Amanda Rataj is an artist , weaver, and arts educator based in Hamilton, Ontario with a BFA from the Ontario College of Art and Design University. Her craft practice is based in an exploration of materiality, vernacular textiles, and the ways in which we activate our surroundings and ideas of self through craft objects.
For commission requests, questions about my weaving patterns, or anything else,
please contact me by email at amandarataj (a t) gmail (d o t) com
Recent exhibitions include Generation, Craft Ontario Gallery (2023), Mass Wasting, Craft Ontario Gallery (2020), Craft ’19, Craft Ontario Gallery (2019), Crosscurrents: Canada in the Making, The Textile Museum of Canada (2018/19), and Nothing is Newer Than Tradition, the Art Gallery of Burlington (2017).
I’ve also given artist lectures, including: Conscious Consumption: Focus on Local Linen at the Textile Museum of Canada (2018), at the Ontario Handweavers and Spinners Central Regional Seminar (2018), and Ideas Forum: Living Well, Toronto (2017).
If you’d like to learn more about my practice, there are a few online profiles on my practice including: Workshop Magazine (2021), Warp and Weft’s Field Notes series (2020), A Butterfly in my Hair (2020), and The Gathered Gallery (2017).
I teach private and group weaving lessons on a range of topics, from beginner rigid heddle to floor loom weaving. If you’d like to learn more about your loom and how to weave, please be in touch. I also run regular group and private workshops on weaving and knitwear repair at Handknit Yarn Studio in Hamilton, ON.
My textile design work is available as downloadable PDF patterns for home weavers to use – you can purchase them through my web shop. You can find the free Tidal Towels, and Squarish Rug patterns on the Gist Yarn and Fiber websites, where I also write a monthly series of How To articles on their blog – join me there for great weaving tips and tricks!