We had an amazing time in the July retreat at CSU Mountain Campus. What a group! We laughed, learned from each other, shared ideas, hiked some trails, watched the hummingbirds, looked for moose (no luck), searched out flowers, watched the clouds, and saw the brilliant stars.
Here is a bit of a photo essay from the week.
CSU Mountain Campus, Blue Spruce cabin with the Mummy Range behind it
Donna was a woman after my own heart with these gradations. Isn't the pick and pick wonderful?
Kathy was using an artist's box easel to hold her Hokett loom. It worked very well! Her tiny mountain scenes were enchanting.
CSU Mountain Campus, "Far" cabin on the Valley Loop Trail
I was thrilled with the variety of ideas and expressions that came from the retreat. The subjects for interpretation were widely varied and the joy was evident all around.
Carole had a couple looms going at once (a 6-dent and an 8 dent Hokett). She finished a wide array of scenes from the mountain, all beautiful and varied.
Jon found this wonderful rock on a walk and wove this interpretation of it in just a few hours on a Hokett loom at 6 epi.
Hotchkiss Lodge, CSU Mountain Campus with reflection of Mummy Range
Kathy wove these wonderful mountain scenes. These are, I believe, woven at 12 epi so they are less than 2 inches wide.
Someone (ahem) forgot to add marshmallows to her shopping list and the campus store didn't have any. But apparently the thing among the kids is to roast Starburst. I was game, so a few of us tried this molten candy treat. It does make you wonder a little bit what is really in those things! Carol was a pro and she definitely made the best desert. Apparently a lemon Starburst, roasted on the fire, and sandwiched between two Vanilla Wafers is quite a good snack!
Carol was game for the Starburst roasting
Liz wove a piece each day on the same loom. She wanted to respond to the environment and day one at the bottom was about clouds, the center one was woven after a long hike to Emmaline Lake when she was tired so she included the exposed warps in her interpretation of a tree to reflect that, and day 3 was about all the old burned trees around campus. She was thinking about the glossy black wood and reflecting that with a couple different fibers--both cotton and wool--which reflected the light differently (unfortunately difficult to see in this photo).
Victoria said she "came to play" and she did! The piece on the right she did first which was her homage to a favorite artist, Diebenkorn where she used a sett change and was interpreting the sky and clouds. The one to the left she wanted to try a wider sett. It was about the chipmunks that are everywhere here and is called "I've got your back".
CSU Mountain Campus and the lovely creek flowing through it with the Mummy Range behind. This water becomes the raging Poudre River far down canyon.
Yarn by Weaver's Bazaar. Yes, they are in the UK but shipping of their yarn to the USA is remarkably inexpensive considering the ocean in between. This yarn is wonderful for this kind of weaving on little looms.
This group hiked up to Denny's Point on Monday.
Group walk to Denny's Point started on this bridge over the creek.
Get a group of artists together, and they'll find something interesting like shadows in the creek. They'll also goof off when prompted for a photo.
Proof that we made it to Denny's Point! This is myself, Donna, Beth, Carol, Victoria, Kathy, and Carole.
“The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.”
Hummingbirds love the high mountains of Colorado. There are masses of broad-tailed hummingbirds on campus shopping at the huge feeders. If you stand still, one might land on a branch a few feet from your face.
Ercil brought some incredible Peruvian warp-faced weaving and Nilda Alvarez's book along to show the group. You can find out more about these weavers on the Andean Textile Arts Facebook page HERE.
Bev wove these abstracts stating that she "came to play". She also came to hike as she, Liz, and Sue made it up to Emmaline Lakes on Monday, a mighty tough pull. Her sketch of rocks on the left she felt ended up looking more like mountains. The pieces on the right were from a cabin view and watching the light on the diagonal roof from the lodge.
Sue spent some time playing with this marvelous variegated yarn and the different looks that are obtained with different kinds of yarns. These were all singles yarns and a lot of work was done trying to find the right color for that top corner that maintained the look of the singles. The plied yarns I had weren't right texture-wise, so she stuck with the single she had. She did further experimentation with a wonderful novelty yarn. I can't wait to see how that one turns out.
As seen in my cabin one morning... my Hepty spindle by Henry Edwards and my new yarn Snippits cup from Donna Wynn. Thanks Donna! One always needs a little place to put the yarn bits. It makes one's partner happy when they aren't always picking them up off the rug.
Beth wove this marvelous aspen leaf. I loved seeing her process of sketching and working with the colors with pen and ink and watercolor as well as noting the Weaver's Bazaar yarns on a card. This was woven with two strands 18/2 Weaver's Bazaar wool yarn at 12 epi on a 6-dent Hokett loom.
CSU Mountain Campus ropes course with Stormy Peaks behind. I will NOT be jumping from that platform to catch a swinging trapeze (nor will anyone in my group if I have anything to say about it!).
CSU Mountain Campus retreat, July 2017. The whole group left to right with me kneeling. Back row: Beverly, Liz, Beth, Susan, Kathy, Sue, Jon. Middle row: Carole, Donna, Ercil, Carol, Victoria. Not pictured: Laney.
As you might imagine, it isn't the easiest thing to get new keys for the cabin doors. It is important that conference attendees remember to return their keys when they leave. Guess who the culprit was who was three miles down the road and had to turn around to return these?