Well, the news is full of the weather these days. El Niño is giving us all he’s got right now. Which makes my life complicated. I can only assume I am not the only person inconvenienced by El Niño. It is a good time to stay indoors and make things. But, not me, have been galavanting about.
On Saturday, July 8th, I went to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth to attend a demonstration of traditional backstrap weaving presented by, Concepción Poou Coy Tharin, a Guatemalan weaver who practices pikb'il. Here is a link an article about her work from Selvedge Magazine.
She weaves in the same way her grandmother taught her, on the simplest loom, with plain white cotton thread. Lovely, inlaid patterns developed as the weaving progressed.
I have attempted, in the past, to learn inlay techniques from a book and failed. But, once I saw how she moved the threads, the position of her fingers as she set the next pick, it all made sense. I went home and tried it on my current project. Mine in heavier yarn, but nevertheless, success for the first time! I was over the moon.
To get to the Kimbell, Sarita Westrup and I drove for over an hour in heavy traffic. I couldn’t just walk across the plaza of my community and ask an elder to show me how this weaving technique worked. We burned fossil fuels to go learn something new, and then we went to a Japanese restaurant with Pat Walters, who had met up with us at the Museum.
At the table, I reminisced with Pat about Japan. She has traveled and worked in the southern cities and I had been to the north to visit my daughter while she was teaching there from 2016 - 2019. During my visit, she surprised me with a visit to a wool mill run by a spinning guild in Shinjo, Yamagata. It was a delight to meet spinners and weavers who loved teaching as much as I did. We almost didn’t need a translator we were so happy get acquainted.
How did I get to that amazing experience? On a plane.
You may see where this is going.
Two days after the delightful time in Fort Worth, my Dear Spouse and I loaded our vehicle and drove to New Mexico where I am scheduled to teach a small workshop on the most elementary fiber art skill: making yarn on a hand-held spindle. The venue is New Mexico Fiber Arts Center in Española. I love that place, it is an Old School Weaving studio with lots of up-and-coming ideas. My friend, Glenna Dean, teaches there. And, I am delighted to meet some more fiber people this week!
But, part of me regrets the need to drive so far. Or to drive at all. What if we all lived near one another and could freely exchange ideas in person? Or do new ideas require travel and human interaction with strangers?
Many of my weaving and spinning students sign up for my classes because their desire to explore textile arts sent them to the internet and it resulted in nothing but frustration. I frequently encourage fiber art learners to find someone who can teach them in person, and to use the internet as a means of reviewing the ideas.
As I said above, inlay has always eluded me as a weaving technique. I understood how it was done, read about it in books, watched a video demo. Nevertheless, it was in-person contact, facilitated by a world class museum and the combustion engines, that helped me see how it actually works.
So, here is a toast to travel and learning with a new community! I just need to find a way to make good on my carbon footprint.
Community Craft Circle - Open Studio was a success.
The next one will be August 4th.
Look for more information soon.
I’m impressed that you went home and tried the weaving technique we saw. I’m learning an Estonian colorwork knitting technique that is effectively inlay. I took one class with Trudy and I’m doing an online class this weekend. We’ll need to compare.
The growth of online workshops through zoom, lessonface and other venues means we can study with teachers all of the world. Yes, there is no online experience (yet) like being in a country and experiencing the culture and food! live. I’ve been fortunate to travel to every continent except Antarctica and miss being able to.