Kristin Osborn is first 2014 ‘Artist in Residence’

By Emily Sorensen

The Old Poway Park Artist in Residence program is changing things up for its fourth year, splitting the duties between two talented artists.

In previous years, the Artist in Residence program had a single artist from the Poway Arts and Crafts Guild spending three months showing off their skills in the Porter House’s Rose Room in Old Poway Park. This year, the three months will be split by two artists, fiber artist Kristin Osborn and gourd and collage artist Kellie Delp, who will take over in mid-February. Osborn will be in the artist’s studio 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays through Feb. 16.

The change was mostly made for scheduling reasons, but guild founding member, and last year’s Artist in Residence, Valerie Ann Bailey said it has had some positive side effects. “[Having two Artists in Residence] allows for a little more variety,” said Bailey. “Three months is a long time for people to commit. This way, we can get more people to do [the Artist in Residence program].”

“I’m very excited about the Artist in Residence program,” said Osborn. “I wanted to do it the first year, but I wasn’t able to make the [three-month] weekend commitment.”

Osborn began selling her fiber arts handiworks at the Boardwalk Craft Market in 2006, and joined the Poway Arts and Crafts Guild in 2009.

As a fiber artist, Osborn works with all the aspects of fiber, from washing and carding the wool, to spinning it, to weaving and knitting. She even uses wool from her own five sheep she keeps at her Ramona home. “I’m kind of a wool connoisseur,” said Osborn.

A former Poway resident who moved to Ramona with her family for more space, Osborn has been a fiber artist since childhood. “It started with my mom, who weaved when I was small. I started helping her weave when I was 8,” she said. Osborn and her mother began learning how to spin wool together when Osborn was about 9 or 10. “My father repaired spinning wheels and went to the local historical farm and fixed their spinning wheel,” she said. “After that, I would ride my bike over and do spinning demonstrations.”

At the artist studio, Osborn keeps examples of all the fiber arts aspects for the public to see. “I have the loom set up, I have wool cards and the carding machine,” said Osborn. Her goal for her time as artist in residence is to teach people about the fiber arts. “I’d love it to be educational, and show all parts of the wool process, and all the possible projects.”

Osborn also has a small table of her work available for purchase.

“She’s having a ball down there,” said Bailey of Osborn’s time as artist in residence. “She’s been totally surprised at the interest from the public and the questions people are asking.”

Osborn said she’s been demonstrating weaving, but might switch to showing how the carding machine works in the upcoming weekend.

Old Poway Park is located at 14134 Midland Road. For more information on the program and the artists, call the Poway Arts and Crafts Guild at 858-486-3497.