NEWS 2011

I want to share some images from NEWS 2011 (New England Weavers Seminars) with you before my next activity (Michele Wipplinger's Color Institute) fills my head. NEWS takes place every other year and is held at Smith College in Northampton, MA. There were exhibitions (a juried gallery show which I co-juried with Laurie Carlson and Carol Birtwistle; a faculty show; the static fashion show; a special exhibition of ethnographic textiles; and guild table exhibits); half-day, full-day, and multi-day workshops (I taught both a half-day and a full-day workshop on Photoshop and woven design using techniques described in The Woven Pixel); Vendors Booths selling items (yarns, Guatemalan products, tools, dyes and books) and publicizing places (The American Textile History Museum); and there was the fashion show one evening and a lecture by Laurie Carlson on the last evening. Of course there was also lots of comings and goings, meeting with old friends and new friends, meals in the cafeteria or downtown, and just wandering the campus and visiting their wonderful gardens. Many of the attendees have attended many of these gatherings. It was my first, and I really enjoyed how friendly everyone was so no matter where I went I could enter into an interesting conversation. There are some amazing weavers in New England as you can see from the images below.

Top Left: Brenda Rosenbaum of Mayan Hands, a truly remarkable and compassionate woman; Top Right: a view of the Faculty Exhibition with my weaving Continuum on the table and Sara Goodman's stitched, dyed and pieced work behind it; Second Row Left: some of Sara Goodman's samples of natural dyed fabrics on a table in her workshop; Second Row Right: Jody Brown and Norma Smyda standing in the inspiring Special Exhibition that they organized of world textiles; Third Row Left: Co-First VP Programs Ruth Ward and Virginia Coolidge standing in front of the display of the American Textile History Museum which was enthusiastically manned by Linda Carpenter, a trustee of the museum; Third Row Right: a table runner by Janney Simpson of Connecticut that was entered into the table runner category of the gallery show; Bottom Row Left: an image of the gallery show; Bottom Row Right: some of the new weavers setting up their first weavings in Carol Birtwistle's class.

Top Left: Best in Show was given to Scott Norris of Pioneer Valley Guild in Massachusetts for weaving these incredible linen towels; Top Right: Jurors Choice and Peoples Choice both went to this fascinating shawl woven by Suzi Ballenger of RI (it was woven in plain weave but had variable denting that changed in the cloth creating undulating stripes that reminded me of Syrian textiles); Second Row Left: Michele Belson and Deborah Holcomb in the Lunatic Fringe Yarns booth near the beautiful natural brown cotton yarns they are selling (I thought I was going to get some linen this week but when I saw this yarn I just had to have it--it is called American Maid Yarns); Second Row Right: a detail of the Guild Booth supporting breast cancer research; Third Row Left: Dorothy Solbrig of the Nashoba Valley Guild of Massachusetts entered this colorful deflected double weave to the gallery show; Third Row Right: Carol Birthwistle showing two of the new weavers how to do something at the loom; Bottom Row Left: Diane Villano taught several workshops on polymer clay and in the one depicted students made buttons with wavy marks that reminded me of marbleizing; Bottom Row Right: another view of the Faculty Exhibition showing my weaving Mindscape on the table with Laurie Carlson's optical fiber sculpture in the background.

Top Left: Wonderful scarf by Norma Smyda of RI with undulating threads shaped by the special reed she uses (some scarfs were in the fashion show, shown here, and others were in the gallery show--it was the weaver's choice were to enter them); Top Right: Marjie Thompson of NH is a legendary weaver in these parts and you can see from this image of a table runner that she entered into the gallery show why she is so revered; Second Row Left: a lovely space-dyed scarf shown in the gallery exhibit by Carol Wooten of Cranberry Weavers of MA (Carol too is well-respected and she won prizes in both the gallery and fashion shows); Second Row Right: another scarf by Carol Wooten, this one entered in the Fashion Show and Static Exhibition; Third Row Left: Laurie Carlson Steger helping one of the students in her workshop, Carolyn Wetzel, weave fiber optics on a backstrap loom; Third Row Right: a close-up of the fabric Carolyn Wetzel was weaving which lit up when finished; Bottom Row Left: the table display by the weavers who were supporting breast cancer research; Bottom Row Right: a fantastic textile in the Special Exhibition (which I think was woven in Peru).

