Course Instructors of Markham Guild of Village Crafts

Christine Alexiou, A.O.C.A.

Christine is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art in Communication and Design. Her background includes many years spent working as an Art Director, Designer and Illustrator in the Educational Publishing field. This award winning multi-media artisan is currently exploring a life-long passion for textile and fibre art through art quilts, collage, fabric manipulation, painting, print-making and creative embroidery.

When she left the publishing industry, a natural outlet for her background and talents was teaching. Through teaching she feels that she is able to pass on to her students her love for all forms of visual creative expression.

Whether she is teaching art classes in drawing and painting or craft classes in fabric dying and printing, quilting, altered books, collage, fibre art and more, her philosophy is to always try to bring out the creative potential in her students. She freely shares her considerable knowledge with her students and always encourages them to think “outside the box” in order to develop their creativity.

Darlene McFetteridge  - Sewing Instructor for Kids / Adults 

Diane Randall

Diane is a retired High School math teacher. Throughout her childhood Diane learned to paint with oils, do various needlework, sew, do ceramics, and make jewelry from her mother. Her dream was to become an artist and learned a living at it. Diane's mother suggested that she first get a "back up" profession. Diane earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree with a a Math major from Concordia University (called Loyola at the time). She obtained her bachelor of Arts and her bachelor of Education from York University. In pursuit of her Master in Psychology of Learning, she also attended the University of British Columbia. While Diane had intended to be teaching Arts in High School, a shortage of Senior Math teachers at the time of hiring saw her place in the mathematics department. Diane continued to be involved in various crafts and while teaching in high school volunteered to design and organized the yearly Prom decoration. She has continued to learn new crafts and loves to design one of a kind jewelry for some of her clientele.

Gayle Fehr

Originally from Alberta, Gayle has been involved in creating and teaching arts and crafts in Markham for over 25 years, lately specializing in Calligraphy, paper arts and painting in various media.  She has taken numerous university, college and community courses in a variety of art forms. Gayle is a talented artist in many medium and part of the Markham Group of Artists showing her work regularly in the local community.  She enjoys teaching at the guild and helping to keep traditional arts alive.

Katarina Titov - Crochet, Knitting, Macramé Instructor

Klara Atzenwiler - Smocking, Teddy Bears, Silk Ribbon Embroidery Instructor

Mary Mullen

Mary Mullen was born in Dublin, Ireland and educated by the Loretto Nuns in Dublin. She learned to knit, sew and cook from an early age. Mary sewed for her children until that certain age, when they said No! more hand made clothes. In 1990, Mary wanted to learn traditional hand quilting and took her first quilting classes at the Markham Guild of Village Crafts. Although she loved hand piecing/quilting, the process was too slow for her speedy lifestyle. Mary started machine quilting and loved every minute. She has won many awards for her Quilts at the Guild and has displayed her work at York Heritage, and Region of York Quilt Shows. At the Guild Mary pursues her passion for quilting and is a popular teacher of all levels of quilting, from beginner - Quilting 101 to the advanced level Star Sampler, to Tumbling Blocks and Hollow Cubes. You can contact Mary at mary.leo@bell.net.

Peggy Kwan

Peggy Kwan began quilting ten years ago and has been an enthusiastic teacher at the Markham Guild of Village Crafts for the past four years. After learning the traditional quilting patterns and techniques, Peggy branched out quickly into designing her own quilts using her own methods. She loves colour, sees the possibilities of fabric differently, and brings the influences of her Chinese background into her work. Her personal favourite is three-dimensional, origami quilting, which she finds blends her east and west sensibilities in her quilts and wall hangings. Peggy looks for ideas in magazines, books calendars and pictures, but it is her interpretation of what she sees that makes her quilts unique. Quilting and teaching others to discover their art in quilting, is something she finds relaxing. Students in her classes are encouraged to be adventurous and to experiment by moving away from the colours and patterns they would normally select. Peggy can be contacted through her e-mail peggykwan@sympatico.ca

Wai Yu Leung - Pottery Instructor for Beginner and Advanced

Do you teach a Craft ?

Are you a talented individual who is interested in teaching?  Please contact the Guild for more information about joining our team. (905) 294-7421.