available at www.thepaine.org.

As a traditional (film-based) and digital photographer, Suzanne's approach to photography is simple and straightforward as "a mindful minimalist" - in style and philosophy.  Suzanne was educated at the prestigious School of the Art Institute of Chicago. After residing in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood for almost a decade she has gladly returned to her home state where Rose is a fulltime resident of southern Door County.  For two decades, she has happily lived in a one hundred year old brick farmhouse off the beaten track with her artist husband, Jim Rose, and daughter.

Her work has been the subject of major exhibitions at the Fairfield Museum, Corcoran Gallery of Art and Miller Art Museum. Her photographs can be found in many public and private collections, including the Racine Art Museum, Racine, Wisconsin, Chazen Museum of Art, Madison, Wisconsin, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Brenda Tharp is a fine art photographer, author, and educator. Her images are in private collections across the country, and she has contributed to books by Chronicle, National Park Service, and Michelin Travel Publications. Her book, Creative Nature and Outdoor Photography, is used by several college professors as a textbook for their own classes.

She has co-authored a new book, Extraordinary Everyday Photography, published in 2012. A teacher since 1985, Brenda has helped both amateur and semi-professional photographers develop a more personal vision and advance to the next level in their skills. Her untiring enthusiasm and her easy approachable nature makes her a popular instructor. 

Alvaro Castagnet is one of the world’s most highly respected watercolorists.

Born in Montevideo, Uruguay. At a very young age he initiated studies in art, at the National School of Arts. He moved to Australia, and lived there for 20 years, where his watercolor technique reached the highest levels.

Alvaro has been recognized with top honors in mayor art competitions around the world, including three awards and Medals, from the most prestigious American Watercolor Society, NY from which he is also a member.

His works grace the walls of many private and corporate collectors worldwide.

Alvaro has won many prestigious awards, including 3 from the coveted AWS of which he is now a member. He is the author of “Painting with Passion- Beyond Technique”, numerous articles in magazines around the world, has designed his own line of watercolor brushes, and has released a series of DVDs.

His main studio is located in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Marc R. Hanson teaches landscape painting workshops in many locations nationally.  He has shown his work in galleries and museums nationally and internationally since the early 1980's.  He is a Signature Member of The Oil Painters of America (O.P.A.).  Marc has garnered a number of national awards including placing four times in The Pastel Journal's 'Pastel 100' competition, winning an Award of Excellence at the O.P.A. National Exhibit in 2000, 2007, 2009 and 2010.  Recently his work was selected as a Finalist in the International Artist's Magazine's Art Prize Challenge, 3rd Place Landscape in Pastel 100 (2008), the Pastel Award at the Society of Master Impressionist Show at the Sunset Art Gallery in Amarillo, TX, and the Award for Excellence, Landscape at the Oil Painters of America's National Exhibit at Legacy Gallery in Scottsdale, AZ.

Of teaching, Marc notes, "I love working with other painters in their pursuit to better their craft.  My goal is not to have them assimilate my style and technique, but to teach them how to more closely examine the subject and apply the principles that representational painters must follow to become effective visual communicators."

Over the past 30 years as a fine artist, Shelby Keefe's contemporary & impressionistic paintings have found their way into prestigious museum collections, corporate anthologies, national plein air painting competitions, and into the hands of everyday art lovers all around the country.

Shelby is known for her unique and fresh approach to painting the plein air and urban landscape. She is also appreciated for her 20-minute performance art paintings and her philanthropic support of nonprofit organizations as well as achieving national recognition for her plein air oil paintings.

Based in Milwaukee, Shelby paints locally as well as in venues from Arizona to Maryland, Florida to New Mexico. Her work flourishes from painting in-studio, and from nature, as well as teaching workshops and doing commission work for patrons. Visit www.studioshelby.com to get more information on her achievements and her range of work.

Craig Blietz is a full-time artist practicing in Northeast Wisconsin. He is currently the Artistic Director at The Academy of Fine Art in Denmark, Wisconsin. He was the Artistic Director at The Kewaunee Academy of Fine Art in Kewaunee and Algoma,Wisconsin from 2005 - 2011.

Additionally, he has taught at The School of Representational Art in Chicago, Illinois; Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; The Peninsula School of Art in Fish Creek, Wisconsin; and The Artists Guild’s Art Education Center in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.

