Weaving Home Exhibit

July 3, 2012July 2, 2012 | Verónica

This past weekend, I attended a weaving demonstration sponsored by the Houston Arts Alliance. Weaving Home: Textile Traditions from Houston’s Karenni Community showcases the weaving process and textiles created by women refugees from Myanmar (formerly known as Burma). For the Karenni, weaving is both a tradition from their homeland and a means of providing financial support for their families.

I had not fully appreciated that Houston is home to several refugee communities from across the globe. These men, women, and children flee their countries as a result of armed conflicts and other conditions difficult to imagine. A local organization, The Community Cloth, supports these refugee communities. Through seed grants, The Community Cloth empowers refugee women to create and sell their handmade crafts.

The live demonstration featured a Karenni weaver using a back strap loom. With her permission, I captured some shots of her at her craft. I found the movement of her hands to be almost poetic.

Click on any photo for a large-screen view.

The rest of the exhibition featured displays of beautiful woven textiles. Items included traditional clothing and bags, and more modern items such as table runners and scarves.

The craftsmanship was evident in the patterns and lively colors. I was able to touch the textiles and appreciate the delicacy of the fine threads. The materials varied but were mostly made of cotton and some synthetic blends.

The purchase of this incredibly soft woven scarf was my little contribution to the Karenni microenterprise.

The Houston Arts Alliance website has a section devoted to the Weaving Home exhibit which I highly encourage you to read. You can learn more about and sponsor a seed grant for women artisans at The Community Cloth.

Contemporary Craft in Houston

April 1, 2012April 1, 2012 | Verónica

Some time ago, I discovered the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) located in Houston’s Museum District. The HCCC focuses on arts and crafts made from clay, fiber, glass, metal, wood or found/recycled materials. In addition to a variety of exhibitions, they have an Artist Residency program. When you visit the museum, you can see that each artist has their own workspace for perfecting their craft.

When I visited the museum, the Contemporary Handweavers of Houston (CHH) was holding its Artisan Market. Occupying the large display rooms were booths of textiles, jewelry, rugs, clothing and yarn. Weavers were working on large looms and spinners with their whirring wheels were scattered around the rooms.

I had to bring this small guest towel home only because it was handwoven and embroidered by 104 year old Tilly Marchwinski. Mrs. Marchwinski was not present but it seemed that everyone there knew her. They told me that she never missed the show but was a little under the weather that day.

This next item was the perfect sunglasses case. I loved both the vibrant colors and the texture produced by the swirling pattern.

This large basket was filled with handspun, hand dyed yarns.

This hank of yarn was handspun by Peggy Barnette of Sky Loom Weavers. Fiber contents – 80% BFL Wool, 20% Silk, 2 ply.

Normally I am drawn to rich, vibrant colors but I couldn’t resist the sheen of this soft brown yarn called “Chocolate Mint.” It is a 2 ply yarn spun from 50% Alpaca, 50% Bamboo by Penny Nelson also of Sky Loom Weavers.

Follow these links to learn more about the HCCC and the CHH. According to their website, the next CHH Artisan Market will be held on September 6-8, 2012 at the HCCC.

Cross-Stitched Magazines

February 24, 2012February 22, 2012 | Verónica

I was struck by the artistry in these cross-stitched magazine covers and newspapers. Another instance of finding threads in unexpected places. The artist, Inge Jacobsen, has taken an everyday disposable item that displays one-dimensional images of beauty and fashion and converted it into a unique piece of art. I learned about this artist from an article in Design Milk, Stitched Magazines by Inge Jacobsen | Design Milk. Here are a few cross-stitched images from her website at Inge Jacobsen.

Vogue_Front — Cross-stitched Vogue magazine cover. According to the artist's website, a cover like this can take 50 hours to create by hand.

Dazed_and_confused_july_2011_side_2 — A cross-stitched Beyonce from the cover of Dazed & Confused superimposed on a page from a magazine or photograph.

Vogue_glamour_Sewn_Image — Three cross-stitched super-models from a page in Vogue magazine.

The embroidered images on newspaper is surprising and refreshing. The image of the woman almost floats over the page.

I like this last one in particular because we see violent images like this repeated in the media so often that we become anesthetized to them and stop seeing them. The artist has taken a hazy picture of a violent scene and forced us to take a closer look.

Visit Inge Jacobsen’s website to read about the philosophy behind her art and see more of her handiwork.

Knit Chair

Link | February 1, 2012February 2, 2012 | Verónica

From the first time I ran across this Knit Chair by Claire-Ann O’Brien, I fell in love with it and her designs. I love the way she takes the knit stitch puts it under a magnifying glass and makes it functional as well as engaging to look at. Design Milk just ran an article on her knit stools. You can also see her work on her website and blog.

{Knit Chair from her website}

Ozark Handspun

January 5, 2012April 29, 2012 | Verónica

At the 2011 International Quilt Festival, among rows and rows of patterned fabrics and sewing notions, we came across yarn. Ozark Handspun had skeins of variegated hand-dyed, hand-spun yarns. Each skein was unique in texture, color and thickness. David Gentzsch, the artisan, explained how he hand-dyed the wool in vats of color that he mixed himself. He then spun the dyed wool interweaving different batches to create each skein. Here are some examples.

Ozark Handspun - 2 skeins — One skein each of “Baby Doll” and “New Multi”; 65% Mohair, 35% Wool.

Ozark Handspun - 1 skein orange — “Ziggy”; 65% Mohair, 35% Wool.

I mentioned to David that I was taking a spinning class the following weekend and to my delighted surprise, he grabbed a couple of handfuls of dyed wool roving and gave them to me!