Building a Loom

Growth

1971. Paragon in NYC was sold out of the red Kelty backback that was essential for my upcoming trip to Mexico. Panicked, my dear friend Marty agreed to take the train to Westchester with me so I could get one there. I moved to San Miguel de Allende to do graduate work in crafts, but dropped out when I realized it lacked any standards or rigor. By then I was living in a three-story building on a street that crept up one of the hills. It had a glass-walled room on the roof that opened to a patio. Rent was higher than my former NYC apartment, but the view was better. I decided to stay. And I decided to have a loom built--an eight shaft loom--which was four times the normal number of shafts available on any other loom in that town. Vaguely I remember traveling to Mexico City to purchase some parts (was it the heddles? the shafts? both?). How did I even find a carpenter to build the thing? And how did we communicate--my Spanish was very sparse at the time. I do remember the loom sitting outside on the patio, and how much I loved looking at it from my bedroom--the glass-walled room. I also wove on it too. I know I made some tapestries on it, and my memory says, just tapestry. So why 8 shafts when the norm for that town, two, would have been enough? Well, that is hindsight--of course at the time I wanted more so I could explore freely. At that time, 8 shafts meant total freedom to me.

I only had that loom about six months. Friends came through, I sold the loom to a potter, and we headed off to South America--or so I thought. My friends actually got to the tip of the continent, but I settled in Guatemala. We all have our own karma. The Osloom project, which is now fully funded, got me remembering that rooftop loom and the thrill of building it. 193 supporters will all share in that feeling of having built a loom when the first Osloom is done.

I have to chuckle when I think of the future--a two car garage--on one side someone is building a boat, on the other, someone is building an Osloom.

Spring Blooms

Creative Business Ideas

Snow Snow Snow

It seems like everyone else got snow this winter except us. We were seeing the ground in most places but Tuesday winter announced, in a very loud voice, "I am still here." Majestic and beautiful. Be sure to watch my video at the end of this post.

I want to talk about the Breaking into Business workshop, sponsored by the Vermont Arts Council, that I took Valentine's Day weekend. Led by Maren Brown and Dee Boyle-Clapp, the first day focused on marketing strategies and the second day on writing a business plan. As you know, I have been trying different ways to get my weavings out in the world, and I thought the comment by Neki Desu to my February 12th post, was very apt. One of the things Maren and Dee told us about were online surveys, like the ones offered by SurveyMonkey, where you can query your clients about almost anything. I had an ahha moment when I realized, I can ask you directly, right here, to help me figure some things out. So my first question is:

What can I offer that would get you to pay me money for it?

I am not saying that I will follow all suggestions, after all, I am always teaching my students to take what I say, or anyone else says, put it in a basket, and throw it in the air, like rice being separated from chaff. If it is relevant it will stick, if not, let it blow away. However, I will definitely listen, and try to "put on" all the suggestions. If something fits, I will try it. That was what my silent auction was--an attempt. When it didn't work, I took it away. I learned something--that is not the way.

I will say that in the two weeks since the workshop, and after having such a positive experience with students in Fibers at UMass-Dartmouth, I am thinking that I should increase the number of workshops I am willing to do each year, traveling to schools to do these short, intense lecture/workshop/critiques, and separate any commercial pressure from my studio weaving. This is what I did in the past, when I taught full-time, and it allowed me to create work that was labor-intensive, personal, and creative. I never allowed the thought, "who will buy this?" to enter into the equation. I am enjoying doing functional weaving for my own use--it is a daily thrill to see my own curtains hanging in the living room; the new tablecloth fabric is woven and just waiting to be cut off the loom--but I don't want to divert my art work into this direction.

Another idea that is changing is my offer of tutorial teaching. When I first moved here, it felt fine to share my looms with students for a short time--and I had absolutely fantastic experiences with all the students that have come here. But now that I want to focus on a body of work for my show in January, I don't feel I can interrupt the work on my loom for others to do work on it. In fact, I have had to turn people away for just that reason. Perhaps I can set aside specific time each year and offer tutoring during that time? What do you think?

We all have bills to pay, daily expenses for food, heat, shelter, gas, medical, taxes, and those constant surprising miscellaneous items which never stop coming just when you think you are going to have a cushion. I already have the loom of my dreams. Honestly, my needs are modest. (But modest in the USA is like funding a village in other parts of the world.) So readers, please send me your suggestions, either comment here or send me an email, and help me find ways to keep my studio practice true to itself, and still pay my bills.