Craig has, for the past four years, been the 'Critique Lecturer' for the Miller Art Museum's Annual Juried Exhibition. He has spoken to, and lectured at, numerous Wisconsin art institutions such as St. Norbert College, The Fairfield Center for Contemporary Art, and The Cedarburg Art Guild.  His website is www.blietzstudio.com.

Kenneth DeWaard has been painting en plein air for over 20 years.  He began his career studying watercolor under Irving Shapiro at the American Academy of Art in Chicago and then continued his early training at the acclaimed Palette and Chisel Academy of Fine Art with Scott Burdick and Daniel Gerhartz.

He has won numerous awards around the country at various plein air events such as Easton, Laguna, San Luis Obispo, Sonoma, Florida, to mention a few.  He began teaching in the late 90’s and has continued to give workshops around the country as well as instructing at The Academy of Fine Art in Denmark, WI.

For Ken there is nothing more rewarding and challenging than painting under an open sky, surrounded by the scents and sounds of nature, along with its ever changing color andharmonies to excite one's creativity.  His website is www.kendewaard.com.

Kami Mendlik-Polzin is a highly sought after painter and instructor in the States and abroad.  Her painting and teaching ahs earned her numerous awards and has led her to Europe where she painted and taught in the hills of Tuscany.  Her passion and enthusiasm for painting is contagious and inspirational.  Kami’s skills in interpreting nature in a simplified and direct manner have been fine tuned over many years of painting, both in the studio and en plein air.  Her ability to communicate to her students in an inspirational way is her trademark.

“Thanks again for a fantastic week of painting…So well grounded in the fundamentals and your energy and enthusiasm for what you do is immensely infectious.  The morning after I returned from the island I was walking to the farmer's market as usual on a Saturday and couldn't stop trying to formulate the mixtures for the colors I was seeing in shadows.   I stopped to admire the form of a huge willow tree like I hadn't done before even though I had walked past it dozens of times. You are thoroughly impressive. Keep up the excellent work!”  -Jason Terry, Associate Professor of Art, Northland College  August 2012

A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Lori Putnam travels all over the world, painting small to medium-sized plein air sketches and finished works. She also creates large-scale paintings in her studio located in nearby Franklin, Tennessee.

In 2008 and 2009, Lori traveled to Italy with the sole intention of study, and growth. During this time she painted almost 200 pieces from the southeastern Adriatic coastline to the northeastern Italian Riviera and many towns in between. Her intense work during this period brought a greater maturity to the paintings she creates today. She enjoys sharing this growth with her students across the U.S., the Caribbean, and in Europe.

Lori is a member of, and has exhibited with, many respected organizations including the Salmagundi Club in New York City, the Oil Painters of America, the California Art Club, Plein Air Artists of Colorado, and the American Impressionists Society.

She served as Show Chair for AIS in 2011 and is currently Vice President of the organization. Additionally, Lori participates annually in several juried and invitational plein air events, and recently won awards in Colorado, California, Wyoming, Florida, Georgia, and Ireland.

Her work is in the permanent collection at The Academy Art Museum in Easton, Maryland, the Jack Warner Collection, the collection of Plein Air Magazine, and in private and corporate collections, and galleries worldwide. Featured in numerous issues of American Art Collector Magazine, and most recently, Plein Air Magazine, Lori is recognized as one of the finest American Impressionists of our time. She was among those chosen as faculty for Plein Air Magazine’s 1^st Annual Plein Air Convention in Red Rocks near Las Vegas in April 2012.

While pursuing a degree in molecular biology and masters in biomedical illustration, Sue Benner created her vision of the microscopic universe in painted and quilted textile constructions. Her early work propelled her to become a studio artist in 1980, working primarily in the medium which later became known as the Art Quilt.

Sue is an innovator in her field, creating original dyed and painted fabrics which she combines with recycled textiles to form fields of structured pattern, vivid beauty, and riotous variation.

Sue’s artwork is in many private, corporate, and institutional collections. Her work has been juried into Quilt National seven times, and she served as a juror in 2009.

She lectures and teaches workshops nationally and internationally in the fields of surface design, textile collage, fused quilt construction, and artistic inspiration.

Sue lives in Dallas, Texas; however, a part of her heart resides still in her home state of Wisconsin.

Hollis Chatelain was born and raised in Pennsylvania, but lived fourteen years of her adult life overseas in Switzerland and in four West African countries. At the end of 1996, she moved back to the United States. Her current studio and home are in Hillsborough, North Carolina.

