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

A dye shed at last

I have never had a dye shed. I have lived in several different houses since I started dyeing my own yarn and always I have crouched in carports, kneeled on porches, struggled with the wind blowing out my burners, dropped yarn in the dirt, frozen in blizzards, carted heavy buckets of water for hundreds of miles... But THIS particular rental house had this little building at the back of the yard. I thought nothing of it when we moved here as it was stuffed with trash.

...including the storm windows for every window in this house, every single one broken. (Just as an aside now that is summer and hot, not a single window in this house opens. They are all painted shut.) The entire property was full of junk actually. Emily worked for days to get it all out of the yard.  She cleaned out all that broken glass as well as piles of broken bits of this and that... bird feeders, rake heads, an old dog bed peed upon by many mice, pain buckets half full of hardened paint in an assortment of colors (our landlord is a house painter which might explain why the windows are all painted shut), a variety of dead bugs and other critters, and some sort of mid-sized animal trap (perhaps related to the skunks--see prior skunk blog posts referenced HERE). Emily cleaned it all out (after the yard unfroze--the detritus came to light in layers as the snow melted, the last being a generous covering of cigarette butts) and quickly proved that her desire for weekly trash pick-up was warranted.

This is one of the greatest gifts I have ever received--and I didn't realize it until today when I got out all my dye stuff to get some yarn ready for a workshop next month. Here is the inside of my new little paradise. Yes, that is an old propane stove riddled with bullet holes. Though it is still hooked up to a propane tank which may or may not contain propane, I will not be using it.

Here is my new dye stove which is significantly beefier than my old one which is languishing somewhere in a storage locker. After multiple attempts to find it somewhere between the loom parts and the piano, I gave up and bought this one. It has legs. I don't have to bend over so much. This is good as the 11th anniversary of my 29th birthday is coming up in a couple months and sometimes parts get creaky.

I couldn't be more thrilled.  Every time I go out there to stir a pot or shift them around I giggle a little bit and skip over the grass. A dye shed! Imagine.

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.

Use the handrail

My work week had an interesting beginning on Tuesday. I will spare you the photo of my face and bruises, but here is what my glasses looked like after Emily cleaned off the blood and bits of skin and bent them from a twisted mess of metal to something reminiscent of a glasses shape. I'm pretty sure the nose pieces are not supposed to look like that and their position in this photo might explain the deep gashes in my face.

Several people hipper than I told me I should tell people who asked what happened to me that I flipped off my mountain bike coming down some gnarly run, but since I don't own a mountain bike and couldn't possibly use the word "gnarly" with any amount of sincerity, I will tell you the truth.

I fell down the stairs.
I am 39 years old (and will be for the rest of my life as far as I'm concerned despite a looming birthday) and even at such a young and tender age, apparently falling down the stairs is possible.

I got out of bed and tried to coax my dog to go downstairs before me. The stairs are steep, she is old, and she hates them. She followed me down and was using me for a human shield to keep herself from falling... and about halfway down she stepped on my flip flop.
It was my right flip flop.
My hands were full.
I landed on my face at the bottom and am still finding various bruises. Honestly, once I stopped screaming long enough to realize I was still alive, all I could think was that I was grateful I didn't break my neck. Working in rehabilitation, I often worry about things like breaking my neck (hitting my head a little too hard, getting some kind of cancer they don't find until it has metastasized everywhere, getting my legs run over by a train, you know, every day kind of stuff).  Perhaps because I see such a disproportionate number of people who have been severely injured and I am convinced that this could happen to me also. But apparently not everyone who falls down a flight of stairs is irreparably damaged.  I only hope the scars heal before my wedding this summer.

Oh, and a big part of my job as an occupational therapist is teaching older people to do things like pick up their throw rugs (they almost never do this), consider getting a bird or perhaps a fish instead of a pet that can trip them (they never do this either), and to use the handrail if, for gods-sake, they can't move to a house without stairs. At least I can now say that this is what happens when you don't use the handrail or trade your dog for a nice hamster in a cage.

A trip to Taos and a few zombies...

Monday I made a quick trip to Taos for various reasons, but had time to stop by my friends Julie and Ashley Cloutman's shop, Taos Fiber Arts. They have just moved into a new location and the store is really coming together.  I am doing some reading up on Spanish weaving for the class I am teaching in June at Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Center, so I was particularly interested in their new gallery room.  Right now Julie is displaying some replica Rio Grande blankets she is weaving. They are really gorgeous. In fact, I think she should hook up with architects nation-wide as these beautiful blankets are perfect for a southwest-style house.
Here is the link to my last blog post about this mother/daughter power-fiber duo which is the hottest fiber happening in Taos at the moment: /rebeccamezoff/2011/09/of-bumblebees-and-taos-fiber-arts.html

They even let Cassy visit the shop, though frankly that may be because she was threatening to bark on their stoop until I left. I warned Julie about the dog hair! But in true Julie-style she just said she would spin it.

They have an amazing loom that is a replica of something long past (also note the jerga)... I love the pulleys especially.

It is important to check out all Ashley's felt creations including her zombies. Ashley also teaches a lot of felting classes and she is a great teacher!  Call her up and drop by for a class.

Ashley is also making some gorgeous yarn.

Taos Fiber Arts: 208 Ranchitos Rd, Suite C, Taos, NM (575) 758-8242

And the wild irises are out... San Luis Valley, Colorado.

There are still a few spots in the Symbols of the Southwest class I am teaching at EVFAC in June, so sign up if you want to come!  It is going to be great.  More details following in a blog post soon.

Shifting sand

As those of you know who have been trying to pin me down on workshop dates for 2012 and 2013, I don't know where I am going to be living in 3 months. This is challenging for someone like me who wants A to lead to B to lead to C instead of having Ps and Qs thrown in. Order is what I like if you really want to know (perhaps that is another reason why weaving appeals to me).  Not too much order, but enough to feel like there is some ground under my feet.

There are a million and one factors that have to be considered in this decision and it seems like all of them have been reviewed a million and one times. (You'd be right if you think I have trouble making decisions.) Funny how it didn't occur to me until last week to consider which place might be the best tapestry/art center to move to. There are some good ones on the list... Santa Fe, Seattle, Portland, Boulder, New York City (okay, that one isn't on the list of places I'd actually live). If you were fortunate enough to be able to choose which city you wanted to go to and you were to keep in mind that my only niece who is 3 months old and cuter than anything I've ever seen lives in southern Colorado, which of these or others would you choose?

It has felt a lot like we had shifting sand under our feet for the last couple years. But we will be finding some firmer ground very soon.

To my students who have been so patient... give me a few more months! I know I promised you online classes and these are not yet ready. Somewhat unbelievably, my biggest problem with that is the lack of reliable internet out here in the skunk house. Being someone who values quiet and a simpler life I hate to say it in print, but I am never again living in a house in a city in the USA that doesn't have DSL. I am giving myself a loophole in case I one day have to live in a fire lookout in the Gila Wilderness.