A third-generation fiber artist, Althea Bilodeau Lamb expresses her love of fashion and color through textile creation and design.  Each of her one-of-a-kind garments and accessories is sculpted from her own hand-dyed materials including fine merino wool, silk, and other local and exotic natural fibers, employing an ancient non-woven fabric-making process called felting. From classic outerwear to striking scarves, shawls, and bags, each of Althea’s pieces is carefully created in her Vermont home studio.

The sixth of seven children, Althea was raised on a self-sufficient farm in Upstate New York. Her father, Thomas Scannell, was a WWII bomber pilot, landscape artist, and lifelong coronet player in a riverboat jazz band. Her mother, Gloria Scannell, a well-known spinner and weaver in the Albany area, raised prize-winning fiber sheep whose fleeces were often found in boiling dye pots filled with black walnut shells or onion skins, Althea’s natural draw to color and fabric was nurtured as a child. A young student of sewing and weaving, she pursued her interest in fashion through modeling, and studies in costume and fashion design and construction. 

In 2009 Althea received a commission from American Fashion Designer, Chris Benz, to hand dye silk charmeuse fabric from which he created three stunning dresses and separates for his Fall 2010 fashion show in New York City. Their collaboration was so successful that Chris next introduced Althea’s unique felt as a striking frontal feature on a beautiful silk blouse in Fall 2011. For the following Resort 2012 collection, he went on to showcase Althea’s work in a jacket and a coat created entirely of her felt.  The jacket was included on the Chris Benz rack at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City.

Background and Training:

- Studied costume design at State University of New York at Albany.

- Studied pattern making at Parsons The New School for Design, New York, New York.

- Student of international feltmaking and surface design instructors (in chronological order): Beth Beede (USA), Sharon Costello (USA), Polly Sterling (Australia), Jorie Johnson (Japan), Jeannette Sendler (Germany), Jenny MacKay (England), Myfanwy Stirling (Australia), Inge Bauer (Germany), Liz Clay (England), Karoliina Arvilommi and Rod Welch (Finland), Chad Alice Hagan (USA), and Elin Noble (USA).

Exhibitions:

2022 - ‘Common Threads’ - Brandon Artists Guild, Brandon, VT

2014 – ‘Silk and Stone’ – Chaffee Downtown Art Center, Rutland, VT

2013 - Two-Person Exhibition - Brandon Artists Guild, Brandon, VT

2013 – ‘The Art of Practice’ – Chaffee Downtown Art Center, Rutland, VT, North Chittenden Women’s Art Collective Group Exhibition

2012 – ‘White on White with Touches of Color’ - Jackson Gallery, Town Hall Theatre, Middlebury, VT, North Chittenden Women’s Art Collective Group Exhibition

2011 – ‘Creation Myths’ - LARAC Lapham Gallery, Glens Falls, NY, Northeast Feltmakers Guild Group Exhibition

2010 – ‘Good, Good, Good, Good Fibrations: The Fiber Art Show’ - T. W. Wood Gallery & Arts Center Group Show, Montpelier, VT

2008 - 2009 ‘What's Out Is In’ Traveling Exhibition - LARAC Lapham Gallery, Glens Falls, NY and Artworks!, New Bedford, MA, Northeast Feltmakers Guild Group Exhibition

2008 – ‘Fabulous Fabric Art’ - Two-Person Exhibition - Brandon Artists Guild, Brandon, VT

2004 – ‘Fabulous Felt’ –Athens Cultural Center, Athens, NY, Northeast Feltmakers Guild Group Exhibition

Associations and Galleries:

Brandon Artists Guild – Brandon, VT – President since May 2024, Juried Exhibiting Member since 2006

Northeast Feltmakers Guild – Co-President 2010 - 2013, Secretary 2004 - 2006, Active Member and Vermont State Representative since 2003.

Edgewater Gallery – Middlebury, VT, 2010 - 2013

North Chittenden Women’s Art Collective – Founding Member, 2009 - 2013

Vermont Hand Crafters – Juried Exhibiting Member

Surface Design Association Member

Festival:

New York State Sheep and Wool Festival, Rhinebeck, NY

Residencies and Teaching:           

Artists Residency - Vermont Artists Week – Vermont Studio Center, Johnson VT, 2013

SOAR (Success through Opportunity, Academics and Recreation) After-school Program - 2007–2009 – felting instruction.

Adult and Youth Workshops - private and group – felting and surface design instruction since 2005