Hollis’ educational background is in design and photography. She has worked in the arts in one form or another since 1976. Hollis started her career as a textile artist in Africa. Her interest was sparked by the richness and beauty of African fabrics which are ever so integrated into the everyday life of Africans. Her distinctive use of colors and imagery, as well as her dye-painted scenes of multicultural life have brought her international recognition. Hollis’ work can be found in public and private collections in Europe, Asia, South America, Africa, and North America.

In addition to creating her textile art, Hollis lectures and leads workshops on drawing, color, dye painting, quilting, and West African textiles.

Gail Garber was introduced to quilt making 30 years ago and immediately fell in love with this textile art form.   She began designed her own quilts soon afterward, and began publishing in magazines as well as creating a line of quilting patterns by the late 1980s.   Today, her work is internationally recognized and she is highly regarded for her design workshops and entertaining lectures.   Her third book, Flying Colors, was published in 2010 by C&T Publications of California.  In this book, she has re-designed the free-form flying goose that has become her signature mark on her quilts.  The book introduces 14 different alternate designs to fill the flowing curved shapes that form her unique style as well a the brilliant use of color, strongly influenced by her 37 years in New Mexico.

In her other life, Garber is the Executive Director for Hawks Aloft, a New Mexico conservation organization, founded by Gail and others in February 1994.  The group conducts education and research programs to conserve indigenous wild birds through avian research, conservation education and cooperation with others to monitor and protect raptors and other neotropical migratory birds.  Gail may be found working with schools and various interest groups in the community, promoting raptor and conservation awareness, flying in a small aircraft locating nests of large raptors and eagles, or conducting surveys on foot in remote, back-country areas of New Mexico. Several non-releasable, permanently injured education raptors are housed in outdoor flight cages at her Albuquerque home.

Gloria Loughman lives by the sea, on the beautiful Bellarine Peninsula, in Victoria.  Married with three daughters, she is a trained secondary teacher having worked mainly in the literacy and special education faculties.  Her initiation into the world of patchwork occurred approximately 20 years ago when she was recovering from a course of chemotherapy.

Over the years she has dabbled in many areas including strip piecing, bargello, colourwash, fabric dyeing and painting, and machine embroidery.  After completing some studies in design and color as part of a Diploma of Art in 1996, she began to make large vivid landscape quilts depicting the Australian bush.  Having the opportunity to travel to many unique and fascinating parts locations, she is continually challenged to reproduce these images in fabric.  Most of the textiles used have been hand dyed or painted and feature extensive machine embroidery.  These quilts have won many major awards in Australia, Europe, Japan and the United States.  Gloria’s quilt “Kimberly Mystique’ was the winner of Australia’s most prestigious national quilting award in 2003.

Gloria has been teaching patchwork classes for many years and enjoys sharing her knowledge and skills with others.  She likes to challenge her students to design their own quilts but is also happy to provide patterns for those less confident.  Gloria’s classes have proved to be very popular with lots of students coming back for a second or third class.  Gloria has traveled to many states in Australia running workshops for small groups of country quilters as well as teaching classes for larger guilds in the major cities.  She has also traveled extensively overseas teaching classes in New Zealand, United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Europe, South Africa and Japan.

As well as being in demand as a teacher, Gloria has curated seven exhibitions of Australian quilts to the United States and have had the privilege of judging at many major shows.  She has had a number of solo exhibitions, including an invitation to exhibit at the prestigious NEC Show in Birmingham, UK.  Her book, Luminous Landscapes, was released by C&T in January 2007 and is proving very popular.

What began as a therapy has developed into a passion and has given Gloria the opportunity to travel the world exhibiting her quilts, teaching classes and meeting lots of wonderful people

Gwen Marston is a professional fiber artist, author, and teacher. She has taught nationally and internationally for over three decades and offered a series of five weekly quilt retreats in northern Michigan for 30 years.

 She has written 26 books, two of which have won awards: Mary Schafer: American Quilt Maker won a 2005 Michigan Notable Book award, and 37 Sketches won a 2012 New York Book Show award.

She has had twenty-five exhibits of her large quilts, seven exhibits of her small quilts, and her work has been shown in many group exhibits throughout the United States and abroad.  A special exhibit of her work from 37 Sketches was shown at the Taupo Art Museum in Taupo, New Zealand during their 2012 Symposium.

