New Mexico 2023 November alumni retreat in Taos

Dates: November 13-19, 2023
Location: Mabel Dodge Luhan House, Taos, New Mexico

The Workshop

This retreat is designed to help you further your personal goals around tapestry weaving, design, and color use. To support the work of the class as a whole, instead of presenting formal lectures on particular topics, we will meet as a group to talk through questions that are coming up in your work. I will be addressing things that always surface such as how to find ideas for your designs, how to simplify images or other inspiration sources, what things are really weave-able in tapestry, and how best to realize your ideas in this medium. To this end we will talk about work happening in the class, work of tapestry artists around the world, and particular color and design concepts that apply to what is happening this week.

Everyone will be working on different things. I’ll ask you to come to the retreat with some direction in mind. For example:

• Do you have a favorite tapestry artist who weaves in a particular way you want to explore? Gather some images of their work or you can explore it at MDL using your internet-connected device (in the lounge—there is no wifi in the workshop room)

• Do you have a set of images that you want to interpret in tapestry but don’t have the design finalized or maybe even started?

• Do you have a collection of images from years of interest in something that you aren’t sure how to turn into weave-able tapestries?

• Perhaps you feel completely stuck about design and aren’t sure where to even start? (If this one is you, we’ll get you unstuck together through some fun exercises and discussions about what interests you.)

• Or maybe you’re deep into your own designs and confident there but want to bounce ideas about color or technique off myself and other participants.

Bring your thoughts and some starting ideas no matter how unformed they are and by the end of the week, you’ll have a direction for your tapestry and maybe your work as a whole.

This retreat is all about fueling your personal ideas and practice around tapestry design and execution. It is a great place for people who feel a little (or a lot) stuck on designing for tapestry. There is no better place to knock around ideas, get some suggestions of how to find an idea and work with it, and then start executing it before the end of the retreat.

Translating steps into curves: I’ll be working on an exercise about practicing vertical forms during this retreat. This is a demo for you all but if you want to join me for this work during the retreat, you’re welcome to! I’ll be exploring how to make vertical shapes look like they’re curving even though they’re stepped. This is something that takes practice, but it can be very helpful to spend some days training your brain to think like a tapestry artist in this way. Tapestry can be a very graphic medium and it often asks us to weave square forms. But we can create the illusion of beautiful curves even though they contain steps. I will have a presentation of tapestries from other artists about this at some point during the week as well. I will be working on this concept on a long thin warp on a Mirrix. I want 2-3 feet of warp to work on and a width of 5-7 inches. You can practice this on a smaller loom with less length as well. I just like the long length so I have room to keep learning and working.

Private consultation: In past years we had time for private chats (just me and you) about whatever you wanted to talk about. Most of you brought questions or design ideas to knock around. Some of you wanted to talk about favorite tapestry artists or ask about potential avenues for further learning and practice. I’ll have times available for anyone who wants to take advantage of this opportunity. And of course spending time talking about your weaving and design with fellow students is immensely valuable and you’re encouraged to do that all week as long as the other person/people are willing.

Prerequisite knowledge: This retreat is not for beginners. You must know how to warp a tapestry loom and weave basic shapes. If you’ve unsure, feel free to email me at hello@rebeccamezoff.com with questions. You don’t have to be cranking out your own original tapestries, you just have to know the basic mechanics of weaving tapestry and have a willingness to dive into design. For people who are ready to push themselves farther in their design skills, this is a unique opportunity to do so in a small group of other weavers.

Preliminary schedule

Monday, Nov 13

3 pm: Arrival and check-in
3-6pm: unload your weaving equipment at Juniper House
6:30 (tentatively, ask at check-in): Dinner in the main house

Tuesday, Nov 14

Breakfast at whatever time MDL tells us (usually 8 am)
9-10:30: Gather as a group in the yoga studio to plan out the week and get a little inspiration.
10:30-12: studio work
12-1: Lunch at MDL
1-5: Open studio or explore the surrounding area.
1-3: Consultation time with Rebecca (optional)
Dinner on your own

Wednesday, Nov 15

Breakfast
9-12: studio work (potential 9am yoga studio meeting for discussion about anything-TBA the day before)
12-1: Lunch at MDL
1-5: Open studio or explore the surrounding area.
1-3: Consultation time with Rebecca (optional)
7pm: Movie night in the cabin of the Historic House. We can choose which film to watch. There is a great one about Mabel Dodge herself or I’ll have a few other choices. We can order pizza (we did this in the January 2023 retreat and it was a lot of fun). Otherwise, dinner is on your own.

