Need a dye class?

I have had many students ask me lately when I am teaching in 2013. I have some classes in the works, not to mention the online class I'll be launching this year. It looks like I will be teaching in New Hampshire this summer for sure and probably somewhere in Colorado. I am still searching for a New Mexico venue if anyone has any requests...  Those dates will all get worked out in good time.

In the meantime, for those of you who have asked me about whether I teach dyeing, consider a class coming up very soon at Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Center. Cornelia Theimer Gardella weaves wonderful tapestries and is also a master dyer. She is teaching a dye class March 1-3 based on Itten's color star and incorporating a lot of color theory. I really recommend her if you want to start dyeing your own tapestry yarn. Sign up quickly! She doesn't take many students and March 1 is right around the corner. Look at this link on the EVFAC site with a description of the class and a great bio of Conni. And even if you don't want to take the class, click on the link because the tapestry pictured there is stunning.

Cornelia Theimer Gardella, Tomorrow II, 32 x 51 inches; hand-dyed wool tapestry

Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Center: Phone number is (505) 747-3577

An open letter to the Symbols of the Southwest EVFAC 2012 students...

Dear Symbols of the Southwest students,
You rock. You did an awesome job this week. Thanks for being my guinea pigs on this class. I have a pile of new ideas of how to make the class better thanks to you.
Despite being stuffed into a hot room with a thousand looms, not enough space, not enough Pepsi, too much noise from the fans, and too much La Cocina, we had a great time--at least I did!
Despite the exact colors you needed not being among the stash of yarn I brought (this is always the case no matter what), you made some beautiful things.

As always there wasn't enough time to practice design and weave a piece. Tapestry is such a slow practice that finishing anything in a workshop is a challenge. Next time this class will be three weeks long (just kidding--maybe one week). And despite my best intentions, I failed at forcing you to spend more time designing than weaving. I guess we all want to weave more than anything.

A special thank you to Mary Cost for allowing us to view and discuss her work.

And finally thanks to Leslie for being my pace car from Ojo Caliente to Antonito on the way home Sunday. You probably didn't know I was behind you, but it helps me drive better when I'm working out problems in my head to have someone driving a constant pace in front of me. I had some new tapestries to design and sometimes that happens while I'm driving.

And in case you didn't get enough suggestions of what to use for design, here is a symbol the Colorado contingent saw on their way home: Mt. Blanca. She is one of the four corners of the Navajo world, White Shell Mountain, the eastern boundary of Dinetah. I particularly respect this mountain from a climber's perspective. I used to live at the base near the "town" of Blanca at 8200 feet elevation. To climb to her summit at 14,345 feet is no walk in the park and people die on her just about every year (jeeps roll, they get lost, they get caught in avalanches, they fall down the scree slopes, they try to make it to Little Bear Peak despite lacking climbing skills... things happen.)

And don't forget to find your creative space... (I just hope it isn't as hot as this one was!)

Happy Weaving,
Rebecca

Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Center Video

Here is a nice YouTube video about Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Center: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okSmRksi5no&feature=player_embedded

I have been a member of EVFAC for many years now (a decade? I don't know!). Beth Orrell speaks about the center in this video as being a place for people to find out who they really are. She focuses some on people with disabilities and people who don't have job skills for the wider job market. As an occupational therapist this resonates with me strongly. But EVFAC also holds very advanced classes and has fiber artists of all levels teaching and learning there. The classes can be anything from a few hour exploration of something to a multi-day intensive with a world-renowned teacher. The Espanola valley is a beautiful place to visit, halfway between Santa Fe and Taos.

Watch the video. Consider a class at EVFAC.
(Also consider my class June 15-17 if you do tapestry! You knew that was coming, didn't you? We need a few more people to sign up for Symbols of the Southwest for the class to be successful.) Here is my website link to the class information also: Rebecca's website...

photo: Laura Barger

Symbols of the Southwest class at EVFAC

A few months ago I mentioned a class I am teaching at Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Center  June 15-17. That blog post is HERE. I am getting excited about the class and wanted to say that there are still some slots open. The class descriptions are on the EVFAC website HERE.  

The class description:

The southwestern United States is a place rich in culture, landscape, and weaving traditions. Tapestry weaving here is practiced by Navajo, Hispanic, and Puebloan weavers with traditions that reach back hundreds or thousands of years. In this class we will explore questions about the influence of traditional southwestern weaving on contemporary tapestry practice and how symbols are important in Native and Hispanic weaving practice over the last centuries and today. Most importantly, we will consider how we can use symbols from our own experience to inform our design process and investigate the essential pieces of ourselves that lead us to art making. We will use symbol as a design tool, create several tapestry cartoons, and weave either a small tapestry or a study for a larger work.

