The Weaver's Dilemma

Talk to any artisan who weaves - whether the end product is apparel or rugs - and the one thing that is absolutely the bane of his or her existence is the process of warping the loom.  To a person, each would probably pay vast sums of money to have the loom warped and ready for the creative side of the process.  Thus, when a weaver warps the loom, it is warped for a number of pieces at once, eliminating the need to warp after every piece.  In my husband, Fred's case, he warps for roughly five rugs and a rifle scabbard or smaller piece.

Facing the loom and starting on the right hand side, Fred ties 184 individual strands of warp, 4 at a time, to the existing short lengths left after the last rug was removed, and measures from that point to a single point at the other end of the house, 42 feet away.  With the the warp just touching the side of the bed, it forms a catenary curve, making each length exactly the same.  They are already threaded through the heddles and reed, but are now strung the length of the house.  At this point, Fred carefully lays each strand on the floor of the house (and the loom) creating a "river" of wool.

Many weavers use a tool called a "warping board", but Fred finds his current system somewhat easier.  He is definitely accustomed to it after having warped his loom about 47 times, enough for the 277 pieces, mostly rugs, that he has produced in the last eleven years.

184 strands of warp, all 42 feet in length, is roughly 1.5 miles of warp.  That is what Fred loads onto the Rio Grande walking loom each time he warps.  The tough and "toothy" characteristics of Navajo-Churro wool makes it ideal for weaving rugs but the weaver's dilemma of warping is even more pronounced.  Each strand of the wool clings to any other piece in its proximity like Velcro.  The strands curl back and around themselves like pig tails.  Tying the strands is a very precise and exacting task, and the consistency of churro almost removes fingerprints!

My role in this?  I am the burro, holding half of the strands in each hand (forming equilateral triangles, as Fred likes to say) after they have been wrapped around my waist.  My job is to try to keep a steady tension on the warp while Fred winds the warp, amidst squeaks and pops, onto the warp-beam.  This is about the level of my expertise when it comes to weaving, since the geometry/geography gene is definitely not dominant in my makeup!  But what beautiful designs can be created by artists, like Fred,  who are lucky enough to possess it.  Here is his most recent rug #232, now living in Tyler, Texas.

Thanks to Connie Taylor, Julie and Ashley at Taos Fiber Arts, the folks at Tierra Wools and at Weaving Southwest, for giving and supporting Fred's love for weaving.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

Luminosity and color

Besides being a weekend of truly spectacular fall color in northern New Mexico, the first weekend of October brings vendors of fiber and fiber products from Colorado, Texas, and New Mexico to Kit Carson Park in Taos for the annual Taos Wool Festival.  In addition to vendors, people hailing from nearly every state of the union and countries around the world, plan their holidays around this festival.

I spent the weekend of the 30th Wool Festival in my husband, Fred's, booth showing his Navajo churro rugs, preaching the gospel of churro wool, watching other vendors, and greeting all the dogs that made their way into the park with their owners.

Here is one of those churro sheep now.

In an odd way, Wool Festival is a bit like Las Vegas.  Although there are no neon signs flashing, the masses of color jolts the senses.  Here are a few examples.

Some of the colors and designs in Fred's rugs

For me, other than lusciousness, the words that describes much of the fiber on display are luminosity and luster.

Thanks to all the truly amazing vendors involved in the festival - to Lisa Shell, owner of Kai Ranch, and Donna Coates, owner of White Rabbit Handspun - for allowing me to hang around their booths and photograph their work.  Of course, Connie Taylor, registrar for churro sheep in the United States, has and remains the energy behind churro sheep, and provides Fred with the lovely wool with which he produces his rugs. 

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

Fiber runway continues

As promised in last week's blog, I am including several more images from the Taos Fiber Arts fashion shoot at the beginning of the month.

Sometimes, within a particular photo shoot, such as this one and frequently weddings, a photographer is aware enough (and luck is on his or her side) to get a really great portrait which has not much at all to do with the subject matter at hand.  Although in this image, Ashley is wearing a one-of-a-kind felted shawl, this is a lovely portrait.

The "Ashley" here looks completely different, posed against Fred's Ganado red rug.  Double click on the image to see more detail in any portion of the photograph, including her tattoos.

And a final image from the wooden runway outside Taos Fiber Arts.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

Fashion week...in Taos?

It is spring.  The wind is blowing, the snow has disappeared below 7,500 feet elevation, and bulbs are out of the ground, ready to produce an abundance of color.  Spring and summer clothing is slowly making its way out of closets, so why not call it "fashion week in Taos?"

I had an extraordinary opportunity to do a product/fashion shoot at Taos Fiber Arts this week.  Owners Julie and Ashley Cloutman were organized, ready, and excited about giving some of their work a whirl on the wood, flagstone, and adobe runways.

The shoot could not have been better.  Ashley is the consummate model, the sun played games giving equal amounts of shadow and softness, and the breeze provided, gratis, that "wind in the hair look".  Note what the mother-daughter team describe as "Zombie couture" felted jeans jacket.

For this image, I wanted to make sure that the tree's shadow did not produce "hatchet" lighting.  With the partly cloudy sky, a nice softness fell on Ashley's face.  Fred Black's "Ganado red" rug, # 168, provides a popping backdrop. 

More "zombie couture" with fill/reflected light courtesy of the white walls

There will be more images from this shoot in next week's blog.  Too many good ones not to share!

Thanks, Julie, Ashley, and Fred!

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image