Sharing the beauty of fiber arts in the American Southwest
From Canyon de Chelly to the Bisti: August 2012 Weaving in Beauty Class
October 16, 2012
From left, Mike Barnette, Kathie McPherson, Stacey Browne, Patricia Whitney, Liz Munk, Pam Root, Marcy Middleton, Jeanne Cobb, Jennie Slick, Niccole Cerveny and Jacquelyn Hopkins. They’re in the lobby of the colorful and quirky El Rancho Hotel in Gallup.
Tempe, AZ I need to catch you up on the rest of this summer’s classes! Our second week-long class met in Window Rock, AZ from August 5th through the 12th. Since this class is just before college semesters begin in this part of the country, we had four professors from various disciplines in this group and several of the students were returning for a second, third or fourth class. It was also a large class (for us, anyway) with nine students. To make sure that everyone got their fair share of attention, Liz Munk joined us for the week. Liz is well versed in wedge weave and raised outline techniques and it’s always a treat to see what she is working on.
One of the professors, Niccole Cerveny, teaches Earth Science, so we spent a little more time around Canyon de Chelly than usual and we had a great time with Bobby Van Winkle of Tseyi Jeep Tours. Bobby was born in the Canyon and his love for his home is obvious when he takes you there. In addition to jeep tours, Bobby also leads hikes and offers camping packages. All of our students really enjoyed the in depth and personalized Canyon experience that Bobby provides. I also got Niccole out to the Bisti Badlands for a brief look at the unique landscape there. It’s about 30 miles south of Farmington, New Mexico and is one of those beautiful but dangerous places that has to be respected and protected. When Navajos call a place a badland, they are not kidding around.
We also had great visits with our weaver and trader friends and you can see more in the slideshow below. You can hover your mouse over the pictures to see the captions. In August, we have to work around the summer rains, but the payoff is a beautiful week in one of our favorite places. As always, it was the best class ever.
