I've always loved working with color and fabrics. I grew up in Washington, DC. and, as a child, I learned to sew from my grandparents and wove Popsicle stick rafts and dozens of potholders. I began designing and sewing my own clothing as a teenager, and when I moved to San Francisco in 1969 I made custom clothing for clients, and experimented with embroidery and patchwork. On a trip to Guatemala in 1974, I learned to weave on a backstrap loom from Lucia DeLeon Queche in Panajachel. My commitment to weaving solidified on my return to San Francisco, where I bought my first floor loom and studied 4-harness weaving with Anne Wilson at the DeYoung Museum School. At the DeYoung school I met fiber artist Rebecca Lyon who taught me to spin and dye yarns, shared her store-front studio in the Haight Ashbury, and became my mentor.

Weaving wool fabric in my studio

In 1977, the year my son was born, I moved north to Sebastopol, California. From 1979 to 1983 I worked for Greentree Weaving, a small, handwoven clothing business in Cotati, and learned all aspects of production weaving, ultimately designing color schemes and managing production. When I left Greentree in 1983, I formed my own company, Abby Bard Designs, specializing in handwoven cotton fabrics for interior design and selling the fabrics in showrooms around the country. In 1988 I scaled back production and returned to weaving clothing, particularly wool capes and hats and the rayon chenille scarves which are the foundation of my current line. My weaving studio is at my home in Sebastopol where I see clients by appointment. The studio is open to the public for two weekends each October for ARTRAILS, an annual open studio tour sponsored by the Arts Council of Sonoma County. An online catalog is available at www.artrails.org.

When I'm not weaving, I'm most likely in my garden, a constant source of inspiration for my work. I'm also a certified massage therapist and facilitate workshops in Traditional Thai Massage for the East West Massage School. More information about Thai Massage is available online at www.eastwestmassageschool.com. And I am the proud mother of Joe Bard, an accomplished metal sculptor -- please view his work at www.pyrokinetics.com.