Whether I’m planning or planting, watering or weeding, making or mending, I get to do it all with folks who are as delighted as I am to be in respectful, reciprocal relationship with the earth. Being part of the EartHand Gleaners community is a joy.

Learn more about Sandra at sandravanderschaaf.ca or visit their Instagram @generouseyes

In all 3 of my art mediums and my involvement with EartHand Gleaners involves connecting to the land we live, work and play on. Learn more about Rita here.

Instagram @weavetoheal

Nicola works on the board remotely from her home in xwesam, on the sunshine coast. A long time member of Earthand Gleaners working with wool, sheep and everything textiles. She currently runs the research project at Maiwa Natural Dye Garden studying plants and dyes.

Christopher Hughes is a research assistant at SFU with a background in 3D animation, software development, circus performance, and a Japanese ceramic repair. He maintains an annual music event Composuary and is a developing poet.

Carla Frenkel is a maker, mother, designer, gardener and community builder. Formally trained in architecture, she spent over a decade working on affordable housing, urban design, and natural building. For 4 years she served as chair of the Strathcona Community Garden where she spearheads the wetland project to bolster biodiversity, manage stormwater, and create an urban sanctuary. A passionate cyclist, you can find her about town, swimming, foraging for dye mushrooms or snacks for her 2 fluffy fibre bunnies.

Chantelle chases dopamine, and that’s led to knitting, spinning, dabbling in natural dyes, a serious love for processing raw sheep fleeces, and slowly leaning into working with flax. She’s stoked that EartHand Gleaners offers a massive range of skill-buildling, knowledge sharing and access to materials for artists and makers. The conversations that sprout from these community gatherings are always like a warm cup of tea on a damp afternoon – good for the soul.

Camila Szefler is an illustrator and mixed media artist with a BFA from Emily Carr. She enjoys documenting the everyday, wherever that might be, in her small hand bound sketchbook with an attraction to drawing landscapes, patterns and plants through the lens of her direct environment and the natural world.

camilaszefler.com

Mand is a lover of all things textile, and politically identifies as a spinster. They are grateful to find community and co-conspirators through EartHand.  With a long time practice of spinning local and forged fibres, and newer to actual weaving, they have used the metaphors of spinning and weaving, to describe much of their life’s work for the past 2 decades. Mand brings together the physical act of textile making and the work of community care to create cloth pieces that aim to tell our stories.