I want to mention a few other things.

I broke down and signed up for Facebook. I have two accounts. One is a business page:

Bhakti Ziek - Weaver

You can sign up there and become a "fan." Just to show me some support.

The other is a personal page:

Bhakti Ziek

You can invite me to be your "friend" and I will confirm. We all need all the friends we can get, right?

The other thing is that Kickstarter.com was mentioned in the workshop, and then I heard from Margarita Benitez about her Kickstarter project. For all those who have been interested in jacquard weaving, but feel left out because of the expense of the looms, this project is just for you. Please go to her site and pledge money. She has 64 days left to raise her $10,000 goal. If she raises less than that, she gets nothing; if she raises more, she gets it all. An open source loom is a win for all of us, not just her. Please read more and get the word out to other interested people.

Finally, here is my latest video. I posted one on my Facebook page and nobody commented. Maybe because it had a red background. Try this one--blue.

Randolph Snow - Blue by Bhakti Ziek

Some Finished Projects

Modelling both sides of Knit Hat

The days are still short, but I can feel them growing, which encourages me to get some work done. Making mental lists of what I need to do the next day is also helping. I finished my hat and have worn it with great satisfaction. It is comfortable, but when the wind blows it still penetrates all those layers over my ears. I saw a friend's knitted gloves, which had a soft flannel-like lining, which makes sense with the open stitch of knits, but it is too late to try and do something like that with this hat. I won't say next time because I doubt if there will be another one.

Roll of hand towels on front beam and finished on right

I also finished my hand towels--well, sort of. I was starting to worry that the roll was getting so big I would not be able to wind any more on the cloth beam, but it never got that big. This morning I stitched between the towels and cut them apart, then washed them in my washing machine and dried them in the dryer. I was worried about both processes but since these are intended to be functional, they have to function properly--which means getting thrown in the wash. They shrunk about three inches in the length and an inch in the width. Even before washing I realized I had made them smaller than I intended. I just measured a finished towel that I like and found it to be 30 inches by 18 inches, while my towels are ending up at about 22 inches by 13 inches. I am still in the process of sewing under the hems, but a few towels are finished and folded.

I want to be clear about this work that I am doing. One of the reasons I am still a weaver, after 41 years (how is that possible when I am only in my 30's?), is that there are so many ways of working as a weaver that it is impossible in one life time to cover them all. I think I told you this already, but maybe not. I began to weave with the intention of taking this skill to a commune--and in the commune I would weave whatever was needed. There was no intention of being an artist, nor, at that time, did I even realize that weaving could be an art form. Later, when I lived in Guatemala and studied brocading on backstrap weaving, I was entranced by the figurative motifs, sometimes abstracted, used by the Mayan weavers. And when I did my senior fiber studio for my BFA at the University of Kansas (which still has an excellent program), and began the body of work that started my reputation as a weaver, I used the brocading process to tell my own stories. Here and there, over the years, I have woven a scarf, or some dishtowels, but I have never seriously undertaken the work of a functional weaver. I have certainly admired other weavers who work this way, and right now I am testing the waters, seeing if I have the skills to make textiles that I would want to use in my own life.

Detail of a drawing by Bhakti Ziek

It is not an all or nothing proposition for me, more an addition to an already crowded room. I have an exhibition coming up in the Fall of 2010, and I want to do a new body of work specifically for the gallery space involved. At the same time, i want to keep going with my exploration of functional textiles, using several of my floor looms. I am not sure if I can actually balance several projects at once, but my idea is to devote one day a week, or perhaps part of each day, to weaving curtains for Mark's studio, scarfs for sale, and getting the hand towels right. The majority of my time will be focused on the work for the exhibition. I have an idea of a very long weaving, segmented, but linear, and have started some drawings, a detail of which is shown above. So it is good that some projects are done, clearing a space for new ones to start.

Halifax - Part 2

Halifax Night Lights

Halifax was lit up for the holidays, as well as the usual city lights, but pictures taken in a moving car in snow and rain show it off even better. Last time I was in Halifax there was a fierce snowstorm that shut down the enter east coast, causing a two-day delay in my arrival. School (Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, i.e., NSCAD) was cancelled but some students came in anyway to hear my talk. There was no traffic on the road, snow was knee deep, and I thought the town was a small fishing village. This time I realized it is quite large--especially if you consider Dartmouth and Halifax as one city. I liked everything about it and hope to get there in warmer weather when we can walk along the water and not freeze.

