instructors
Michelle Agnew is an award-winning Canadian artist specializing in sculptural goldwork embroidery. With training from the Royal School of Needlework, Michelle’s work merges the ancient craft of goldwork with contemporary techniques, recontextualizing it within modern frameworks. Michelle is a Freeman of The Worshipful Company of Gold and Silvery Wyre Drawers
Stephanie Bonneau is a textile artist specialised in hand embroidery based in Cheshire. She has over 20 years experience collaborating for multinational design houses. She has led embroidery classes in renowned institutions. She is now sharing her time between teaching, designing new projects and artworks, working for Fashion Weeks, and private commissions for companies and clients.
Kathryn Drummond is a needlework designer and teacher from Winnipeg, Manitoba. She has a passion for learning new needlework disciplines and bringing their beauty to others through classes. She has been teaching her own designs for more than 20 years, including three years of intensive teaching at her own needlework shop. Kathryn also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Genetics from the University of Manitoba.
Karen Dudzinski has been designing since 1997, Karen’s designs incorporate a range of embroidery styles. Preferring to work on counted grounds, Karen’s publishing house, Textured Treasures, developed proprietary charts that have industry-leading clarity and ease of use. Particularly intrigued by texture, each new creation makes use of a range of layering, both of stitches and of fibre types.
Susan Furneaux is a lifelong artist, educator and craft consultant in Newfoundland and Labrador, specializing in natural dye and hand embroidery. She was recognized in 2024 for her lifelong commitment to sharing her skills with others through the Arts in Education award from Arts NL. Susan is currently an instructor at the College of the North Atlantic's Textile & Apparel Design program.
Julie Garcia is a Canadian fibre artist, creating fabric landscape art that combines painting, quilting and hand embroidery. Raised on the Prairies, her work is inspired by big skies, landscapes and the pursuit of creating paint-like artwork with fabric and thread. Julie studied Clothing & Textiles at the University of Manitoba.
Wendy Innes began her needlework journey at the young age of 7. Her early passion has evolved over the past 40 years, and she has won a number of awards and accolades. In 1996 she purchased a needlework store in Calgary, "In Stitches", which she owned and operated for over 10 years. She taught many classes in all forms of needlework, with a special passion for stumpwork.
Deborah Mitek is a needlework designer and teacher specializing in silk ribbon embroidery and surface stitching on both fabric and canvas. Learning embroidery and knitting at an early age gave her a lifelong passion for all things needlework. As a long- time member of EAC, NAN, ANG & EGA, she teaches at the national, regional, and local levels. Her work has been featured in both Needle Arts and Needle Pointers magazines. Deborah is also the owner of Island Stitchery & Studio, a retail needlework shop.
Rebecca Offredi is a UK based, multi-award winning International freelance Embroidery Artist and designer. Working within the disciplines of Fashion, Interiors and Textile Art, she trained and honed her craft at the Royal School of Needlework. Rebecca is also a passionate teacher, regularly teaching classes in her specialist field of Goldwork, Tambour, and Stumpwork embroidery.
Mike Parr is a textile artist and teacher with a lifelong passion for embroidery and history, and has over 40 years of experience in crewel and surface embroidery. Mike is known for his designs in stump work, gold work, and white work. He has been a contributor to Embroidery Canada, Needlearts, and Inspirations magazines, and he teaches frequently throughout North America.
Marian Preshing is a retired telecommunication representative of TELUS and lives in Edmonton. She has been a member of Edmonton Needlecraft Guild for 30 years. Marian has been studying Japanese embroidery since 2000 and teaching Japanese embroidery in Canada since 2013. Marian is a certified instructor of Traditional Japanese silk embroidery from The Japanese Embroidery Centre in Atlanta, GA.
Kathleen Laurel Sage is a British textile artist, embroiderer, author and designer specialising in traditional goldwork techniques, hand embroidery and machine embroidery using contemporary/mixed-media approaches. A graduate of the City & Guilds of London Art School with a diploma in textiles, she successfully creates kits, leads workshops, and innovates her craft with a modern approach.
Lorene Salt is an award-winning stitcher. She is a graduate of Ryerson Polytechnical University in the Fashion Merchandising and Design program. She is also an avid beader and jewellery maker. She has completed the Basic, Intermediate and Advanced Canvaswork courses through EAC. Lorene enjoys watching a piece come alive through colour and texture. She lives in Aurora, Ontario and is a member of EAC, EGA, and ANG.
Naomi Smith is an award winning Artist, Maker and Educator from the Chippewas of Nawash First Nation in Neyaashiinigmiing, Ontario. She has for over 25 years shared traditional teachings with various communities and groups. Naomi’s artwork embraces ancestral designs using quillwork, beadwork and other indigenous methods and materials. She has exhibited her work across Canada and internationally.
Yvette Stanton, known as the Whitework Queen, is an independent needlework scholar. She specialises in counted embroidery, particularly whitework, and has written 11 embroidery books including three stitch dictionaries. Yvette is left-handed and loves teaching both left-and right-handed students. She lives in rural Australia.
María Clara Warschauer is a London-based embroidery artist specializing in goldwork and stumpwork. In 2025 she taught at the Embroiderers’ Guild of America National Seminar in Dallas, which sold out in advance, and on the International Teacher Tour, where most classes also reached capacity. She also teaches in person at the London Embroidery School and in her London studio.