desertsong studio

“…young girls are coming to the canyon…

and in the morning I can see them walking…” Twelve Thirty, The Mamas & The Papas

Well, I am not that young anymore, but I am a girl & I am going to the canyon, the Grand Canyon. Dennis & I are headed to the South Rim for a quick getaway for a couple of days, just enough to imbue ourselves with a bit of Canyon energy to set the tone for the year ahead. The photo above is of the Echo cliffs, which are just north of the turn off to the Canyon’s South Rim, but they are typical of the cliff faces of the mesas, terraces, & plateaus that define canyon country along Highway 89 & will give you just an inkling of what awaits to enrapture your mind as you peer into the astonishing depths of the grandest canyon of them all. The Canyon is magic & it has been far too long since I last experienced it. I need to gaze upon its opulence, its colors, its vistas… I need to feel alive.

I’ve received my next “assignment” from Silvia Heyden; we will be delving into explorations of color with composition while still being limited to weaving only with her “weaverly motifs”. By now, my first assignment, which included sketches, value studies, & saguaro oscuro, should be enjoying her scrutiny. I cannot wait to receive her comments on my first efforts under her tutelage!

When I first started weaving saguaro oscuro I had decided to use an 8/3 linen warp, instead of my normal cotton seine to see how I felt about it… as I said then I had decided to do “experiments” like that to help me think about materials that might be the most suitable for when I begin weaving the condor tapestry for the Grand Canyon residency. At first I found it a bit rough & hairy, but then I grew to really enjoy its texture, which seemed for some reason to feel more natural than the seine. Once the tapestry was cut off, I was quite amazed to discover that the actual “body” of the tapestry felt completely different with the linen warp… it was heavier, less pliable, more substantial. It had presence. Sewing the hems was much easier, they turned under & remained in place much better while I was finishing them as opposed to the hems of my cotton seine warp tapestries which needed to be steam pressed into place. I had lately been thinking that I no longer wanted to steam & block my tapestries as it seemed to take the “life” out of them in some way. I think I may be on the verge of a love affair with linen…

In light of these discoveries, I’ve decided to again warp with 8/3 linen at 8 epi for my next Heyden assignment, & I am in the process of warping my new-to-me big Shannock for the first time. It is time to get to know one another & find out about its quirks. I won’t be maxing out its entire 6 foot width, only about 2 feet for this maiden voyage. I am winding the warp on my warping board & tying them on in groups with lark’s head knots on the top beam. To keep the warp from becoming a tangled mess, I’ve wound the ends into butterflies until I’m ready to tie onto the bottom beam.

I will also be modifying the shedding system, something I experimented successfully with on my 2 foot Shannock. While I love the Shannock looms, I have always felt that the shedding system did not live up to the looms’ highly engineered design & construction; instead, to me it seemed a bit crude. I found it very irritating to have to stop to thread each warp through the fixed heddles as I was warping, it seemed to interrupt the flow of the process.

After much consideration regarding this dilemma, I came up with a shedding system that was inspired by the one on my Mirrix loom. The test drive was during the weaving of my first assignment from Silvia & it passed with flying colors.

I attached 4 screw eyes to two wooden dowels that were cut to the same length as the original wooden heddle bars, & inserted metal rods through the screw eyes to make the shed bar assemblies.

I then used sturdy Velcro wire wraps to attach steel D-rings to the center of the wooden dowels. The D-rings hook on to the S-hooks that are fixed to the rope attached to the  treadles after it threads through the pulley mechanism.

I was able to warp freely without having to stop. I then used Mirrix Texsolv heddles to attach the warps to the metal rods-- alternating attaching every other warp end to top & bottom dowels.

My two main concerns were that either the Texsolv heddles would break or the Velcro wire wrap would come undone, but neither of those things happened even though I like to weave with pretty high tension. Since the heddle bars on the 6 foot Shannock are just about the same length as what was on the 2 foot Shannock, I believe this system will work for it as well!

Now, I’ve got a suitcase to pack…

reentry

Back into my life.

 

Where was I? Where am I? After spending 3 weeks with my mother after my father’s death, I came home trying to get back to reality, highly aware that reality now means my father is gone. I felt like a stranger in my own house, a house that I was irritated to find smelled like old stinky socks even though Dennis swore he had cleaned several times while I was gone. My looms looked like foreign objects & the studio seemed a lifeless pit of non-creativity. I stared at the weaving in progress, the saguaro value study I had started & almost completed for the Heyden distance mentoring program & couldn’t even remember weaving it. I even had trouble remembering where to find the notes on the fingerboard when I began playing my cello again. Everything seemed to irritate me, I felt like I was completely uncomfortable in my own skin, like someone had slipped up & poured gritty sand underneath it while I wasn’t looking. Poor Dennis & the dogs have somehow managed to ride the storm of my emotional ups & downs that has been spewed their way during the last three weeks since I returned home.

Now I feel like I am surfacing to drink in light after swimming in murky darkness. I have had time to examine & sort out my feelings about-- the last years of my father’s life, his attitude & approach regarding life in general, & the days preceding his death --which I realize that the busy state I maintained at my mother’s (there wasn’t a day that passed where I wasn’t washing, sorting, scrubbing or organizing something) did not really allow me to do. My days are feeling happier, I feel like I belong here, the house is cleaner, & I have been slowly getting back into weaving as my focus returns. Um, by the way… I do owe it to Dennis to mention that while there was some errant dog hair tumbling about on the floors, the old stinky sock smell came from the odiferous pot of indigo dye that I had placed on top of the fridge in the hopes of resurrecting what I know now was my doomed first attempt at making an indigo dye bath. When I realized it was there, I suddenly knew what the source of the stink might be actually was. After brewing for 3+ weeks up there during my absence, yes, it was bad, very bad. And, yes, I did tell Dennis & I did apologize for my criticisms.

A good start to the new year, I have today finished weaving the saguaro study & have decided to name it saguaro oscuro. Tomorrow I will be able to finish the back & hems once it has a chance to rest over night since cutting it off this afternoon. Then I must package it up, along with the sketches I did for the assignment to send off to Silvia for her consideration & critique. Here’s a slide show of the progress while it was being woven:

 

While I was at my mother’s, I passed through her front room one bitter cold morning & was surprised by the sight of 5 or 6 large, gleaming black crows strutting about in her driveway. As long as I can remember, during times of worry or anticipation I have always been open to seeing & receiving a sign that things would turn out fine; I have always felt this to be a link to my Native heritage because the sign comes in the form of a beautifully unexpected encounter with some form of nature or environment. I have a website bookmarked that has “dictionaries” which define the meanings associated with different animals. This is what it had to tell me regarding the Crow:

Crow is a harbinger of change; spiritual, mental, and emotional. Life, death, rebirth, transition, magic, watchfulness, look for opportunities coming up, aids in ability to move spiritually and physically. Crow teaches to create and manifest things in our lives, all of life is waiting. He announces a newness on the horizon. Are you aware of the nuances in life? Are you listening to signs around you? Crow can give strength and show you how to maneuver in intuitions and insights. 

My heartfelt thanks to everyone who sent me cards, left comments on my last post, & sent me emails with kind thoughts, words, & poems. It is really hard for me to convey how much all of that meant to me.

I hope magical opportunities find each & every one of you as we start this new decade.

Happy New Year