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Kathy Dinsmore

Specialty: Fiber

I was an experienced seamstress when I met weaving for the first time. This meeting opened up a new realm of possibilities in the creation of unique fabrics for the clothing I made. My love of watercolor painting led me to experiment with hand dyeing. My concentration is in creating clothing for women and men. I design and weave my own yardage and tailor the yardage myself. My designs are all original or my own adaptations of traditional garment shapes. I weave my work on a four harness floor loom utilizing mostly natural fiber yarns such a cotton, wool, and silk. I employ hand dyeing at some point in nearly all of my work, either dyeing the warp once it is measured, the weft yarn, or the finished yardage depending on the finished appearance I want. Nature supplies me with endless color possibilities. I continue to be inspired to experiment with the interplay of color, texture, and weave structure in my evolving work.

Kathy’s Biography

Kathy was raised in a small town in Berks County, Pennsylvania, and has always been involved with doing traditional fiber crafts – learning at an early age to knit, crochet, embroider, and sew. She attended the Indiana University of Pennsylvania where majoring in Art Education. It was there that Kathy learned the basics of weaving. Her interest in weaving continued and she acquired her first loom not long after graduationg college. Kathy started to weave professionally in the late 1980’s but personal issues in her life took her away from the field for about 10 years. Kathy is also heavily involved with community theater; performing, directing, designing sets, and building costumes. Much of her life is spent in creation and artistic pursuits, and so she decided to step back into the challenging world of creating fine craft as a living. Kathy started The Wandering Vine in late 2002. Her studio is located in my home and she is a full-time professional weaver. Kathy’s work can be seen at various fine craft shows and fiber festivals throughout Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, and Ohio. She has won numerous awards for her work, including artistic excellence at the Three Rivers Arts Festival in Pittsburgh, PA, Best Craft in Show at the Quaker Arts Festival in Orchard Park, NY, and Best Fiber at the New Hope Arts and Crafts Festival in New Hope, PA. Kathy is a member of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen and was awarded master craftsman status in that organization in April, 2006.