Taos Wool Festival 2013

I enjoy going to the Taos Wool Festival the first weekend in October every year.

 I like seeing all the critters.

Okay, this one wasn't exactly part of the festival. He was just down the street.

Navajo churro sheep waiting for her turn to be sheared

Alpaca are so adorable

I enjoy catching up with my fiber friends, acquaintances, and idols at the festival. I always visit the booths of Fred Black, Bettye Sullivan, and Taos Fiber Arts (aka Julie and Ashley Cloutman). This year I added Cat Mountain Fiber Arts to the list of booths to make sure to visit (see my blog post about Kimberly HERE).

Fred Black's booth--He also sells his work at Taos Fiber Arts and Tierra Wools

Bettye and Alex Sullivan's booth, Walking Rain Studio. Bettye also sells her work at Weaving Southwest.

Taos Fiber Arts booth--check out their shop in Taos!

Cat Mountain Fiber Arts--check out Kimberly's store in Alamosa, CO!

And of course there were some beautiful things for sale.

Here is a rug woven by Bettye Sullivan which won a first place ribbon.

The big news though is that I didn't buy any yarn. Not. One. Skein. 

Amazing, right? I'm not sure what came over me, but I didn't come away with any treasures. There were plenty there, but none called to me enough to add to the stash. I think, to be perfectly honest, I had my heart set on another skein of yarn from Brooks Farm Yarn in Lancaster, TX. And they weren't there. Nothing could fill the void in my heart (except perhaps a Fred Black rug which I didn't have the ready cash for).

 

There are two reasons I try not to miss a Taos Wool Festival:

Number One...

 And Number Two...  Because I am a:

(which quite frankly leads to all kinds of issues and odd behavior including hiding your stash in the piano bench and feeling an irresistible urge to touch the angora bunny fiber even though I don't spin at all).

The festival continues tomorrow in Kit Carson Park. Go and pet some angora bunnies.

My grandmothers tapestry bobbins

I am wondering if any of you are familiar with these bobbins?

They belonged to my grandmother and she isn't in any shape to answer questions about them any more. I think they are beautiful, but I really don't have a use for them. I am hoping someone knows their origin and whether they are really used for tapestry weaving on high warp looms. They are quite large so I imagine they were used with large weft bundles.

I am also curious about these shuttles. Does anyone have working models of them? How do the bobbins fit into them to actually hold the yarn? They have metal tips and I imagine would take quite a beating. With the metal loops sticking up they must go through a huge shed! These also belonged to my grandmother.

Happy weaving!

Luke, dig your heels in and pull back toward summer with me!

My annual protest that fall is coming way too fast is below. Brace yourselves. I feel like digging my heels in, pulling back, and shouting, "Noooooooooooo!!!!" (My brother-in-law is always a few weeks ahead of me on this reaction. Thanks for taking the reigns Luke!)

September 15th, Santa Fe Ski Valley. Orange and Gold... the first feelings of panic set in. (These feelings are based in the very real dismay that I haven't hiked nearly enough since the snow last melted.)

See last year's protest in a similar vein HERE. And another from 2008 is HERE. Looks like both of those years (2012 and 2008) I was living in the San Luis Valley of Colorado. Fall hits especially hard there. Luke knows.

Now it is the beginning of October and I can't deny that fall is here with winter soon on its heels. The colors are changing up high.

Santa Fe Ski Valley, June 23rd and September 29th, 2013.

There is that moment in September every year when I step outside early in the morning while the dog pees and look up to see snow on the mountains. The inevitable freight train of winter. That moment when your jaw drops to see the snow you didn't expect yet again is also the moment when you know that you don't have to shave your legs again for at least 6 months. At least winter has that much going for it. I don't know how it catches me every year. September in New Mexico feels so warm and happy. The snow always blindsides me.

On the up side, the aspens are changing and they are beautiful. There is always the hope that I'll convince Emily this year to go snowshoeing and that the winter adventures can be just as fun as the summer ones.

