Welcome to my web site...I'm Willow the Wireweaver.

I'm originally from San Diego, lived in Hawaii two years, then moved to Santa Fe in 1988 after four summers with their Opera. I'm an avid skiier and love to travel to exotic foreign locales. I also make an entirely separate line

of mixed-media collage named "junk mail" which will someday be on the

internet.

People ask how and why I began to crochet wire. I suppose it began with a youthful interest in the arts and the freedom and means to experiment with many mediums. I completed a BA degree in Art: Metals ('77) from San Diego State University. Then, for many years I worked with leaded glass. I returned to SDSU to earn an MFA in Theater: Costume Design ('85) where I became a dye master. During my last semester I studied "Textile Techniques in Metal" with Arline Fisch (she has a book by that name).

Though I'd never tried needle arts, I really enjoyed them with wire, loving the flexibility and formative quality of woven metal. I was challenged by crochet, but once I "got it," experiments flew off my hooks and needles. People bought my work, a career changed, and I couldn't stop. The portable nature of this craft allows for proliferation and I've been found crocheting in some very unusual places. Crochet/knitters know the addictive, meditative introspection inherent in this work, it has centered me through changes, and provided a living.

I work with gold, silver, steel, brass and copper; each metal has unique tensile properties that affect design. The majority of my work is in the thinner, color-coated copper made for electronic use. Difficult to obtain, its softer nature is ideal for more intricate work, is lower in cost, and the huge array of colors I've acquired mix to create new ones. The use of beads is an important element in my work, adding color, texture and light. My designs vary by technique, but range from period styles such as Victorian, Renaissance & Gothic, to organic floral forms, to high tech sleek & flexible

tubular items.

There are a few select galleries carrying my work. But (since '88) I mainly sell/show my craft at juried art fairs around the western states. I do between 15 and 20 shows annually, occasionally winning awards. Though sales have directed my work, new experimental pieces are always envisioned, inspired by my background in jewelry and costume.