From the Ridiculous to the Sublime
After sixteen months of being sequestered at home and only seeing people with masks on their faces, this past month has been a whirlwind of activity. Santa Fe is filled with tourists once again, and our summer festivals are back, even if at a reduced scale. It never rains, but it pours. In addition to teaching two overlapping workshops on zoom, I also had two overlapping sets of old friends come into town. I was…
Off to Peru, 2019
Every year Andean Textile Arts sponsors a benefit tour to Peru – sometimes two, in the case of special events, such as the Tinkuy conferences. The organization always sends two board members as representatives who act as general ambassadors and friendly helpers, in addition to our Peruvian tour guide and his assistant. Naturally I hoped to be asked to serve in that role one day. That opportunity came last year, when I was asked to…
Off to Peru, 2017
Several months after teaching doubleweave at the 2013 Tinkuy conference I was contacted by Marilyn Murphy and asked if we could chat on the phone so that she could interview me about my experience and write an article for the Andean Textile Arts newsletter. I described in detail my process in preparing for the workshop, as well as how everything went in the class itself. I told her that it was one of the highlights…
Off to Peru, 2013
Summer in Santa Fe is usually a time of nonstop events, and my favorite of all of these is the International Folk Art Market. Since it began 16 years ago I have worked as a volunteer each July to help out in booths of artisans from all over the world. After going to Peru in 2010 to attend the first Tinkuy and go on the Andean Textile Arts tour, I decided to specify each year…
Off to Peru, 2010
I don’t remember when I first became fascinated with the notion of visiting Peru, but sometime early in my weaving life I learned about the unparalleled doubleweave pickup textiles that had been woven in pre-Columbian Peru, as well as masterpieces in many other techniques. Then in the early 1990’s I took a seminar with Ed Franquemont in which he talked about the quipus, the knotted cords that functioned as record keeping devices for the Incan…