2016 New Members on TAFA, July-September: Australia, Bahrain, Tajikistan, and more!
TAFA’s membership is currently at 574, (representing 46 countries!) with a core focus on studio artists from around the world. But, we also welcome other organizations, retailers, galleries, museums, schools, and any business working with handmade textiles and fiber art. We do have a selection process, looking for quality, a professional presentation, and we have a bias towards those whose work contribute to making the world a better place (eco-products, recycled, small fiber farms and so on).
If you are interested in joining TAFA, find information on our Membership Page. As you can see from this feature, we are diverse! Visit our Member Directory for an alphabetical list or TAFA Members for a visual portfolio of the profiles. It changes daily, so check back often for new inspiration!
Click on the titles or images to visit the profiles.
There you will find each member’s links and more information about what they do.
Aya Fiber Studio
Suzanne Connors is a fiber artist living in Stuart, Florida. She runs the Aya Fiber Studio, a working and teaching studio on the Stuart waterfront where she practices traditional Japanese shibori using indigo as her dye. She brings in visiting instructors to teach other techniques and has created a vibrant and active community participating in her projects.
Jill Ffrench – Fantails and Feet
Jill Ffrench of Fantails and Feet is a bird builder and textile artist from Melbourne, Australia. Committed to using only natural or biodegradable materials she makes exotic birds from pure wool felt, wire and wax. Peacocks, hummingbirds, herons, and winged themes are favorites.
Meryl Ruth
Meryl Ruth has won 3 Niche Awards in the teapot category. She is a ceramic and textile artist who uses both techniques to inform each other. Meryl uses silk screening and other processes in her fiber art. She lives in Maine, USA.

Meryl Ruth Designer: Teabag – hand-sewn fiber teapot – airbrushed fiber paint – polymer clay hardware, Maine, USA
Melanie Shovelski
Melanie Shovelski is a felt artist living in Cheyenne, Wyoming. She is very involved with the local art community, teaches workshops, and hopes to help develop a larger fiber art community in the region. She focuses on smaller wall art and tends to use a colorful palette influenced by her love for all that is Bohemian.
Julie Pishny Textiles
Julie Pishny Textiles has evolved from a love for crochet, embroidery, knitting, and sewing to dyeing and printing natural fibers with plants. Julie uses wildflowers, vines, grasses, leaves, nuts, berries & roots to naturally dye and embellish her canvases, garments, accessories and yarn.
Michele Hardy
Michele Hardy lives in Colorado, USA, and her background in geology and geophysics, along with an active outdoor lifestyle in the mountains along with travels in the American West are sources of constant inspiration for her color driven work. Using a range of surface design techniques, she paints, prints, embroiders and manipulates her textiles until the layers of applications come together as a whole.
Robin McCarthy
Los Angeles textile artist, Robin McCarthy, has sewn since childhood, taught by her mother to make doll clothes and to read patterns. That led to an eventual career in fashion design which lasted for twenty years. Graphic design and embroidered photo collages currently capture her imagination and story lines. Robin’s embroidery uses photographic images that she prints on to fabric and then accents or transforms with stitching.
HoonArts Fair Trade
HoonArts is your Fair Trade access to extraordinary hand-crafted gifts and accessories from Tajikistan and other Central Asian Silk Road countries. Rikki Quintana of Albuquerque, New Mexico (USA) works directly with artisan communities, selling their garments, home decor and gifts online. Her efforts provide much needed income to these talented people.
Giuse Maggi
Originally from Italy, Giuse Maggi has lived in the Middle East for many years with the Kingdom of Bahrain as her current home. She has worked with many different media, including ceramics and glass, but has found a passion for recycling and now incorporates plastic and other waste in many of her works. Giuse also enjoys using natural materials found locally. She runs an art studio where she teaches and is available for workshops.

Giuse Maggi- Giuse Maggi-Mental Vacation-glass beads-woven textile, Mental Vacation-glass beads-woven textile, Kingdom of Bahrain
Profiles not up:
The following have not been listed yet. We are still waiting for their info and hope they will be up soon. You can check our Member Directory to see if they have been added or use the search on the site (magnifying lens at the top of the page).
Red-Dog Enterprises

Red-Dog Enterprises, A Cruel Twist of Fate, New York
Sandra Caceres Simons

Sandra Caceres Simons, Argentina
Textile Fusion

Suzann Thompson – Textile Fusion – Mama Lion, Texas
Felted Fantasies

Felted Fantasies Horse Purse, Washington
Karen Betty Tobias

Karen Betty Tobias Art Doll, Germany
About Rachel Biel
We love hearing from our community!