Sue Nickels has been quilting for 32 years, starting by hand and gradually focusing on machine work. Sue has been teaching machine techniques for the past 20 years. Sue has taught and lectured nationally for shops, guilds and major conferences, including AQS, IQA and NQA. She has also taught internationally in England, Norway, Australia, New Zealand and Spain.

Sue’s major awards include 1998 AQS Best of Show for “The Beatles Quilt” made by Sue and her sister, Pat Holly. Their quilt, “The Space Quilt” won the 2003 IQA Master of Machine Artistry Award and the 2004 AQS Machine Workmanship Award.

Most recently, Sue and Pat’s quilt “Tea at Tenby” won 2009 Best of Show at the Birmingham Festival of Quilts in England.

Sue’s current books are “Machine Quilting: A Primer of Techniques” and “Stitched Raw Edge Appliqué” co-authored with Pat. Sue has also been a judge for many quilt shows, most recently part of the team judging the 2009 IQA Show. Sue’s priority in the workshops she teaches is to provide a relaxed environment for students to learn machine techniques that are timesaving. Sue emphasizes the best quality workmanship, never compromising quality for speed!

Sue Spargo was born in Zambia, educated in South Africa, and later lived in England. The stark contrasts between the arid beige-browns of the African bushveld and the lush greens of the rolling hills of Southern England inspired many of her designs and continue to be a rich source of ideas. The energy and color of traditional African designs stirred her love of “primitive” arts and crafts, and grew into her focus on folk-art. In 1989 she moved to the United States, and has lived in Connecticut, Tennessee, Utah and Ohio. Each new State presented sharp contrasts and stirred new ideas.

Sue designs quilted items using textural fabrics and embellishments. She creates and sells books, patterns and CD's for these designs, and she and her sister Wendy produce hand-dyed wool and wool plaids designed specifically for quilt makers.

Sue teaches workshops all over the United States.

David Taylor was born in Peterborough, New Hampshire, in 1963. As a Navy brat, he was relocated down the East Coast of the U.S. along with his three sisters and two brothers. David completed his high school and college years in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. He currently lives in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

David's obsession with fabric began at an early age, salvaging tiny scraps from his mother's sewing area trash bin. This began his love and appreciation for fabric, though not a love for quilting. "Who would ever want to cut up their beautiful fabrics into tiny pieces?" he asks.

After college, David embarked on a career in graphic design (before computers!), primarily working for newspapers. Throughout his 20-year career, he received more than 100 regional and national awards for newspaper editorial layout and advertising design.

David's first quilt design was in 1999, a fundraiser quilt collaboration for Strings Music Festival in Steamboat with friend and professional long-arm quilter Madeleine Vail of Clark, CO. Madeleine encouraged him to keep after it. Following a visit to Houston in 2001 for the International Quilt Festival, David's obsession with fabric turned into an obsession for quilting as art.

In 2006, David discovered a love for hand-applique, and all of his works since then have been stitched together by hand. "I don't think I'll ever give up my machine for the actual quilting," he adds. In 2008, he became an ambassador for HandiQuilter and their Sweet 16 sit-down machine.

Now, more than a decade into his quilting journey, he has exhibited his work internationally and teaches at numerous venues throughout the year.

David Taylor has been the recipient of the Fairfield Master Award for Contemporary Quilting from the International Quilt Association (2006), the Brother Wall Machine Workmanship Award from the American Quilters Society (Paducah, 2008), and a two-time Best of Show winner at the IQA's Spring Festival in Chicago (2007, 2008), among others.

Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew is the author of the spiritual memoir, Swinging on the Garden Gate (Skinner House Books), a collection of personal essays called On the Threshold:  Home, Hardwood, and Holiness (Westview Press), and Writing the Sacred Journey:  The Art and Practice of Spiritual Memoir (Skinner House Books). Her work is also anthologized in Views from the Loft (Milkweed Editions), My Red Couch and Other Stories on Seeking a Feminist Faith (Pilgrim Press), Riding Shotgun:  Women Write About Their Mothers (Minnesota Historical Society Press), Blessed Bi Spirit (Continuum), and appears in various literary and religious journals.  She is a recipient of a Minnesota State Arts Board artists’ fellowship, the Loft Career Initiative Grant, and is a Minnesota Book Awards finalist.  

Jenna Blum is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of THE STORMCHASERS and THOSE WHO SAVE US, which in addition to being a New York Times bestseller is also the # 1 bestselling book in Holland.

