Dana Shaeffer
Dana lives quietly on the edge of town where she dyes her yarns and weaves. Her Swedish tapestry loom sits in her dining room where she can constantly evaluate works in progress and weave when time permits. Her designs start on the computer. Using her digital photos, she manipulates, combines, and alters images until the desired effect is achieved. These are printed in a small format under a grid that can be enlarged at the loom. Depending on the tapestry, woolen yarns or colorful rags are selected to achieve the needed hue. These are then woven into a warp with fingers and a needle, changing color (and needle) when the design dictates. The outcome may be a rag tapestry or a woolen one. Each beautiful in its own right. Other looms fill her home, ready to weave rugs or hand-painted runners.
Dana Shaeffer was a farm girl from small-town Iowa. Her father was a weaver, and she learned the craft at his side. She was educated in small Iowa universities, Grand View and Drake, and later Iowa State. She returned to Grand View College to teach in the art department and stayed for over twenty years.
Before retirement, Dana spent one summer demonstrating tapestry at the Folk Center and exploring Mountain View. That clinched it! She fell in love with the people and the area. For several years she continued to come to Mountain View to visit and sometimes teach Folk School. Then in 2007, she moved south, making Mountain View her permanent home.
“From birth we’re wrapped in cloth. It’s so familiar that we sometimes forget how beautiful fabrics can soften and enhance our surroundings and our lives. Please visit my home where I live with weaving on a daily basis. This craft is a part of my world that I enjoy sharing with others.”