Lesley Armstrong in her studio, Armstrong Textiles

I met Lesley Armstrong on that first visit to Halifax and knew I wanted to see her studio. Lesley produces wonderful contemporary textiles that are woven and then felted and manipulated to become textured and lively. She weaves these fabrics on old looms that she has saved from disuse, bringing some of them from England to Canada. I loved the contrast of the up-to-the-minute cloth with the machinery, which is really industrial revolution (ancient compared to modern equipment). You can see that Lesley is as lively as her cloth--always laughing, smiling and exhibiting genuine enthusiasm. Besides running Armstrong Textiles, she is on the faculty of NSCAD.

Robin Mueller (l) and Frances Dorsey (r)

Textile Faculty at Nova Scotia College of Art & Design

Images of NSCAD Textiles Studios

Morag weaving on tapestry loom, top left

Michelle Alarie at TC-1 Loom, center left

Maddy Andrews wearing her jacquard cloth, bottom right

Robin Mueller and Frances Dorsey are the two full-time faculty in textiles at NSCAD. Although it was the end of the term, and everyone was very busy, they kindly asked me to do a lecture for their students. Before my talk I got to visit the studios, which are in a charming old building, one you could easily get lost in. Michelle Alarie, the technical assistant, was my guide and kept me out of trouble. They have a wonderful TC-1 loom with 12 modules. I wove on it the last time I was there. This time I only looked with envy at the width and the extra modules that i would like to have on my loom. There is a strong possibility that I will return to NSCAD in the summer of 2011 to teach, and perhaps there will be a chance for me to try their loom again too. NSCAD has been a strong program for many years--Sandra Brownlee is one of their graduates. One of the reasons it continues to thrive is because the faculty are working artists, as well as teachers. If you click here you can read an interesting review of Fran's recent exhibition, Saigon. There is also a catalog that can be ordered from the exhibition. Though I don't know Fran well, every time I see her I have the feeling that we are old friends. I guess we must have been sisters in a past life.

Wendy Landry in her studio showing her velvet loom

Another woman who teaches at NSCAD is Wendy Landry. We visited Wendy's studio on Saturday. I knew she was a velvet weaver and had modified a loom, but I wasn't familiar with her work. Once I saw it, I thought that not only should I know her work, but so should more people. She has her loom set up with two different warps for the velvet pile so she can do interchanging colors in pile. She is also a historian and scholar, and her interests show up in the weaving. The bottom left image above shows a weaving she did where she combines pile loops and an area of weft tapestry, like the Coptic weavers used to do.

Sandra Brownlee weaving and images of her studio

Of course, we also saw Sandra Brownlee's studio. Sandra's work is featured in the new book, Art Textiles of the World: Canada. So if you can't get to Halifax to see her current exhibition, you can see her work in that book.

Speaking of books, if you are looking for a gift for someone who loves to read, I strongly recommend A Pigeon and a Boy by Meir Shalev. It is one of the most beautiful books I have read in a long time. Bittersweet. It made me want to visit Israel. It got me to write to my wonderful cousin Ahinoam, who I had not contacted in a long time. It's a great read.

I finished my plain weave linen for the curtains. Will take a picture soon to show you the moire effect. I didn't get to light Chanukah candles this year (Happy Chanukah if this is your celebration!) so this tree below will have to do.

Festive Halifax Tree

Colloquy 2009 and a Visit to New Harmony

Images from Colloquy 2009

I had a wonderful week in Indiana, first at Colloquy, then visiting Laura Foster Nicholson in New Harmony. The gathering at St. Meinrad's Guest House has been happening each year for about 14 years, and is a continuation of the gathering that used to happen in Mineral Springs, WI at Ken Colwell's place, The Looms. I was not the only new comer this year, but most of the participants have known each other for years, and this is like a yearly family reunion. Everyone was welcoming and enthusiastic and very knowledgeable about looms and weaving. My talks were well received, and I was able to hear some presentations by others. Brother Kim, who organized the event with the help of Kathy O'Neal (seen above wearing her lovely deflected double cloth scarf), is such a lively person it was hard to get images of him not in motion. He brought a group of us to the Abbey to see some of the vestments. They include some amazing velvets, embroideries, and contemporary woven and constructed garments. I was getting confused between labels such as chasuble and cope, and just focused on the cloth. Brother Kim has woven and sewn some of the garments he showed us, and Murlea Everson, one of the participants, weaves the Bettencourt Collection for Meyer-Vogelpohl.