Jenna is also one of Oprah’s Top Thirty Women Writers. She has taught creative and communications writing for Boston University and Grub Street Writers, where she was the master novel instructor for ten years.

Currently, Jenna writes the Friday Five-0 and Writer On the Road columns for Grub Daily, and is researching her third novel.   She lives in Wichita, Kansas with photographer Jim Reed and their black Lab, Woodrow.  When not in Kansas, she often writes at her house in rural Minnesota, in the town where her mother and grandmother were born. For more information about Jenna, please visit her website.

Todd Boss's award-winning debut poetry collection, Yellowrocket (Norton, 2008) has enjoyed widespread critical and popular acclaim.

His poems have appeared in The New Yorker, Poetry, The Best American Poetry, New England Review, and Virginia Quarterly Review, which awarded him the Emily Clark Balch Prize in 2009.

His MFA is from the University of Alaska-Anchorage.

He teaches in the Stonecoast MFA program.

Angela Foster is a poet and memoirist who lives in Pine City, Minnesota. Her work has been published in Minnesota Literature, The Drum Literary Magazine, Talking Stick, Dust and Fire, Otter Tail Review, Tiny Lights, Poetry Midwest and Lake County Journal. In 2004 and 2006, she received the Carol Bly Award in Creative Nonfiction from Bemidji State University. In 2010, Angela won a hand-carved chair and the title “Bard” at the Cambria Eisteddfod competition in New Ulm, MN. Recently, her memoir piece Brat was performed by the Petaluma Readers Theatre in California.

Angela teaches memoir at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, MN, and holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Pine Manor College in Boston, Massachusetts. Her poetry book, Farm Girls, co-written with her sister Candace Simar, will be released by Riverplace Press of Brainerd, Minnesota, in January 2013. For more information about Angela, please visit her website.

Douglas Goetsch is the author of three full-length collections of poetry and four prizewinning chapbooks. His poems have appeared in Poetry, The New Yorker, The Gettysburg Review, Best American Poetry and The Pushcart Prize Anthology. He has also written essays for The American Scholar, and won the Donald Murray prize for non-fiction writing, as well as poetry fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts.

Goetsch has been on faculty at many writing conferences and programs, including The Frost Place, The Dodge Poetry Festival, and the Iowa Summer Writing Festival. He currently serves on the core faculty of the Red Earth low residency MFA at Oklahoma City University. Goetsch is also the founding editor of Jane Street Press.

Kate Hopper is the author of Use Your Words: A Writing Guide for Mothers. Her memoir, currently titled Small Continents, is forthcoming from University of Minnesota Press fall of 2013. Kate holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Minnesota and has been the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship, a Minnesota State Arts Board Grant, and a Sustainable Arts Grant.

Her writing has appeared in a number of journals, including Brevity, Literary Mama, and The New York Times online. She is an editor at Literary Mama and teaches writing online and at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, where she lives with her family. For more information about Kate’s writing, visit her website.

Catherine Watson’s travel dreams took flight in grade school, when she and her best friend discovered Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan books. Long family road trips and two student exchange programs – American Field Service to Germany in high school, and the Minnesota SPAN Project to Lebanon in college – only made that passion stronger.

Trained as a journalist, Catherine became the first travel editor at the Minneapolis Star Tribune (www.startribune.com) and continued as its chief travel writer and photographer from 1978 to 2004. Her work has taken her to 115 countries and won numerous awards, including the top two in her field: The Lowell Thomas Travel Journalist of the Year and the Society of American Travel Writers Photographer of the Year. She is the 2012 Distinguished Educator of the University of Minnesota's College of Continuing Education.

She has been published in more than a dozen anthologies and is the author of two collections of travel essays, “Road Less Traveled’’ (Syren Books, 2005) and “Home on the Road’’ (Syren, 2007), both of which were Minnesota Book Awards finalists. Catherine teaches workshops in travel writing and memoir in the U.S. and abroad, and divides her home time between Minneapolis and the historic village of Galena, Illinois.  

Jane OReilly found her heart in fiction on a whim to write a screenplay about five estranged siblings who reprise a family camping trip to Alaska to claim their fathers estate. 

She eked out writing time between work and family, and ultimately received a McKnight Fellowship for her first full-length screenplay, Vagabonds.

Because Jane believes story is story, she writes in many genresfrom essays to novels to stage plays. Jane holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Hamline University where she also received the Jane Resh Thomas award for her critical thesis, Metafiction and the Guilty Conscience in Young Adult Literature.

