Lisa Litchenfels Workshop - July 7 through 11, 2014

On July 7th through July 11th, the Phoebes attended a workshop led by world-famous figurative artist Lisa Litchenfels. Lisa is a master of cloth sculpture and her works have been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world. Many celebrities and famous people own pieces of her work. We could hardly believe she was actually flying from her home in Massachusetts to spend a week with us. Our excitement and anticipation turned into awe and admiration once the class began.

Lisa proved to not only be a kind and giving person—she also proved herself to be an amazing teacher—sharing a wealth of techniques and knowledge developed and learned during her years of exploring and mastering a medium that had previously been a pretty much unexplored one. She was so patient with each of us, giving anyone who needed it, her undivided attention and personal assistance. An additional treat was hearing her amazing stories about her life and artistic journey. Her mission in life is now to share all the knowledge she gained in sculpting cloth figures with those taking her workshops. We will all be eternally grateful to Lisa for agreeing to travel to California to be with us, and to Stephanie, our Workshop Chairman, for making all the necessary arrangements.



 Lisa is shown demonstrating her techniques to very attentive students. This class is the first in her series of classes. It is designed to teach the basic techniques necessary to learn before going on to sculpt more realistic figures. We all worked very intently to sculpt fragile sheer nylon knit by using a very tiny curved beading needle and almost invisible nylon filament thread. It was a new learning curve for most of us.


 The figures created in this 5-day workshop were all amazing. While most of us struggled to create and clothe one doll, Daisy outdid us all by creating TWO! Her dear little old couple are darlings!

While some didn't get the clothes on before photo time, you can see the voluptuous forms that were hiding under those that were dressed.

Each doll came out so totally different and original. Just shows how
very creative the Phoebes are. Everyone in the class should be so proud of their work.

Absolutely an unforgettable week in our lives. Lisa has agreed to return in July of 2015 to lead another workshop in more advanced techniques. We can't wait!