Basic knowledge of tapestry techniques is necessary for this class. We will explore whatever techniques come up during the class, but it is helpful if you know how the structure of tapestry works and have done a basic piece or two.

Instructor Bio: Rebecca Mezoff grew up climbing the mesas and red rocks near Gallup, NM. She has won numerous awards for her tapestries which are in various public and private collections. She studied contemporary tapestry as a student and then apprentice of James Koehler for 6 years.  You can see her work at www.rebeccamezoff.com. She teaches workshops throughout the United States and currently resides somewhere in the southwest where she doesn’t mind having to dump the sand out of her shoes (you can find out where she is now on her blog at http://rebeccamezoff.blogspot.com).

The class is going to be fun. We'll look at some traditional weaving from this part of the American Southwest, talk about use of symbols, both traditional and personal, and explore design techniques using symbols. We will spend time playing with design and work on weaving some of our ideas. As always, we will address the technical issues that come up and talk about use of color in tapestry. Call EVFAC to sign up. (505) 747-3577.

In other news, I have been in Boulder this weekend for a Sensory Defensiveness course from the leading experts on this sensory integration disorder, Patricia and Julia Wilbarger. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, just realize it is an occupational therapy thing. The Wilbargers did release me just in time... I got a half an hour at this great store before they closed:

Shuttles, Spindles, and Skeins is a great yarn shop and they have a huge weaving room with some beautiful Schacht looms (which are, after all, made in Boulder--I can't wait until I'm here on a weekday and I can take a tour of the factory).

Yellow columbine blooming on the street in downtown Boulder.

Teaching in New Mexico in June

I will be teaching a three day class at Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Center (EVFAC) June 15-17, 2012. Many of you have been asking when I'm teaching in New Mexico this year, and this is your chance to take a new class from me and support a great organization at the same time.

The class I am teaching is Symbols of the Southwest. Here is the class description:

The southwestern United States is a place rich in culture, landscape, and weaving traditions. Tapestry weaving here is practiced by Navajo, Hispanic, and Puebloan weavers with traditions that reach back hundreds or thousands of years. In this class we will explore questions about the influence of traditional southwestern weaving on contemporary tapestry practice and how symbols are important in Native and Hispanic weaving practice over the last centuries and today. Most importantly, we will consider how we can use symbols from our own experience to inform our design process and investigate the essential pieces of ourselves that lead us to art making. We will use symbol as a design tool, create several tapestry cartoons, and weave either a small tapestry or a study for a larger work.

More information about this class is listed on the EVFAC website under Classes: http://www.evfac.org/classes.html 
and on my website here: http://www.rebeccamezoff.com/teaching/

This class is going to be a lot of fun. I believe that making art is about finding what is essential in ourselves and expressing that in some way. This class uses symbol as a place to start designing for tapestry. We will struggle with what is and isn't weaveable, what sorts of symbols traditional weavers in the American Southwest use, and how we can use symbol and visual imagery from our own lives to inform our tapestry designs. I will provide hand-dyed tapestry yarn as well as a wide range of resources from which students can experiment with different sorts of symbols. Bring your pencils, tracing paper, and your loom (or borrow one from EVFAC) and lets get weaving!

About EVFAC: Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Center is a non-profit center that serves fiber enthusiasts throughout northern New Mexico. The facility has a large collection of looms that can be rented or used for classes. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable and membership to the center brings great benefits. They are expanding their stash of knitting yarns (yeah!) and also carry weaving supplies. They have a dye kitchen and a members library. I recommend a visit and membership if you are in the area! Espanola is 25 miles north of Santa Fe, NM and 45 miles south of Taos.


Here is another post I wrote about EVFAC with more photos: /rebeccamezoff/2011/06/espanola-valley-fiber-arts-center.html

Tales of a Traveling Weaver, Chapter 2: Ancestral Puebloan Weaving

I woke up this morning, still in Cortez, CO (at the start of week number 10 of at least 16). I asked Emily what I could do for her today and she said, "I want you to get medieval on that tapestry." This is not only a testament to her dedication to me having weaving time, but a statement of how much more media-saavy she is than me.  Apparently that is a reference to the 1994 Quentin Tarantino film with John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman blockbuster Pulp Fiction--which of course, being a bit media-challenged, I never saw. It is also a reference to the medieval tapestry tradition. I may have to add this phrase to my lexicon, though perhaps I should watch Pulp Fiction first.

