#fibrearts

Creative work is work. Just ask Fern Facette, a stalwart advocate for the accessibility of textile arts and the opportunity to make a fair wage teaching them. An enormously talented artist herself, Facette knows first-hand the value of mentorship, opportunity, and community. In fact, they’re three of the reasons she founded Fern’s School of Textile Craft. Committed to putting a modern spin on traditional textiles, Facette and her team offer workshops including weaving, rug hooking, punch needle, sashiko, indigo, eco printing, and much, much more. Just as impressively on offer are all the things Facette knows are vital to community: inclusivity, compassion, and the long-standing tradition of sharing knowledge. This week’s “I Am YEG Arts” story belongs to Fern Facette.

Tell us about your connection to Edmonton and YEG arts.

I moved to Edmonton from LA (Leduc, Alberta ; ) ) during high school. In 2012, I signed up to sell weavings at the Royal Bison Art & Craft Fair, and that’s where I started connecting with Edmonton’s art community. Weaving is a very solitary practice, so it was exciting to be surrounded by other creatives.

What led you to fibre arts? And what was it about the community that made you feel like you belonged?

In high school I signed up for a crochet class and loved that meditative space you enter when deep into a project. That led to knitting, needle work and—eventually—weaving. Honestly, I mostly didn’t feel like I belonged in the fibre community! I was usually surrounded by women who were much older and pretty conservative. Only recently have I felt like I belonged, as the community has grown in size and inclusivity.

What’s the first thing you ever made that inspired your career path?

I couldn’t pin it to one specific object, there were so many! But that first Royal Bison really lit a fire in me. The pressure to fill a table with handmade items is good motivation!

Tell us about how Fern’s School of Craft came to be and what it brings to the YEG arts scene.

People repeatedly asked me if I taught weaving classes, so I decided to give it a try. I rented a small studio space and bought four used looms off Kijiji. Over five years, in true slow DIY Edmonton fashion, we grew to have 20 instructors offering various textile-based workshops. I think what Fern’s brings to the scene is an opportunity to make a fair wage from teaching and the opportunity to dive into an otherwise obscure craft.

What’s one thing you’d like to “un-teach” people about weaving or fabric arts in general?

I’d like people not to think of textiles as just something cute that your grandma does. Yes, that, but also know that making textiles is an ancient art that spans every culture across the planet—that textiles were once the most valuable commodity that shaped history on so many levels.

Tell us about someone who’s been a mentor to you.

I am lucky to have two mentors, Cec Caswell and Kathy Buse. Both have shown great generosity teaching me their respective crafts (rug hooking and weaving). Every craft has small tricks and techniques, they’ve given me so many of these, and I pass them on in every single workshop.

Who’s someone inspiring you right now?

Spray-paint graffiti muralist AJA Louden. He’s doing a tufting artist residency at Fern’s, and it’s been super inspiring to witness. He works hard and has fascinating storylines/themes he’s exploring. He came in not knowing a tonne about tufting, and after a month-and-a-half, the student became the teacher. Also very awesome how community outreach is a big part of his work.

What are you currently working on or hoping to explore next?

Over the past five years my family has been navigating a history of adoption, reunion, and discovery. I hope to work that into my textile practice.

What makes you hopeful these days?

The younger generation is what makes me hopeful these days. I hope they can continue to steer us away from rigid, binary thinking and towards a more compassionate and sustainable future.

You visit Edmonton 20 years from now. What do you hope has changed? What do you hope has stayed the same?

See above answer for what I hope has changed! What I hope has stayed the same is that grit and warmth that Edmontonians exude.

Want more YEG Arts Stories? We’ll be sharing them here all year and on social media using the hashtag #IamYegArts. Follow along! Click here to learn more about Fern Facette, Fern’s School of Textile Craft, upcoming workshops, and much more.

About Fern Facette

Jessica Fern Facette (Fern, she/her) is an Amiskwaciy Waskahikan (Edmonton) based fibre artist who has been weaving for nearly two decades. She is a passionately engaged artist who encourages others to discover textiles. She founded Fern’s School of Textile Craft in 2017, a place where fibre artists from across Canada meet to carry on the long tradition of sharing skills and knowledge. Fern is a stalwart advocate for the accessibility of textile arts and has created many opportunities for folks to explore textiles through years of volunteering, mentoring and—most recently—an in-studio textile residency.

Working within the confines of a four-shaft floor loom, Fern’s own weaving is an exploration of the infinite possibilities of the over/under grid-like woven structure. Boxes and lines of various sizes create repetitive designs, accompanied by use of colour and texture. Natural fibres dictate the objects’ function, from wool cushion to sturdy cotton/linen kitchen towels. Her woven objects are a nod to weavers past and a study on the human relationship to the long-lasting handmade object.