The Weaving News
In an earlier post, I made a reference to the Bisti area and received a question about the characteristics and history of the Bisti style of weaving. Many people have never heard of a Bisti rug and if they’ve seen one, they may not have recognized it. The name Bisti comes from the region where…
This afternoon, I put the finishing touches on the Weaving in Beauty calendar for 2009. Every year, I take umm, ah, about 2000 pictures of weavers, rugs, sheep and, yes, dyepots. Now, I suppose it can be argued that one dyepot looks about like another dyepot, but in the Navajo way of looking at things,…
Emily Malone and her family, also known as the Spider Rock Girls, are on the forefront of weavers looking for new outlets to sell their work and have their own web site as well as an Ebay account. Emily’s just finished this Transitional Burntwater rug and it’s on Ebay this weekend. She’s also entered it…
One of the ways to gauge the quality of a textile is to count the threads in an inch of weaving. The more threads per inch, the finer the cloth. Anyone who has ever slept on 800 count sheets knows how much difference this can make. In Navajo pieces, both the warps and wefts are…
Above: A 1950’s handspun Shiprock Ye’i dyed with vegetal and aniline colors People who aren’t familiar with Navajo weaving often confuse Ye’i and Ye’i Bi Chei weavings. The Ye’i design depicts the Diyiin Diné’é (Holy People) directly and they are always shown facing the viewer and are often surrounded on three sides by a Rainbow…
The handsome weaving above was offered at the Smoki Museum Navajo rug auction last weekend. It’s the earliest depiction of a Ye’i Bi Chei dancer that I’ve seen and I thought you might enjoy a look at it too. It dates to the late 1890’s or early 1900’s and is done in the style of…
I’ve sold quite a few rugs recently and I needed to replace them for some upcoming classes that I’m coordinating for Jennie Slick. We try to have as many examples as possible for students to look at and handle and when they’re sold, it makes room for more examples. I do prefer to buy new…
Today, I was at the Smoki Museum auction in Prescott, AZ. Although this auction features quite a few vintage rugs, the Spider Rock Girls also consigned some of their recent weavings and sold most of them. After the auction, I got a nice picture of them with trader and auctioneer Bruce Burnham. From left in…
Here’s Jennie with a small weaving that she finished last month Happy birthday to master weaver Jennie Slick! Ashdla’diin dóó ba’aan náhást’éí binááhai. Just try to Google that! It’s Jennie’s age in Navajo. Jennie doesn’t have email, but you can send her a card at P.O. Box 321, Houck, AZ 86506.