Seeing some of the vestments at St. Meinrad's Archabby

While we were looking at vestments, some of the others were setting up a three-shaft loom in Brother Kim's studio. His studio has a range of looms that include a computerized dobby and a drawloom. I think visits to other artist's studios are one of my favorite things to do. I also love listening to people talk about their research, especially when they are excited about it. I got to hear Teena Tuenga make a presentation on the weaving she has done exploring color and weave, using parameters presented by George Best during a previous Colloquy. Her presentation really explained why these people gather each year--for friendship, yes--but because they encourage and inspire each other to explore their interests in weaving further. I felt very honored to be asked to talk to them, and to be able to share Colloquy 2009 with them. Plus I feel like I have a dozen new friends.

Brother Kim's weaving studio

Teena Tuenga making a presentation of her research

New Harmony is close to St. Meinrads, so my friend Laura Nicholson, who lives there, came to get me and we had our own form of reunion and textile inspiring discussions. I visited her two years ago, and seriously considering moving there, and once again I found this small modern community built on the memory and ruins of a Utopian community quite fascinating. Main Street, where Laura has her LFN Textile Studio, could be main street in almost any small town USA, except Docey Lewis has her design studio right across the street from Laura's--and how many main streets can boast two brilliant textile designers? When you visit the Harmonist buildings, the Visitors Center/Atheneum is a Richard Meier building, and the Roofless Church is a Philip Johnson building. So you see homage to both the past and the present sitting side by side.

Images of New Harmony, IN

Of course, for me, Laura's studio is the most interesting place in New Harmony. The New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art is housed in the same building and all the works in the current print exhibition are shown on their current webpage. Below you see Laura standing in front of her edition of 20 pin cases (I bought two--one for me and one for a friend). You can also see her in her studio. She didn't really want me to take that picture but I love the activity that so clearly shows on her table. She is a force of creativity, and definitely one of my heroes. I also came home with one of her eye sachets--she said I should put it on my eyes and it will help me relax and sleep (it is full of flax and lavender, I think)--but really just looking at it is a feast for my eyes and will bring me much happiness. You can see all the souvenirs I came home with in the final picture. Interesting that Kathy O'Neal gave me an old ribbon loom shuttle (from Henry Riehl and Sons of Philadelphia) and then I bought my most recent additions to my LFN ribbon collection. I never make anything with these ribbons, just keep amassing them--I want one of every design--and always I bring them to show students. Aren't they beautiful?

Laura Foster Nicholson in front of her printed pin case on left and with her ribbons on right

Souvenirs of my trip include LFN ribbons and a ribbon shuttle

End of Summer Activities

Bread & Puppet performing in S. Royalton, VT

Last week we finally got to see Bread & Puppet do a live performance. I have heard about them over the years, and last summer Mark and I drove to Glover on a day they were scheduled to perform, but we hadn't checked times and were too early, though we did see the museum and some of the preparations for the evening performance. This time we only had to go to South Royalton, which was convenient since we wanted to do grocery shopping too. It was clear that the performers were having as much fun as the audience, probably even more fun. Who wouldn't enjoy walking on those stilts?

Peter Ziek, Prentis House, and chair at Shelburne Museum

My brother, Peter Ziek, came for a visit last week. He is taking web design and Photoshop at the community college in Colorado Springs, and we spent one morning sitting side by side at my desk with our computers open to Photoshop, going over some things. He is color blind--and it was really interesting watching what he was doing. At one point he was modifying the color of his son's hair in one picture--trying to make it red but it sure looked like purple to me. It is hard enough to try to figure out color for a website, since you have no idea how one person has set their monitor versus your monitor's setting, but to try to do this when you don't see color the way other people do is really daunting.

I did learn something new by working with him. Usually when I want to make a collage of images, I open up the various images, then drag them into another image, creating layers by the move tool. Looking through menus, trying to find a template option (we think he got this from a different program), I saw "Place" under the File Menu. Trying it I found that I could just use that to bring various images into one file, each on its own layer. I always like how Photoshop has several ways to do the same thing, and when writing The Woven Pixel, Alice Schlein and I tried to give variations of method in the book, so readers would be encouraged to explore and find methods that worked for them, rather than sending everyone always down the same path.

