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Welcome to your Happy Place!
My name is Anja Seehrich-Caldwell. I got introduced to the wonderful world of hand-work in elementary school in Germany, where I lived till 1997. My maternal grandfather was a gentlemen's tailor and owned a clothing store in Northern Germany. My paternal grandmother made her living as a master seamstress. My younger sister is a textile engineer and owns a sewing studio in Bavaria. After almost three decades of a busy professional career as an architect in Germany and the US, with a focus on sustainability and green (school) building, I opened my first handwork studio as a maker space for the public in Potomac in 2016. It was a 50th birthday present to myself, my "doily" reward for sticking it out as a working mom in a technical and still very male domain for so long. Due to the pandemic we moved to Bethesda (Carderock Springs), just off the DC Beltway, in the summer of 2020. Today, after many years of making and designing, I dare call myself a fiber artist, with lots of passion and patience for teaching beginners. In my studio we mix hygge and friendships with the traditional handwork techniques of knitting, crocheting, embroidery, sewing, felting, weaving ... - and much more. These fiber techniques and skills, usually mastered by the older generation, are at the verge of going extinct, and I have set out to change that! Slowing down and mindfulness is an art all by itself. These days that needs some practice and discipline, but is so very good for all of us. When it comes to kids' crafts I consider glue and glitter crafts the bad "G" words. I believe in teaching the "real deal", not a fast craft that lands in the trash. In my studio we make heirlooms and "grandparents charmers", and learn real skills. My best days are when I get a beginner hooked on a new to them fiber art - and we are able to combine traditional techniques with fresh, clever design ideas. Whatever handwork you want to explore - Come on in! I currently offer classes, private instruction, parties and camps and can hardly wait to meet you, and see what we can create together. Knit warmly, Anja S. Caldwell (aka "Miss Fiber Arts Lady") |
Read an article about the studio
by Danielle S. Tepper for Potomac Lifestyle Magazine - February 2018 here FiberArt.STUDIO
Anja Caldwell 7711 Glenmore Spring Way (in Carderock Springs) Bethesda, MD 20817 Phone 240.600.0170 |