Weaving in Beauty

TahNiiBaa Naataanii's Dragonfly Cross study is an elegant blend of contemporary and traditional design.

Every year, TahNiiBaa Naataanii seems to grow more proficient and creative as an artist and craftsperson.  Each piece that she had displayed this year reflected a unique composition united by TahNiiBaa’s skill in the realization of her vision.   She has been working with shaped weavings for several years and wore one of her creations as a shoulder wrap.  The other shawl shaped piece was dedicated to Spiderwoman, once again incorporating traditional and contemporary elements.  The fringe was added after the piece was woven.   You can see the piece below at the left.

TahNiiBaa Naataanii's homage to Spiderwoman

Displayed in this perspective, TahNiiBaa's Chief Blanket study appears to be nearly three dimensional.

At the right is a Chief Blanket study that TahNiiBaa chose to display at a perspective about 90 degrees from the expected.  The color palette is also a departure from tradition and the woven crosses seem to float in space.

TahNiiBaa’s breadth and mastery are even more impressive considering her busy life as a mom and her work assisting her mother Sarah Natani with weaving classes and demonstrations.    TahNiiBaa expects to be at this year’s Sheep is Life Celebration and I’ll try to talk with her further about her work and her progress as an artist.

Just before I left, I got a picture of TahNiiBaa in front of her Chief Blanket.   You can also see her great fashion statement with that off-shoulder wrap.  Jo nizhóní (how beautifully done)!

TahNiiBaa Naataanii

Lynn Bullock at the Heard Museum let me know this morning that the Heard Museum has scheduled a second Gathering of Weavers Marketplace for November 7, 2009.

Mary Walker

Phoenix, AZ I was out of town during the Gathering of Weavers on November 1 and Roberta Sauerwein graciously offered to write an article and take pictures of the event. I’ve heard heard that the event resulted in several sales for the weavers. I’ll be sure to let you know if it will be repeated next year. Here’s Roberta’s report followed by a gallery of the pictures that she took at the event.

Saturday, Nov. 1, was a lovely day for the Gathering of Weavers in the tree lined central courtyard at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, AZ. The entire area was filled with weavers of all ages and tables covered with beautiful rugs of every style and colour imaginable. Gilbert Begay had several small rugs made from handspun, hand dyed yarns. He is also making small handbags from natural coloured yarn. Nathan Harry was weaving a round rug with natural handspun on a bicycle wheel. Marie Dedman had a beautiful Second Phase Chief’s Blanket and a Germantown Revival rug. Helen Edwards was demonstrating the hand spinning that is used to create lovely natural dyed rugs. She made it look so easy. Valerie Allen was demonstrating dyeing with walnuts. D Y Begay was demonstrating dyeing with Sandalwood and Navajo tea. She was getting a beautiful orange from the tea. There were also several of D Y’s beautiful rugs as examples of the range of colours that come from natural sources.

Just outside the courtyard is a newly finished mosaic mounted on the wall. It is a representation of a D Y Begay rug titled Floating Weft Mosaic.

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All pictures are courtesy of Roberta Sauerwein.

Cortez, CO I came straight to Cortez when Jennie Slick and I returned from our Boston workshop to attend the Southwest Traders Rendezvous. This event is sponsored by the Cortez Cultural Center and provides a venue for traders to discuss their stories and the past, present and future of the trading business.  As you might imagine, there were some great stories and I’ll post some of those in the next few days.  I need to get back to Phoenix, but I thought I’d post a couple of quick pictures while I’m having a second cup of coffee here in Cortez.

