Weaving in Beauty

Hover your mouse over the pictures for a closer look

Scottsdale, AZ  The Scottsdale Native Arts Walk, another event in the run up to this weekend’s Heard Museum Guild Indian Market, took place last night.  Galleries all over Old Town Scottsdale were open and many had invited special guests to bring their own expertise to the festivities.  I got there early in order to be able to get photographs without bruising people, but there were plenty of people there even at 6:30.   At the brand new Waddell Trading Co., Jackson Clarke II of Toh-Atin Gallery in Durango, Colorado was hosting a display of Burnham style weavings by the Begay/Barber/Charley family of Burnham, New Mexico.   Jackson had also brought along the absolutely stunning Teec Nos Pos weaving by Louisa Tom that you see above.  It took Louisa over a year to weave it and she hand-dyed many of the yarns, some of them with Concord grape jelly and peyote buds.  It is visually stunning and Louisa’s weaving skill is absolutely superlative.  The weaving carried a price tag of $30,000. 

The Burnham style rugs that Jackson had brought with him were also fantastic.  I’m a real Burnham style enthusiast and I love to see what Sandy Begay and the other members of her family have been weaving.  Burnham rugs are bordered rugs that have pictorial elements where you’d usually find geometric motifs.  There’s more to it, but if I told you I’d be writing all day.  Maybe I should do an online seminar on that and some other rare pictorial styles.  Sandy’s beautiful Burnham style adaptation of the Yei Bi Chei design is shown below and features handspun Navajo-Churro yarns that Sandy and her family have dyed themselves.  

Hover your mouse over the picture see the details close up.

 I also spent quite a bit of time at the Old Territorial Shop and had a great chat with their guest Tyrone Campbell about the idiosyncrasies in antique weaving (like why are there four different shades of red in one of the rugs below?).  Tyrone is an expert in antique Navajo, Pueblo and Hispanic textiles and is the author of several books.  Old Territorial Shop owners Deb and Alston Neal always have a wonderful grouping of older textiles and last night was no exception.  The two pieces below date back to the 1870′s and 1880′s, the period just after the Long Walk and are looking absolutely fabulous.  Nothing but the best. 

Hover your mouse over the pictures for a closer view

I’ll be back late on Sunday with pictures from the Market itself, but it will probably take me a few days to get through what will need to be written about the weavers and their work.   I’ll put up a new post each day until we’ve covered all of the weavers that I’m able to visit with at the Market.   See you Sunday!

Hagoshíí (so long for now)

Mary Walker

Barbara Teller Ornelas and Lynda Teller Pete with their class, niece Roxanne and nephew Terry at Grandmas's Spinning Wheel in Tucson.

Tucson, AZ  I just got back from a delightful visit with Barbara Teller Ornelas and Lynda Teller Pete and their class at Grandma’s Spinning Wheel in Tucson, Arizona.  Lynda and Barbara are doing a three day workshop and their students where having a great time.  The class will be repeated February 12-14, 2012, so now would be the time to let Vicky at Grandma’s Spinning Wheel know if you are interested.  You can email her at spinningramma@aol.com or call the shop at 520-290-3738.  Cost for the workshop is $375 which includes use of a pre-warped loom and tools.  Both looms and tools will also be available for purchase.  This is a wonderful opportunity to study with two master weavers who are also great teachers.

Barbara and Lynda have a nephew Terry who is making some wonderful looking tools, some of them beautifully decorated.  There are couple of pictures of one of his forks below and you can contact Lynda if you’re interested in more information on them.  I hope to be able to try some of them out myself! 

Hagoshíí (so long for now)

Mary Walker

The 2012 Weaving in Beauty Calendar is available for purchase in the Mercantile!  The calendar pictures were all taken within the last eighteen months and represent a snapshot of the year in our corner of the weaving world.  Master weaver Emily Malone is on the cover this year and she’s shown holding the start of one of her signature Spider Rock style weavings.  And yes, that’s quite the bracelet that she’s wearing!  Be sure to click on the picture to see a larger image. 

Each month features a weaving, scene or weaver that I hope will bring a bright spot to your home, studio or office.  I’m grateful to Bruce Burnham, Kary Dunham, Laurie West, the Brown family (Lula, Herman and Janelle), Anna Ashley, Pamela Brown, Mark Winter, Linda Larouche, Rena Robertson, Geneva Shabi, Richardson Trading, Niccole Cerveny, Vicky Blair and Virginia Burnham for allowing me to use my photographs of them for the calendar.   The calendar is 8.5″ x 11″, coil bound and locally printed by Alphagraphics.    You can see a preview of the pages below and use the purchase link to order your own copy.  They’re $15 each and can be sent via media mail, USPS or UPS. 

