“It has become my voice, my true vision. Through fiber I can express and create with ease.”

-Aisha Celia Formanski

Aisha grew up in the Upper Midwest within a community rich in the traditions of fine and applied arts but she found her true home when she discovered fiber art. The possibilities of the medium offered her the perfect fusion of what inspires her: nature, essence, color, tactility, design, experimentation, and a wonderful community full of fun and lively spinners, knitters, crochetiers, weavers and people who love to play and create.

Aisha’s whimsical spirit has led her in her artistic journey to realize her creativity and special talents. In 1999, exploring first the intricacies of beauty and developing manual dexterity, she studied jewelry design at the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts in San Francisco focusing on semi precious metals and gems. Later, with ample quantities self-confidence, spunk and sparkle, she started her first small business as a glass bead maker. Glass work taught her patience, attention to the finest of details, and comfort with temperamental materials. Throughout these years of artistic discovery, Aisha has worked for a well-known bead store in the Twin Cities called “The Bead Monkey” where she has taught classes and developed a strong set of skills in the art of linear creation and manipulation.

All the while Aisha has invested herself in developing and strengthening her community of family (her mother, maternal grandmother and great grandmother are/were fiber artists in their own right) friends, supporters, and people who love, push and encourage her (she is a member of the St. Paul Craft Mafia) including a wonderful group of girl friends, her loving boyfriend, and the intimate “knit” community of artists in Minnesota including farmers and their generous sheep!

When Aisha took her first class at the Textile Center in 2003 she was more than ready to leap into who she is today. She began touring the local craft shows and quickly fell in love with her surroundings. These days she devotes much of her time to spinning, dyeing, knitting, designing, and experimenting with a craft that promises to only improve and expand as she continues to travel along her journey to develop in fiber a signature all her own.