Her published works include local travel books, several essays on family life and a retelling of the Jack London story, A Nose for a King, adapted for the stage. Her fingers are crossed on a new novel recently placed with an agent. She lives in an old house in Minneapolis with her husband, youngest son, a dog and a cat, writing whenever she can.

Elizabeth Haukaas is a poet whose first book, Leap (Texas Tech University Press, 2009), won the Walt McDonald First-book Poetry Award. Her work has appeared in many literary journals, including New Millennium Writings (First Place Poetry Award), William and Mary Review, Tulane Review, New England Review, North American Review, Crab Orchard Review, Agenda, Tigertail, Tulane Review, Big City Lit (online), Two Rivers Review, and the William and Mary Review. Her poems have been nominated for the Pushcart Prizes four times; she has been a finalist and winner of the New Letters Literary Awards in poetry on numerous occasions. Her latest poetry collection, Homefires, and a memoir, A Menoir: the woman who loved too much, are forthcoming. She resides in New York City, where, in her day job, she runs the corporate communications department for a commercial real estate and investment firm. She holds the MFA in creative writing (poetry) from Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers. Her three children are grown and live in London, Seattle, and Phoenix. She has four grandchildren—and counting.

Catherine Watson’s travel dreams took flight in grade school, when she and her best friend discovered Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan books. Long family road trips and two student exchange programs – American Field Service to Germany in high school, and the Minnesota SPAN Project to Lebanon in college – only made that passion stronger.

Trained as a journalist, Catherine became the first travel editor at the Minneapolis Star Tribune (www.startribune.com) and continued as its chief travel writer and photographer from 1978 to 2004. Her work has taken her to 115 countries and won numerous awards, including the top two in her field: The Lowell Thomas Travel Journalist of the Year and the Society of American Travel Writers Photographer of the Year.  She is the 2012 Distinguished Educator of the University of Minnesota's College of Continuing Education.

She has been published in more than a dozen anthologies and is the author of two collections of travel essays, “Road Less Traveled’’ (Syren Books, 2005) and “Home on the Road’’ (Syren, 2007), both of which were Minnesota Book Awards finalists. Catherine teaches workshops in travel writing and memoir in the U.S. and abroad, and divides her home time between Minneapolis and the historic village of Galena, Illinois.  

Jane O’Reilly found her heart in fiction on a whim to write a screenplay about five estranged siblings who reprise a family camping trip to Alaska to claim their fathers estate. 

She eked out writing time between work and family, and ultimately received a McKnight Fellowship for her first full-length screenplay, Vagabonds.

Because Jane believes story is story, she writes in many genresfrom essays to novels to stage plays. Jane holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Hamline University where she also received the Jane Resh Thomas award for her critical thesis, Metafiction and the Guilty Conscience in Young Adult Literature.

Her published works include local travel books, several essays on family life and a retelling of the Jack London story, A Nose for a King, adapted for the stage. Her fingers are crossed on a new novel recently placed with an agent. She lives in an old house in Minneapolis with her husband, youngest son, a dog and a cat, writing whenever she can.

Katherine Lanpher is an award-winning broadcaster, writer and teacher who is the senior instructor for The OpEd Project. She led the pilot year-long 2011-2012 oped fellowship for 20 senior faculty at Yale University and has taught public seminars in Manhattan, Boston, Washington, San Francisco and Chicago. Her students have published opinion pieces, videos and series in the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Christian Science Monitor. One of her students is now a regular columnist for CNN.com.

Katherine trades off with PBS anchor Ray Suarez as the host of America Abroad, a monthly public radio special on foreign policy that is heard by more than one million listeners on NPR Worldwide. Shes also the host of Upstairs at the Square, an interview series for the web thats taped at the flagship Barnes and Noble in Manhattans Union Square.

Her short essays have been published in The New York Times op-ed page, Marie Claire, More and Slate.com; one of those pieces turned into her memoir, "Leap Days," published in 2006 by Springboard Press. In 2008, she won a Gracie from American Women in Radio and Television for her weekly show "More Time," a radio companion to More magazine that aired on XM Satellite Radio and she is the former host of a weekly podcast on the economy for TIME.com.

She was the host of Minnesota Public Radios Midmorning weekday call-in show and the founding host of Talking Volumes before leaving Minnesota for Manhattan, where she co-hosted  The Al Franken Show on Air America radio and the Sundance Channel. She began her career as a journalist and columnist at The St. Paul Pioneer Press.