The picture below is a group photo of many of the traders and their families.  I’ll try to identify the people that I know and I’ll fill in the details on the others as I get them.  First row from left, Camy Begay, Kira Simpson, Grange Simpson, Georgia Kennedy Simpson, John W. Simpson, Minnie Malone, Bill Malone, Steve Getzweiller.  Second row from left: Clarenda Begay, Steve Simpson, John D. Kennedy, Claudia Blair, Mrs. Steve Hassler, unidentified, unidentified, Virginia Burnham.  Third row from left: Harold Burnham, Jim Blair, Vonda Blair Garland, Elijah Blair, Larry Tanner, Hank Blair, Larry Tanner, unknown, Bruce Burnham, Jeff Burnham.  Fouth row from left: unidentified, Joe Tanner, undentified, Steve Hassler, Mark Winter, Jackson Clarke II.

Yesterday, the Rendezvous concluded with a rug auction and I purchased a piece by 17 year old weaver Cheyenne Flatrock.  Cheyenne has combined some traditional elements in a fresh and contemporary way that I really like.  Here she is with the rug.

Cheyenne Flatrock with her contemporary weaving. That's an 1880's blanket in the background.

Weaver Ursula Begay shows one of her Burnham style weavings prior to a Crownpoint rug auction in September of 2007

The Crownpoint Rug Weavers Association has released their auction schedule for 2009.  The auction is held on the second Friday of each month at the Crownpoint Elementary School in Crownpoint, NM.  You can get further details on the auction at www.crownpointrugauction.com.   A typical month’s auction features 200+ rugs in all sizes and styles.  The auction preview starts at 4 PM Mountain Daylight Time and the auctions begins at 7 PM.  A stop at the auction makes a great addition to any trip to the southwest!  Mark your calendar with the following dates:

• January 09
• February 13
• March 13
• April 10
• May 08
• June 12
• July 10
• August 14
• September 11
• October 09
• November 13
• December 11

Master Weaver Roy Kady (seen here at the Heard Museum) invites you to a Spin Off at his family's sheep camp.

Master weaver Roy Kady sent a note today inviting one and all to a Spin Off at the Kady family sheep camp near Teec Nos Pos, AZ in the Four Corners area.   Please note that this is a camping experience on four wheel drive roads.  Roy has included suggestions for the equipment you’ll need if you plan to attend.  You can contact Roy for more information.  If you are interested in this type of event, but can’t attend this one, I’m sure that Roy would be glad to know that so that he can build a contact list for future use.  Here’s the information just as Roy sent it.

I’m finally getting the word out about the Spin Off Retreat that I had mentioned awhile back. It will take place on September 4, 5, 6 & 7, 2008 at the Kady sheep camp, Carrizo Mountain, Teec Nos Pos, AZ. If you would like a map and/or directions to the camp, please email me back and I will get them to you as soon as I can.

Thursday September 04, 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm, meet at the base of the mountain at the residence of Raymond Jim Redhouse, about 2 ½ mile south of Hwy 160, see posted florescent signs, that’ll read “Spin Off Retreat” and follow them. We will then follow each other up the mountain, or carpool to set-up camp.

Friday and Saturday September 05 & 06, start with a morning circle, morning land walk abouts with Cindy Dvergsten and/or Arnold Clifford, anything from land monitoring, restoration, plant identification will be shared by participants and facilitators. In the afternoons after lunch we will immerse ourselves in Fiber Arts, until dinner, after dinner we will have a fire talk to discuss whatever we want to share.  The Fiber Arts instruction available includes

• Navajo Weaving
• Navajo Cinch Weaving
• Wool Rope Braiding
• Vegetal Dyeing
• Knitting
• Felting wet/dry
• Other European Fiber Arts

Sunday September 07 at or around 10:00 am we will have a meeting to discuss future projects, share more ideas, and have our closing circle; people are more than welcome to stay around and see the rest of the mountain and/or spend another night.

Registration fee for the retreat is $25.00 paid the day of the retreat. This is a primitive camping experience, please bring all your camping gear, materials/equipment for your fiber arts, food for 4 days, sunscreen, hat, long sleeve shirts, warm coat for the night, etc…

If you have any questions please feel free to ask them, and please help spread the word to others on your email list, thank you and see you soon.