Thursday, Nov 16

Breakfast
9-12: studio work
12-1: Lunch at MDL
1-5: Open studio or explore the surrounding area. Rebecca won’t be in open studio today.
2pm: group trip to Taos Wools in Arroyo Seco (optional)
6:30: Dinner at MDL

Friday, Nov 17

Breakfast
9-12: studio work
12-1: Lunch at MDL
1-5: Open studio or explore the surrounding area.
1-3: Consultation time with Rebecca (optional)
Dinner on your own

Saturday, Nov 18

General schedule as above
4pm: Group meeting in Juniper House to go over what we did this week!
6:30 (tentative time): Dinner with the group

Sunday, Nov 19

Our last breakfast together, finish packing up the studio, say goodbye, and head home until next year. Check out of your hotel room by 10:30 am.

Studio time discussions: I’ll pull together slides of tapestries and other resources to talk about based on your questions and thoughts during the retreat. These will likely happen at 9am in the yoga studio, but I’ll let you know if that changes. I anticipate a few of these during the week. Of course we’ll have lots of informal discussion as we work together.

The studio in Juniper House is always available to you. You’ll have a key to get in. Please make sure the door is locked if you’re the last one out.

MABEL DODGE LUHAN HOUSE

MDL is a warm and inviting place. In November there will be a fire in the lounge (unless it is unusually warm!). Fireplaces in the guest rooms are not currently in use, so plan on enjoying fires in the main lounge. You’ve all been here before, but you can refresh your memory on the rooms on the website here: http://mabeldodgeluhan.com/. Housing is based on Historic House or Juniper House. Rooms in Juniper House are slightly less expensive. This is also where the workshop room is. All provided meals are in the Historic House. Remember that there may be snow and that the surfaces at MDL are uneven and can be precarious. Bring good winter shoes and anything else you need to feel secure walking on their old, rocky walkways!

Mabel Dodge Luhan House (MDL) is a retreat-style facility with no televisions, alarm clocks, or telephones. There is wifi only in the main lounge area. You will have a key to this area (for 24 hour access) which includes sitting areas, fireplaces, and internet access on your own device. There is cell service and MDL House is within walking distance of downtown Taos.

Many rooms have two beds. Some are double/queen plus a twin, some are two twins.

HOUSING CHOICES

Please let me know your first and second choices for rooms. I will rotate the most popular rooms such as Mabel’s room and the Solarium among people who haven’t stayed there before. All rooms are available except Auntie’s Cottage.

Extending your stay: MDL holds all the rooms from bed and breakfast registrations until October 12th. If you’d like to extend your stay, you can arrange with MDL to do so. You’ll need to call them, tell them you’re part of my retreat, and you can reserve additional nights. If you’d like to stay in the same room, make sure to tell them which room you’re assigned to. They will release those rooms October 14th, so make those reservations before that date. MDL phone: 575-751-9686. If the person staying in a particular room does not want to extend, you may have a shot at staying there (Mabel’s room or the Solarium for example), but please communicate with me about that as I don’t want people to have to move rooms because someone else in our group took the room they were assigned to before or after the retreat. Thanks for that consideration.

SPOUSES

You may bring a spouse with you if they are able to entertain themselves while you’re at the workshop. See additional rates under Pricing below. Their price includes sharing their room, all breakfasts and lunches, and three dinners. This is the rate MDL charges me for spouses.

MEALS

Breakfast and lunch: These meals are provided in the MDL dining room each day of our stay ending with breakfast on the last day. MDL will give us a time they’d like us to come for breakfast and it is helpful if you can try to come during that half hour. They will potentially be feeding a few other B&B guests and when the guests have eaten, the staff gets what is left. We will be the only people at lunch each day.

Dinner: We will have dinner together the first night as we get reacquainted and talk about what we’re going to do during our week together. I’ve added a dinner on Thursday night and we’ll have dinner together the last night to say farewell as we usually do. The other three nights are open for you to explore the dining options in Taos. Check in with the group on the first day of class for some excellent suggestions and to find dining companions if you’d like them.

It has become a tradition to bring some wine to share during the retreat in the evenings. If you are a wine drinker and would like to bring a bottle to share, please do. Please do not feel this contribution is in any way mandatory. I’ll pick up a few local bottles to contribute. I will also bring some non-alcoholic bubbly stuff for those of us (sadly this now includes me for the most part) who aren’t drinking alcohol.