Friday was raining, but Mark and Peter and I drove up to Burlington to the Shelburne Museum anyway. Since reading about the Kalkin House in Dwell Magazine, I have wanted to see this building, designed by Adam Kalkin, made out of a Butler Building shell and shipping containers. Right now the museum is having an exhibit of work by Richard Saja in the Kalkin House. Though I liked his central "animal chandelier" (like an early Mike Kelley), I was unimpressed by his jacquard weaving and other textiles. I think it would have been more interesting to see some of the furnishings found in the older buildings at the museum placed in this contemporary modular building. Perhaps I would have like Saja's work better too, if it had been placed in one of the older buildings, so his style would contrast more with the architecture.

Kalkin House at Shelburne Museum

Shelburne Museum was founded by Electra Havemeyer Webb in 1947. She seems to have collected everything, and wherever I looked I found another image of repeat pattern to capture with my digital camera. When we were leaving, someone in the bookstore asked me what I liked best in the museum. By then my head was dull, from seeing so many things and I couldn't think of an answer. But I did enjoy Barbara Richart's demonstration of the jacquard loom (she was so small compared to the loom and she had to lift the threads in a two part sequence--first stepping on the treadle to lock the hooks, then almost jumping on the treadle to life the threads), and I loved how the view through one old window looked just like it had been created with a Photoshop filter.

Repeat Pattern as seen at Shelburne Museum

(blueberries from Sunshine Valley Berry Farm)

Barbara Richart demonstrating the jacquard loom

Old window at Shelburne Museum

Saturday my family gathered in Stockbridge, MA to celebrate the 100th birthday of my Aunt Bess (Bess Shubin). It was a lovely event, and I have posted a slideshow of the images I took for my family (and anyone else interested) to see. Just click here. I am sorry that I didn't manage to get pictures of everyone, but there were so many cameras flashing and clicking, I am sure others got a better record of the event. Bess is the first in our family to reach 100--and as you can see, she is fully-present and with us. I especially liked seeing her with her granddaughter Leah's children--her great grandchildren.

Aunt Bess holding the cake weaving I made for her

Bess Shubin cutting her cake, flanked by two of her great grandchildren

Weave-It

Weave-It Loom

The other day Mark and I went to a small flea market in Lyme, NH where our friend Marianne McCann was selling some work. She had this little box labelled Weave-It, and when I opened it I found a gold metallic cloth that was three-quarters done on the loom. It was sort of like a pot holder loom but finer. She insisted on giving it to me, and my greedy little hands accepted gladly. I did help her the next day on her gypsy wagon (we traced and cut out the ribs for the roof), so in a way it was a Vermont barter transaction, except she really did give it to me with no strings attached (except the ones on the loom).

Working on Weave-It Loom

When I googled this loom, I found several sites with information, including booklets about projects and instructions. Apparently the loom came with a needle, which mine was lacking. But I had several long needles up in my studio that I always wondered about. I thought they were netting needles. I have no idea where or when I got them, but they certainly have moved with me from one state to another to another. So I went and got them and used one of them to finish the cloth. The previous maker had made some mistakes in her plain weave, and maybe I made a few too. I definitely heard myself saying, "no wonder someone came up with a heddle system," and "I would already be done if I wove this on my floor loom."

Detail of needle weaving on a Weave-It Loom

Of course, I can't stick my floor loom in my purse, but i can take the Weave-It with me anywhere. It also has the advantage of making a cloth with four selvedges. On-line you can see some projects where people assembled these little squares into afghans and sweaters. It reminds me of crocheted vests I made in the '60's. It also reminds me that I have about six knitting projects partially done that I can also stick in my purse and take with me. I wonder where I am going that I need portable projects?

Finished first, and maybe last, Weave-It project

I finished my Weave-It cloth (collaboration with an unknown weaver) and promptly made it into a collage birthday card for Edith House. There was a surprise birthday party for her at Red Hen Baking Co. in Middlesex, VT yesterday. I should have had my camera ready when she arrived--her face was appropriately pleased, shocked and surprised. Lucky for all of us she thought she was coming to a small weaving studio group, and had brought a stack of her latest weavings--beautiful silk rag scarfs. Our society makes it difficult to see the numbers increasing as we get older (a friend suggested feinting dyslexia which would make the number more palatable) but I think it is like getting a higher grade in a test--you don't get an A until you reach 90. Edith isn't there yet but her life is an exemplary A+.

