Alegre Retreat 2024 Teachers
Katie Pasquini Masopust is our master of ceremonies and has gone to great lengths to line up a fabulous team of instructors who will offer a rich variety of courses for the 2024 Alegre Retreat.
- Sue Benner
- Susan Carlson
- Cat Larrea
- Katie Pasquini Masopust
Sue Benner:
While pursuing a degree in molecular biology and masters in biomedical illustration, Sue Benner created her vision of the microscopic universe in painted and quilted textile constructions. Her early work propelled her to become a studio artist in 1980, working primarily in the medium which laterbecame known as the Art Quilt.
Susan Carlson: Susan has been a major influence in fabric collage quilting for the past 3 decades. Both her works of art and her teaching have moved fabric collage and figurative quilting forward, doing her part in the big world of Art Quilts. Special exhibits of her work have been shown at both the International Quilt Festival-Houston and AQS-Paducah. Her weekly blog posts have educated and entertained readers for over seven years and can be found at susancarlson.com/blog.
Cat Larrea: With a degree in Ecology and Systematic Biology, she also has an eclectic science background, having worked twenty-five years as a geophysicist followed by a position managing technical computing systems for a large oil company. Her passion for science and nature strongly informs her artwork, and her imagery often begins from her own photography. Her artistic endeavors strive to simplify views of the natural world while conveying a singular sense of place and mood. Her more recent work leverages techniques of dye painting to bring an illusion of depth to simple landscapes. Cat’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally.
For 40+ years Katie Pasquini Masopust has produced high quality contemporary art quilts that have been coveted and collected by a broad range of admirers. From her early beginnings as a painter dabbling in traditional quilt making, her work has evolved from structured Mandalas and mind-blowing dimensional pieces to very painterly landscapes executed with the finest fabrics and most creative stitching techniques. Katieʼs easy, energetic manner has made her a very popular teacher and lecturer. When not in residence at her studio in California she travels the world presenting her contemporary quilting theories and techniques to classes; not only in North America, but in Europe, the Far East, Australia and New Zealand. Awards and accolades have been numerous for Katie, culminating with her 2005 induction into a very select group of art quilt professionals who have earned the Silver Star Award presented by Houston Quilt Festival. A prolific author, Katie shares her enthusiasm for the art of creative quilting through her numerous books, her many classes, and now as executive director of Alegre Retreat held at Gateway Canyons Resort in Colorado – a destination resort for quilting enthusiasts and fiber artists.