I try to remember that I can head west when the snow flies. Peternal needs to be hiked again ("O'Keeffe's mountain" seen below from the side). Chaco Canyon waits for winter. I will be okay.

Successful Design for Tapestry and Cornelia Theimer Gardella

I am so grateful to have a wonderful studio-mate, Cornelia Theimer Gardella. She is an outstanding artist and honestly, just a really great person. She is the kind of colleague who will not complain (out loud) about the boxes of yarn you have stacked in the corner of the studio for 4 months even though you KNOW it probably irks her just a little bit. She is also the kind of person who will talk through a concept for a piece with you or brainstorm some problem or other. She is quick to share a funny story and her enthusiasm for tapestry is infectious.

We were able to teach a class together this week and it was a great deal of fun (well, it would have been more fun for me if I hadn't been hacking up a lung the whole time--thanks to the kids at the hospital bringing me their special viral presents). We had four excellent students and I learned a great deal from the interaction of everyone. Ideas are certainly generated when you get six people together who are interested in tapestry and design. Conni is a master of color and design and I always learn something great from her. Thanks for a great class everyone!

Discussing various tapestries

Work in progress. Cornelia's tapestries on wall behind.

Work in progress. Rebecca's tapestries on wall behind.

The Whitney's thoughts on contemporary tapestry: "decorative arts"

I recently joined twitter. I have always thought anything where you did something called "tweeting" frequently had to be a complete waste of time (which might still be true), but it seems that some people actually follow it and I thought it couldn't hurt to put some love out there in a short, quick format. So I took the plunge... and quite frankly don't really understand how it works yet.

But this post tweet by the Whitney Museum caught my eye. I definitely did want to ask the curator a question. I had a sneaking suspicion I wouldn't like the response, and I was right.

To be fair, there was a follow-up tweet with this response, so perhaps all is not lost... or is it?

I did some quick research and the "tapestry" from the 2012 Whitney Biennial by Elaine Reichek was"woven on a computerized loom, to the artist's specifications, in a commercial mill" (From Whitney Museum of Art's website HERE). That, folks, says jacquard to me. (And no, I don't want to have the jacquard "tapestry" debate today. It is a different art form. It is fine, it just isn't the same thing as what I do and I'd really rather it wasn't called tapestry.) And if you're curious, there is a photo of the tapestry HERE on the artist's website.

I'm afraid decorative arts is not what I am going for. Add your thoughts in the comments!

P.S. If you are on twitter, my handle is @RMezoff. And if you know what those little hashtag things are all about, can you let me in on the secret? It seems so cool to talk in hashtags, but quite frankly all I really know is that it is a bunch of words squished together with a number sign at the beginning.

"We're a little early!" ...getting ready for a studio opening

Conni and I have been working hard on the studio the last week preparing it for the opening this weekend. Saturday in fact. As today is Thursday, it is coming on like a freight train. Fortunately the city simplified things a bit by not allowing us to serve wine (sorry about that, but honestly the permit was impossible to get and I didn't think the fine was worth it. I might change my mind if I sold a couple tapestries though--which I am sure will happen anyway! And I'm not implying I have to get people drunk to purchase my work. It is stellar).

Saturday afternoon Conni and I were working on the handouts for the tapestry design class we are teaching September 22nd to 24th when someone came in the studio. We glanced at each other in puzzlement before welcoming our guests.

The two weavers came in and said, "We're a little early!" I couldn't help but say, "Early for what?" And then realized they were a week early for the opening. Better early than not at all.

Here is the opening information again:

We still have a few openings for the tapestry class Sept 22nd, 23rd, and 24th in our studio.  There is more information on my website HERE. It is going to be an exciting class for me and I hope for the students. Conni and I have different approaches to tapestry in many ways and this is going to compliment the information shared in the class in wonderful ways. And we have the great advantage of teaching in our studio so we have unending access to books, materials, yarn, and of course, the internet.

Come and join us for the opening or the class. You're invited!