Life in New Mexico was full of great bread. I could cry just thinking about Sage Bakery. But Red Hen is a good substitute and yesterday, at Holly's suggestion, I bought their sprouted grain rye bread (Sprouternickle), which is only made on Thursdays, and it went perfectly with the lentil soup we had for dinner.

Raspberry Picking

Raspberry picking at Sunshine Valley Organic Berry Farm

Holly and I went to Sunshine Valley Organic Berry Farm in Rochester, VT today to pick raspberries. I have been checking the website and calling to check the conditions--and today was perfect. Rob Meadows, co-owner with his wife Patricia Rydle, showed us where to start and you can see him and Holly in the before picture above left--berries on the bush in the center--and the after picture. I did take a picture of all 16 boxes full of the berries we picked--but I must have have done something wrong since it didn't show up when I downloaded the images. I just froze some for the winter and tomorrow will get together with Holly and make jam. It is a learning experience for both of us. I pulled out my big canning jar--which I have only used for natural dyes, and bought a new book on food storage (freezing, canning, pickling, etc.). Last summer I was overwhelmed watching my Vermont friends grow and store vegetables, fruit, and chickens, wondering how they learned these amazing skills, and feeling I could never manage it myself. But now I think, little by little. So raspberries first, and in a few weeks the blueberries will be ready and I can pick, freeze and can them.

Bees at Sunshine Valley Organic Berry Farm

In one corner of the farm there was this enclave of bees. Somehow it reminded me of that famous quilt where the woman had a picture of a graveyard and on the edges were names or markers with names of people, and as they died she would move them into the central graveyard. Mark and/or I walk almost daily in the cemetery down the street from our house since it is such a nice place to take our dog. As newcomers to the town, I don't know any of the people buried there, but I walk by their graves and read their names, and the dates of their death, and sometimes of their birth, and honor their presence, and their passing. Walking the raspberry lanes today was a quiet, private time and I kept thinking each berry was like the millions of people that inhabit the world today. Similar but unique; ripening at their own pace so within a clump of berries only a few could be picked; a burst of joy, and then gone. I hope Rob and Patricia have included the berries that never get weighed into their pricing--the ones that fell to the ground and the ones that fell into my belly.

Blueberries almost ripe at Sunshine Valley

By early August the blueberries will be ripe, and I will return to Sunshine Valley and pick a bucket full. Last summer Mark and I went and we froze most of them, and enjoyed them during the winter. So if I get my jam making down, this year we can have both frozen ones (great with oatmeal) as well as jam.

By the way, I did start work this week. I am tying a silk warp to the black and white tencel on the TC-1. For some reason, it is taking me forever. I am going from the 15 dent reed back to the 30 dent reed. I made a cross in front of the 15 dent reed, and placed the 30 dent reed in the grove above the 15 dent reed, and am moving them from bottom reed to top, by twos, and then tying knots, following color. Somehow my mind keeps saying I am doing something wrong, but I am not sure. I am wondering if I am crossing the ends and when I am all done if I will have to redent because of that? I hope I am wrong since seeing the dents in the 30 dent reed is impossible with my trifocals. Basically I have to wear my glasses to choose the threads, then I have to push my glasses up so I can see the dents without the glasses, then I have to put the glasses back to choose the next two ends. For relief I am going to one of my macomber looms which is threaded with a thick cotton and weaving dishtowels--plain weave with a band of turned twill blocks at each edge.

My garden continues to inspire me every day.

Asian Lilies in my garden

Tutorial Teaching

Maybe you noticed on the right sidebar of my blog that I mention tutorial teaching. Some people have asked about it, so I will talk about it here. I taught weaving and textile design full-time for many years at several universities, and I also have done workshops at various summer craft schools. I think I have a gift for explaining the process clearly, so students absorb the knowledge and can really think through their ideas and move in their own direction. Unlike most people, I feel I started out as a great teacher and slowly became worst (most people I know get better with experience). When the term arrived and I no longer wanted to start from scratch with my syllabus, it became clear to me that I should leave academia. There is always a fresh group of people interested in teaching, and it was time for me to hand over the reins. But I do love teaching, watching as people's eyes go from confusion to clarity and joy (learning is joyful), so I began to think of a way in which I could do my own work, but also do some teaching. When we bought our house in Randolph, I felt this was a place I could make into a studio where I could invite others to come and learn--but on a very limited basis.

