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

return to the dance floor

This morning, I return to the dance floor at Old Martina's Hall in Ranchos de Taos where I photographed beautiful Paloma Villa Lobos in April.  Her focus and enjoyment of Argentine tango are evident in these photographs.  She has a look that cannot be duplicated.  The first image is of Paloma with her father, Steve.

Paloma is dancing with my husband, Fred, in this shot.  The walls and interiors at Old Martina's are perfect backdrops, and courtesy of east, west, and south windows, the light is always interesting and almost perfect.

E. M. Malixi of Taos Tango, takes his turn with Paloma at the milonga or tango dance.

Thanks Paloma, Steve, Fred, and Mike!

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  

Wooly weekend

My weekend was spent surrounded by fiber, which was very good because it was a chilly but beautiful one in Kit Carson Park.  For everyone involved in the 29th annual Wool Festival in Taos, life revolves around the animals and fibers they produce.  Sheep fleeces represent the largest part, but alpaca, llama, and rabbit also provide lustrous additions to the mix.  The vendors are incredibly dedicated to their animals, and to the exactness of the arts and crafts they produce. 

My husband, Fred, a real Renaissance Man, who has been both an architect and commercial airline pilot, is a weaver of Rio Grande and architectural style rugs.  He uses 100% Navajo churro wool from Connie Taylor, the national registrar for churro sheep in the United States.  She hand-dyes all the wool in the most amazing palette of colors.

When Fred is working on a rug, using a Rio Grande style walking loom, he generally does a combination of one color lines, shooting a shuttle across the width of the loom.  When tapestry is used to create a specific shape, it requires feeding pieces of wool under every other strand of warp (the vertical strands you see on the loom below that become the fringe at the end of the rug).  This process is reversed going the opposite direction after the using the beater bar to tightly pack the previous run of wool.

Here is a photograph of Fred and his loom with a rug in progress.  The turquoise designs at the end of the rug are considered tapestry.

One of his Frank Lloyd Wright/Charles Rennie Mackintosh-inspired pieces that was on display at the Taos Fall Arts Festival.

until next Monday

DB

a passion for the image