Using knowledge from the past, weaving the present, preserving the future!
I learned the process of weaving in a simple weaving frame 35X35 cm. A couple of months later i needed to move on to a larger frame so i begged my husband who studies carpentry to build a bigger one for me. After a couple of months for mothers day i got my new 50X60 cm frame. Though this was an improvement, it wasn’t a significant one neither in time or quantity of work i was doing which was very frustrating!!!
The Andes Mountains in Venezuela
During the holidays, after a month of hard work selling in the Christmas Market in Caracas, I traveled to the Andes Mountains in Venezuela. I was looking forward to a very relaxing vacation of doing absolutely nothing in my family’s country house, about 40 minutes away from the beautiful city of Merida. This very inspiring and tranquil place is 2900 mts high and has the most stunning views of the highest peaks in the Venezuelan Andes. So close to the gods is were I welcomed this new year 2011 and where i would find my new loom! Could it be a gift from Arachne the goddess of weaving?
A couple of days after the new year set in I decided to visit a very good friend, Yolanda, who also sells her work in the Christmas Market. Yolanda makes beautiful textiles from different wools. She showed me the different looms she owns and gave a me a quick overview on how they worked. She then said to me : †You should get a loom. I know the person here in Merida that makes them and can teach you†. I was suppose to leave back to Caracas in 5 days but i decided to call Stephanie. She is a german who has lived in Venezuela for the past 30 years. She is an artist of the loom and often gives workshops. With her son they designed a loom that is more compact and therefor it would be easier form me to take back to Australia. She told me that her son could have one for me in 5 days, we then scheduled our weaving classes for the next couple of days. She concentrated her efforts in teaching me mainly how to warp the loom so that i could do it on my own once i was back home! Five Days later I was given my new table top 2 shaft loom.
This is the beginning of a new road that definitely has changed my production capacity. I can reach new heights with this incredible tool!!! it really cuts down my time and there is hardly any limit to the length of the cloth that i can make. I feel blessed to be learning a technique as ancient as weaving, and feel connected in some humble way to all those people across the world: Peru, Guatemala, Indonesia among others; who have being using this tool for thousands of years to create incredible textiles!
Here is an interesting links to learn more about The Art and History of Weaving
http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/ids/fap/weav.html
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