Conference Blow-out Extravaganza

The Inspired Design: Jacquard and Entrepreneurial Textiles conference finally burned itself out yesterday. The speakers were generally great. Andrew Wagner, the editor-in-chief of American Craft magazine gave a good talk on where he sees craft going in the future. Catherine Ellis described her Woven Shibori process. But the star, as far as I'm concerned, was Janis Jeffries (who you will see on the left side of the photograph). Janis is a professor at Goldsmiths, a prestigious art college in London. She's written several influential books in art theory, and she's smart as a whip. More than that, she's insightful, interesting, and funny as hell when you talk to her. When a speaker said something with which she disagreed, she'd shake her head and mutter from her seat. This was very personally satisfying for me, because I usually disagreed as well, but since there was no real dialouge here, we were all stuck muttering to ourselves.
Last night, a bunch of us went out for dinner and drinks. From Janis on the left, there's Bailey Salisbury, Tim Parry-Williams, Carole Lung, and Christy Matson. I can't tell you how talented these people are nor what an honor it was to be included in their company. Most interestingly, they all seem to think that I am AWESOME. This conference has been an ego boost to the nth degree. I'm starting to think that maybe I'm a real artist.
So take THAT, Kevin and Julie. Are you a leading expert in YOUR field? Because apparently I am. Sibling rivalry done and done. Thanks for coming out, try again next year.