One thing I have greatly enjoyed about Cortez is that it is right in the middle of a huge archeological area.  It is estimated that this area around Cortez probably had a higher population in the ancestral puebloan times than it does today. There are literally archeological sites everywhere. The Canyon of the Ancients National Monument is a place with sites scattered all over this area, but they do have a visitor's center near the newly-created (at least relative to 1200 AD) McPhee Reservoir.

In the visitors center they talk a little bit about weaving and they have this practice loom set up with fairly good instructions on how to weave plain weave.

Before the Ancestral Puebloans had cotton, they wove sandals and bags out of yucca.

Fragments of woven cotton have been found--they were growing cotton.

Cotton woven fiber fragment

They also have a fascinating replica of a pit house which depicts dwellings from one of the Basketmaker eras.

In further recent ancestral puebloan weaving explorations, you can see holes from looms in the tufa caves at Bandalier (see holes on floor and beams from ceiling)...

And over Thanksgiving I took a trip to Hubbell Trading Post National Monument in Ganadao, Arizona and Canyon de Chelly National Monument near Chinle, AZ. Hubbell's has a visitor's center which employs Navajo weavers and you can go there and watch them weaving intricate rugs. It is also still an operating trading post. You can pick up a coke, some feed for your chickens, a skein or two of local churro yarn, or in their rug room, a beautiful Navajo rug.

We also stopped for the traditional Thanksgiving tour of Canyon de Chelly. This is a rather poor photo of Spider Rock. My understanding of the Navajo creation stories is shaky at best, but one rendition is that Spider Woman made her home on top of Spider Rock. Spider Woman taught the Dine ancestors to weave on a loom. There are references to either Spider Woman or her husband Spider Man weaving the universe on a large loom.  I love this image--the world starting with a weaving... or the act of weaving.

And finally, I just got the latest Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Center newsletter and want to note that a Tiwa/Piro Pueblo weaver, Louie Garcia is going to be teaching some classes there. Our Southwestern weaving traditions are well saturated with Navajo and Hispanic weaving, but rarely do I see anyone talking about puebloan weaving. Here is a YouTube video where Louie is talking about his work. He talks about breath and spirit in every weaving and the spiritual aspect of pueblo culture.  It looks like he is teaching two classes at EVFAC in January and February.

(Also note that my colleague Cornelia Theimer Gardella is teaching some classes at EVFAC in the spring and I highly recommend her! She is teaching a color theory class with dyeing--so those students of mine who are asking about learning to dye and about color, consider taking this class. Check the EVFAC website for details or Cornelia's website as she is also teaching at Ghost Ranch.)


Maybe this is why I keep going back to these ancient sites:

Come take a tapestry class!!!

I am teaching a class in a couple weeks at Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Center in Espanola, NM.  The class is Color Gradation Techniques for Tapestry.  It is three days and there are still some openings!  This class is a benefit for the center and I am hoping to fill the class to maximize their profits.  So this is a great time to take a class in tapestry if you never have.  Here is a recent blog post I did with more photos of the center and some of its offerings.

photo: Laura Barger

The class focuses on technical ways to grade color in a tapestry including using hatching and hachure.  I have some great hand-dyed yarns we can play with and the class promises to be a lot of fun.  As a bonus I will also be showing a slide show about the Bauhaus Tapestry Project (Interwoven Traditions: New Mexico and Bauhaus) I did with Cornelia Theimer Gardella and James Koehler which was completed six months before James passed away.

photo: Laura Barger

photo: Laura Barger

photo: Laura Barger

photo: Laura Barger

photo: Laura Barger

From the class description:

 In this three-day class, students will weave a sampler exploring 

color gradation techniques in contemporary tapestry.  A small tapestry 

may be started if time allows.  We will learn different forms of hatching 

and hachure along with various methods of grading color.  Color mixing 

techniques along with some color theory will be investigated.  Hand-dyed 

wool yarn in a large range of hues suitable for gradation will be provided. 

  Rebecca Mezoff was a student and apprentice of James Koehler for 

6 years and as part of the class, will offer a presentation about their 

Bauhaus project which included his last shows, photos of some of his 

work as it relates to color gradation techniques, and discussion about 

how James used the gradation techniques we will be studying in his work. 

  James was an avid supporter of EVFAC and this class is offered as a 

benefit for the center with all proceeds going to help EVFAC keep its 

doors open.  Basic knowledge of tapestry weaving is recommended, a 

desire to learn and have a great time is a requirement!