Over the years I have seen what others have done. I always remember a wonderful visit to Norma Smayda's Saunderstown Weaving School in Rhode Island. I am still envious of her sea of looms. Here in Randolph we have The White River Craft Center, a wonderful place headed by Kevin Hardy, a skilled woodworker and person of great compassion. Susan Rockwell energetically runs the weaving program, and many beginners go to her to learn. I knew I didn't want to have an open door policy, where students would use one of my looms over time, and I didn't want to set myself up in competition with The WRCR since I admire what they are doing. I also knew that I wanted to keep my teaching very contained. So I conceived of this idea of Tutorial Teaching where students came to me for a short period of time and I tailored each program specifically for that person.

Section from dobby weaving study by Bhakti Ziek

Although many people associate me with computerized jacquard weaving, and the book I co-authored with Alice Schlein, The Woven Pixel, I also wrote a book on backstrap weaving, published in 1978, co-authored with my mother, Nona Ziek. If you read my early posts, you know I own three Macomber floor looms (2 8-shaft and 1 10-shaft), two 24-shaft dobby looms (a small Louet and a 40" wide AVL), and one TC-1 loom. I also have lots of sticks for backstrap looms--so really my teaching can run the gamat from backstrap to digital jacquard. Teaching beginners is one of my favorite things, but so is going through complex structures for jacquard. Probably the only criteria I need for enjoying teaching is having an engaged student.

I am interspersing images from a dobby study I did this summer on my 24-shaft Louet to illustrate this post. I used the instructions given in the dobby chapter of The Woven Pixel to design and make my peg plans for weaving. Then I brought bmp files from Photoshop to PCW Fiberworks on a different computer, which ran my Louet loom.

detail of dobby study

In early May, Tommye Scanlin, an accomplished weaver and teacher in her own right, is coming to study with me for four days. In one of her posts on her blog, she mentions how annoyed she has been about the use of tapestry in relationship to jacquard fabrics. Although she comes from the traditional weft-faced tapestry tradition, and I am coming from the digital jacquard world, I share this annoyance and look forward to many hours of interesting conversation over the four days she will be here. Personally, I always like to say "warp tapestry" when referring to the structure used by jacquard weavers who use compound warps of multi-colors to make "pictorial tapestry" works. Words like tapestry have many definitions, but I still always think, without a modifier, it means a weft-faced plain weave, usually with discontinuous wefts. Anyway, Tommye has done some jacquard work at a mill, and it will be interesting to get her started with some weft-faced structures, like samitum or taquette, on my hand jacquard, TC-1, loom. 

Section of dobby study by Bhakti Ziek

When people come to study with me, they have a choice of staying with Mark and me (and the two cats and one lovely dog) or staying in local accommodations. There is a B&B half a block from us, another within walking distance, and an inn on the other side of town (not far). I always provide lunches, and all meals if the person stays with us. Of course I will cook according to a student's needs (i.e., vegetarian, sweet addict, localvore). I have learned I must make boundaries, which is good for the student as well as me, since I can be very intense--so basically my teaching policy is 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with an hour break for lunch. I try to put a walk in there too, and if someone wants to go to the gym, I can take them as my guest to use the pool or use the fitness machines. In the evenings, students are welcome to use my looms or read my books (Mark is making shelves for the stacks that are filling the floor of the office/guest room right now), and I am available for help, but not too much. A good conversation and a bottle of wine is not too much.

detail of dobby study

If someone spends the money and time to travel here to study, they usually want to work with me for four or five days, but some students who live closer have come for two days. Since my fees are high, most people just curious about weaving, not sure of their commitment, would do better to find a local school for lessons, but of course I do think you couldn't find a better first teacher than me. As I said, I can work with you on any topic from backstrap to digital jacquard, and it can be focused on computer work too, i.e., using Photoshop for woven design. If you want more information, please email me at bhaktiziek@gmail.com. Since I need to balance out my own studio time with teaching, I can only take a limited number of students a year. So far, they have all been exceptional people.