About the Instructors: Craft Center

Ruth Burnham
Ruth is the owner of "Forest House Fiberworks" through which she produces heirloom handspun and handknit garments and home accessories. Her spinning and knitting have been recognized by the Canterbury Guild of Weavers of New Zealand and the Mid-Atlantic Fiber Association. She has also served as a judge of handspinning for the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.

Brian Garthwaite
Brian is a self-taught, amateur cook and baker, and leader of the slow food convivium in the Central Susquehanna region. His understanding of and experience in cooking are informed by an engineering background and work experience in organic farming, as a farm chef, and as a professional coffee roaster.

Gretchen Heuges
Gretchen, the coordinator of the Bucknell Craft Center, received a B.F.A. in Painting from Tyler School of Art, and an M.S. in Art Education from Penn State. While at Tyler, she took classes in photography, ceramics, printmaking and sculpture. She has been working in clay and mosaic tile for the past eight years. Her commissions include installations in private residences and large scale mosaic murals in the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the Herr Memorial Library in Mifflinburg, PA.

Doug Hopkins
Doug is a professional ceramic artist and a graduate of Kansas City Art Institute. He earned his MFA in Ceramics and Painting from Penn State University. In addition to ceramics classes in throwing, tile-making and kiln-building, Doug has taught classes in drawing, painting, chair-caning, woodcarving, jewelry and sculpture.

Rachel Porter
Rachel is the graduate assistant in photography working under the tutelage of Tulu Bayar, Assistant Professor of Art. She has been teaching black and white photography techniques for the Craft Center for the past year.

Erica Richards
Erica graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology with a major in metalworking. She lives in Williamsport and shows her work at The Magpie in Lewisburg and Gifts of Art in Williamsport. She also shows at regional craft fairs in Corning, NY and State College, PA.

Debra Wilson
Debra has been a member of the Bucknell University Support Staff for the past 12 years. She has been associated with the Craft Center since the late 1970s. Debra is an enthusiast for the craft arts taking or teaching courses in basketweaving, stained glass, jewelry, and sewing.