After spending more than 25 years editing, writing and teaching communications in corporations, Quinn McDonald has come to the conclusion that the best way to learn is by making mistakes, then fixing them. She remembers her own vividly, and happily shares the lessons she has learned.

Ten years ago, Quinn opened QuinnCreative, a company to develop and teach workshops in creativity, writing, and art. Quinn is a certified creativity coach, and brings those skills into her workshops.

She is the author of articles on creativity, writing, and coaching, the Business of Art columnist for Somerset Studio, and a regular contributor to F+W Publishing’s website, Create Mixed Media and Jenny Doh’s website, Crescendoh. She is the author of Raw Art Journaling, Making Meaning, Making Art (North Light) and is writing another book.

Mary Carroll Moore, M.A., MFAW, has been writing, teaching, and publishing since the 1970s. Her thirteen published books include the novel Qualities of Light (Spinsters Ink, 2009) which was nominated for a PEN/Faulkner award; Your Book Starts Here: Create, Craft, and Sell Your First Novel, Memoir, or Nonfiction Book, based on her "How to Plan, Write, and Develop a Book" writing workshops (Riverbed Press, 2010); the memoir/self-help book How to Master Change in Your Life: Sixty-seven Ways to Handle Life’s Toughest Moments  (Eckankar Publications, 1999); and many titles in the health and food genres including Cholesterol Cures (Rodale Press) and the IACP/Seagrams (Julia Child) award-winning Healthy Cooking (Ortho Publications).

Mary's work has been featured in national and international press, including the New York Times, USA Today, and on WNPR.

She teaches workshops and weekly writing classes both online and in person at writing schools around the U.S. and abroad, including the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, The Hudson Valley Writers’ Center near New York City, Madeline Island School for the Arts on Madeline Island in Lake Superior, the New Hampshire Writers' Project in Manchester, Grub Street Writing School in Boston, and other locations.

A former nationally syndicated columnist for the Los Angeles Times, over 200 of Mary’s essays, short stories, articles, and poetry have appeared in literary journals, magazines, and newspapers around the U.S. and have won awards with the McKnight Awards for Creative Prose, Glimmer Train Press, the Loft Mentor Series, and other writing competitions.

She lives with her family in rural New Hampshire and writes a weekly blog for book writers at http://HowtoPlanWriteandDevelopaBook.blogspot.com.   She's currently working on her next novel, the sequel to Qualities of Light.

Jude Nutter was born North Yorkshire, England, and grew up in northern Germany. Her poems have appeared in numerous national and international journals including Alaska Quarterly Review, Another Chicago Magazine, Atlanta Review, Chautauqua Literary Journal, Crazyhorse, Indiana Review, JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, Marlboro Review, MARGIE, Missouri Review, Nimrod International Journal, Notre Dame Review, Southern Poetry Review, Stand (UK), Sycamore Review and Words and Images.

Her books include Pictures of the Afterlife (Salmon Poetry, Ireland),The Curator of Silence (University of Notre Dame Press, winner of the Ernest Sandeen Prize and the 2007 Minnesota Book Award in Poetry), and I Wish I Had A Heart Like Yours, Walt Whitman (University of Notre Dame Press, winner of the 2010 Minnesota Book Award in Poetry and voted Poetry Book of the Year by ForeWord Reviews).

She is the recipient of several awards and grants including two Minnesota State Arts Grants, an Elizabeth George Foundation grant, a McKnight Fellowship, the Robinson Jeffers Tor House Prize, the Listowel Prize (Ireland), the Larry Levis Prize, the International War Poetry Award, The Marjorie J. Wilson Award for Excellence in Poetry, the Lynda Hull Memorial Poetry Prize, and the Missouri Review Editors' Prize. In 2004/2005 she spent two months in Antarctica as a participant in the National Science Foundation's Writers and Artists Program.

Jude has an MFA in poetry from the University of Oregon.

The Madeline Island Yoga retreat concept was born after Amy Annis, a yoga teacher and Madeline Island aficionado, finished up a year of battling breast cancer.  Fueled by the knowledge that yoga was a big component in her healing as well as inspired by the beautiful naturescapes of the island, she began bringing women to Madeline Island to deepen their yoga practice and kick-starting their health and well-being.

