Weaving in Beauty

Lula Brown came by today with her miniature loom.

Window Rock, AZ Lula and Herman Brown came by this morning to show us one of the small looms that they use to produce the Navajo miniatures that they’re famous for.  The small Tree of Life rug on the loom has an astounding 60 birds.  Lula also brought some of her newly finished rugs to show the students.   Below you can see her showing some of her pieces to Karen Mittleider.

Lula Brown shows some of her miniature rugs to Karen Mittleider.

This afternoon, the Generations rug exhibit opened at the Navajo Nation Museum, a short walk from our classroom.  Mark Winter has spent 20 years documenting the families of weavers in the Two Grey Hills Toadlena area, and he has assembled groups of representative weavings from all of them.  Mark addressed the group gathered for the opening, and his love and respect for the textiles and the weavers who produce them was obvious.  You can see one of the many exhibit panels below.  The exhibit features over 350 examples of Two Grey Hills weaving and will be at the museum for the next few months.

A panel at the Navajo Nation Museum's Generations exhibit.

This evening, the Spider Rock Girls came by to visit and have dinner with the class. Several of the students have purchased rugs from the girls this week, and it was fun to us learn more about how they go about producing their unique designs and how weaving fits into their lives.  One of them, LaVera,is about to graduate as a certified nursing assistant and will be combining her weaving with caring for elderly Navajo nursing home residents in Chinle, Arizona.   You can see LaVera below at the center of the picture.  That’s little sister Alyssa hugging her.  Larissa is at the left.  They’re talking with class participant Karen Mittleider.

Spider Rock Girls Larissa, Alyssa and LaVera Blake discuss weaving with Karen Mittleider

Several of our students are in the finishing stages of their weaving projects.  One of them, Barbara Nicodemus is working on the graphically striking piece below.   It’s a hit with many of our visitors.  Some of the students may finish their pieces tomorow and others hope to be done by Saturday.

Barbara Nicodemus nears completion of her weaving project.

We’re off to Canyon de Chelly tomorrow morning early, so it’s off to bed for me!

Hagoshíí (so long for now)

Mary Walker