WHAT TO BRING

For the workshop:

• Looms: You must bring your own loom. It can be any loom you can get to Taos and that works for you.

• Tools: Please bring all your own weaving tools.

• Yarn: Please bring the warp and weft yarn you need for what you think you’ll work on. I will have some weaversbazaar fine and medium yarns and may have a selection of Array yarns for you to play with. These thinner yarns can be especially helpful for color play with weft bundling.

• Design materials: If you love colored pencils or paint or tracing paper, please bring some. I will have some limited supplies because you don’t always know WHAT you’ll want or what new design technique might be the one for you. But please do bring the sorts of materials you like to play with while designing.

• Headphones for your music. People have vastly different taste in music and auditory tolerance. Please use headphones.

• Task light: The light in the Juniper House studio is fair but not great. Light in the yoga studio is poor. A task light is useful for most people. If you are driving please also bring an extension cord and if a few people have a power strip they can bring, we could use a few of those also.

For Taos:

• casual dress, clothing for winter in Taos (15-50 degrees)

• walking shoes if you’re exploring the town of Taos or going hiking on the gorge or along the Rio Grande

• It sometimes snows in Taos in November and you’ll remember that the surfaces at MDL are uneven and sometimes slippery. Bring good shoes for this environment.

PRICING

Price is based on the housing you choose. MDL increased their rates in 2023 and you’ll see that in the increased price for this retreat compared to last year. There are four options. For details on the rooms, visit Mabel Dodge Luhan’s website here: http://mabeldodgeluhan.com/accommodations/rooms/. Please note that the housing rates on their website are not the ones for us as we have additional fees for the conference and food. Those are the rates if you are extending your stay.

Prices below are all inclusive for 6 nights, 7 days. This includes your housing, taxes, the included meals, the workshop fee, plus all handouts and workshop extras.

Historic House Rates

Private room: $2,500
Shared room: $2,200 (shared with another workshop participant)

Juniper House Rates

Private room: $2,300
Shared room: $2,050 (shared with another workshop participant)

Companions: You may bring a significant other to this retreat. Your room will be billed at the private room rate and a fee of $600 which covers the double occupancy and extra meals that MDL charges me. For example, if you want to stay in the Historic House, you’d register for a private room for you and your companion. The total amount paid would be the private room fee of $2500 plus $600 = $3100. Companions are welcome at all meals and are free the rest of the time to enjoy Northern New Mexico.

Deposit: I am not doing deposits for this retreat unless you want to approach this as a sort of payment plan (contact me if so). Full payment is due by October 9, 2023.

I will contact you if I don’t receive your full payment by 10/10/23. If I don’t hear from you by 10/16/23, your spot will go to the first person on the waiting list.

CANCELLATION TERMS

I will refund your payment until October 16, 2023 in full. After that date, nothing is refundable unless I can find someone to fill your spot in which case, I’ll send you a refund minus a $200 “I have to spend a lot of time filling your spot” fee.

I will make refund exceptions for COVID positivity on a case by case basis because no one wants you to come if you have it! Please be careful in the weeks leading up to our retreat.

What to do next: Registration

Please fill out the registration form below. Feel free to email me with any details or changes at any time.

IMPORTANT DATES

September 11, 2023: Decision day! Please let me know by this date whether or not you are coming to the November 2023 retreat. I will send you a PayPal invoice when you fill out your registration.
October 9, 2023: Payment in full due.
October 12, 2023: Last day to extend your stay at MDL. If you want to come early or stay later, you need to call MDL and make that accommodation. Just let them know you’re in my retreat and what room you’re in. 575-751-9686
October 16, 2023: Last day for a full refund. After this point, I’ll give a refund IF I can fill your spot minus a processing fee of $200.
November 13, 2023: Check-in after 3 pm, dinner provided, time to be announced at check-in (most likely 6:30)
November 13-19, 2023: See you in Taos!

Registration form

Thank you for registering! Rebecca will email you within 24 hours to confirm your spot in the retreat.

I’m looking forward to another year with a great group of people. I’m keeping this retreat to people who have been at Taos retreats before so most of you will know each other. Feel free to email me at any time with questions. hello@rebeccamezoff.com

To see full photos in the gallery below, click on one, hover for captions, arrows to move through it.