As yoga exists as a mind-body practice, it helps you do anything better.  This is Amy’s philosophy and she incorporates that concept through her teaching.  Experienced in working with all levels of yoga students and registered through The Yoga Alliance as a yoga teacher, she works on techniques that integrate yoga into your life to achieve your desired result.  Very familiar with the healing components of yoga have made her sensitive to all physical levels from the woman recovering from cancer to the performance athlete with too-tight hamstrings.  The idea of expanding your yoga practice while tapping into your creative potential provides all women with an opportunity to become expressive.

 Amy is thrilled to team up with Lynnae Burns whom she met on a 2012 Madeline Island Yoga Retreat. While spending time together on the island during the retreat, Amy was inspired by the art Lynnae was creating through both her camera lens and her artist tools.  Understanding Lynnae’s background as an art teacher and her connection with her creative passion makes this collaboration of yoga teacher and art instructor a beautiful pairing for the art school experience.  In addition to opening up your physical body with yoga and your heart and mind with art, both teachers will provide you with a toolkit of healthy habits and artistic expressions to take away into your day to day life.  We hope you will join us.

Lynnae Haerle Burns is an artist and art educator living in La Crosse, Wisconsin. She has been teaching art to middle school students for the past 17 years.  Teaching has brought her great joy, fueling the passion and creative art-making process for young artists. She teaches with the philosophy that all people can make art, and that giving permission and artistic confidence to the artist is a very powerful tool.  She enjoys  exhilarating process of exploring art media and self-expression as it unfolds in the classroom.  The dynamic influences of our visual environment, where we’ve been, and where we are presently shapes the artist. For Lynnae, collaborating with other artists is her love and passion.

Lynnae studied art at the Universities of Eau Claire and La Crosse and received her Masters in Education from UW-La Crosse. She is the director of the Lincoln Middle School Art Gallery where she currently teaches.

Her love of nature, mixed media, print-making, collage, photography and nature  influences her work in a visual journalistic process. She infuses this love of photography and art on her blog, http://dailyartenrichments.blogspot.com

Tom Glaser, MS, a psychologist, educator, and actor, has been studying meditation and mindfulness for over 20 years. He worked for almost 10 years with artists in training at Minneapolis College of Art and Design, where he created lunchSMART, a noontime program promoting increased creativity through mindfulness and relaxation training. With advanced training in Resilience, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, and group facilitation, he has led numerous mindfulness-based retreats, and his goal is to make learning accessible and fun, loaded with experiential activities that address various learning styles. Tom is also cohost of The Wake Up Call, a weekly wellness radio program available online and on AM950 in the Twin Cities, and is author of a forthcoming book on happiness.

Roxanne Sadovsky, Writing with Rox, MA, MFA is a Twin Cities freelance writer, teacher and healer. She earned her masters degree in counseling psychology from Antioch University Seattle (1998) and a master of fine arts degree in creative nonfiction from The University of Minnesota (2004). Roxanne teaches Intuitive Writing and The Healing Memoir at the Loft Literary Center; her private healing practice (Writing with Rox) offers integrative workshops, healing groups, Wild Woman writing retreats/groups, classes in creative expression (memoir/intuitive writing/therapy; drama therapy, adult play therapy), and more in a safe, supportive, and playful community. Through the creative process, individuals connect to their internal wisdom and discover what’s needed to live a more fully alive, present, meaningful, and spontaneous life. For up to date classes, workshops, and groups, healing work, visit writingwithrox.blogspot.com.

Craig Wilson started flying kites in 1983. Over the next several years he built copies of kites he saw in books and magazines. As his collection of kites grew so did his interest in the history and culture of kites. He travelled the world to participate in kite festival events. Aerial photography with his larger kites led to commercial applications but equally, provided unique views from the combination of his kites and cameras. Craig's aerial images are published in travel brochures and magazines such as Outside, Sail, Air and Space, Wisconsin Trails, Popular Photography, and Kiting.

His photos have been exhibited in galleries at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, the Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio, Air-Venture Museum in Oshkosh, and art museums in Japan, France, Belgium, and the U.S.

Craig's first book titled Hanging By A Thread has just been published.

Spark your children's imagination and creativity. Several times during the summer, MISA offers, Young Adult Classes ("YAC") ages 8 to 17. They will work with clay, paint, paper, papier-mâché, felt, film and more. Visual arts projects develop cooperation, teamwork and physical skills. Youth art education is an important building block for their future.