2012 Weaving in Beauty Calendar 8.5″x11, Coil Bound, Full Color, Printed in USA by Alphagraphics Qty

Please click on the picture for a larger view

Emily Malone shows off one her Spider Rock Pictorials, a new twist of the Spider Rock design.

Chinle, AZ  This is day one of our new class, the Spider Rock Girls Boarding School and I wanted to post a couple of pictures before I turn in for the night.  We’ve gotten the looms warped and Emily Malone and her daughter Larissa Blake are getting the students busy with weaving patterns.  Tomorrow, we are off to Burnham’s Trading Post for a little yarn therapy.  You can see two of the students hard art work in the picture below. 

Hagoshíí (so long for now)

Mary Walker

Two of our students get started with their school worK.

A magnificent image of Mother Earth and Father Sky dominates this picture of the weavings of Mary H. Yazzie

Mary at her loom. Please click on the picture and you'll see her face more clearly.

Tempe, AZ   I always spend longer than I plan to in the Toadlena/Two Grey Hills area and I came across the picture above when I was scouting out the Evelyn George picture in the previous entry.   To weave a round rug using Navajo techniques is to be initiated into some closely guarded secrets for both warping and weaving.  There are probably fewer than 20 weavers who can produce a marketable round textile and only a very, very few who can achieve the design sophistication shown in the weavings above by Mary H. Yazzie of Sanostee, NM.  The design depicts Mother Earth and Father Sky, who embody the universe.   Mother Earth holds the four sacred plants: corn, beans, squash and tobacco.  The Sun and Moon appear within Father Sky on the background of the Milky Way.  Hogan designs indicate the four directions of the Navajo compass and signify the Four Sacred Mountains.  This design would be spectacular on a conventional rug; on a round piece, it is astounding.  Did I mention that it is hand spun?  Mary’s daughter Marilyn does most of the spinning for her mother and frequently accompanies her when she demonstrates weaving at shows and events.  Mary’s work is sold through the Toadlena Trading Post.

The use of sandpaintings as a design source for weaving goes back to another resident of the Two Grey Hills area, the legendary Hastiin  Klah, a great grandson of the equally legendary Navajo leader Narbona Tso.     Klah was a noted singer or hataáłii.  He was born in 1867 near Ft. Wingate, as his family was beginning their return from the Long Walk.  As he matured, Klah became very concerned about the rate at which traditional ceremonies and their accompanying chants and sandpaintings were being lost to the onslaught of assimilation.   Klah’s concerns were shared by his close friend, Frances (Franc) Newcomb, the wife of trader A.J. Newcomb.  Newcomb’s book on Klah, Hosteen Klah: Navaho Medicine Man and Sand Painter is the definitive work on his life.  

Hastiin Klah’s obsession, shared by Franc Newcomb, became the documentation and preservation of Navajo ceremonial life.  As Klah sought ways to permanently depict the sandpaintings that draw the necessary deities to a particular place, he realized that they could be woven as well as drawn.  This idea and the whole idea of any type of record of the traditional ceremonies was and still is anathema to some in the community.   Klah and Newcomb persisted, however, with Klah emphasizing that these textiles were not intended to be walked on and were part of an effort to preserve these designs for the future.   At the same time, Klah’s textiles were avidly sought by collectors and he initiated two of his nieces in the chants and protections needed for them to weave in this style, so there are those who believe that his motives were more market driven than cultural.  As the most respected living hataáłii,  Klah had the stature to ignore the criticism and do what he thought appropriate.  Klah’s work attracted the attention of Mary Cabot Wheelwright and he collaborated with her as a founder of the Wheelwright Museum in Santa Fe., NM.   The picture below is thought to show Hastiin Klah seated to the left of one of his weavings, a Sandpainting design showing Mother Earth and Father Sky.  

Hastiin Klah seated to the left of a Sandpainting weaving. Franc Newcomb appears at right. A.J. Newcomb is in the white shirt at left. The Navajo people are thought to be relatives of Hastiin Klah. The young Anglo woman is the Newcomb's daughter. You can hover your mouse over the picture for a closer view. Thanks to Les Wilson at the Two Grey Hills Trading Post for allowing me to photograph this historic photo.

And as usual, I’ve stayed longer than I’d intended in Two Grey Hills.  I hope you can see how it can happen. 

Hagoshíí (so long for now)

Mary Walker