Travel

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My travels focus on seeking out weavers who express tribal heritage in their textiles. Along the way, I have come to recognize how their amazing legacies are under threat from modernization. As I reflect on my time spent with each weaver, I’ve appreciated their enthusiasm to demonstrate their skills, share their techniques and teach me albeit briefly, their mastery of weaving.

My travels:

Tibetan weave Kathmandu HPIM0509.jpg
Warping technique of Tibetan carpet weavers in Jawalakhel, Kathmandu
Tibetan studio Kathmandu DSC_0146.jpg
Tibetan carpet weavers at work.
Jennie Slick IMG_0364.jpg
Master weaver, Jeanie Slick weaving in her home, Navajo Nation.
Navajo Nation rugIMG_0368.jpg
Navajo rug,  Window Rock AZ
Karen backstrap weaving (2).jpg
Master weaver, Saeng, a Karen backstrap weaver from the  Chiang Mai area, Thailand.
Karen weaving.jpg
Saeng’s work.
Taliang Lao DSC_0192.jpg
Twining method of Taliang weavers in Attapeu, Lao PDR.
Udon Thani weaving IMG_6973.jpg
Phu Tai weavers from Baan Phon area, use both khit (continous supplementary weft) and chok (discontinuous supplementary weft). Udon Thani, Thailand.
Chiang Mai IMG_5247.jpg
Molo instructing me in Karen backstrap weaving.
Chiang Rai 036.jpg
Paduang (Chiang Rai, Thailand) warping method that simultaneously creates heddles.
Siem Reap HPIM0488.jpg
Silk spinning and weaving in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Myanmar textile IMG_0033.JPG
Myanmar cotton textile from Yangon, Myanmar.
Ikat Bali IMG_5493.jpg
Double ikat weaving, Nua Dusa region, Bali, Indonesia.
Bali IMG_5497.jpg
Ikat weaver in Bali, Indonesia. Songket and rangrang are also weaving techniques I came across in Tohpati, Blahbatuh, Gelgel.
China HPIM0554.jpg
Silk weaving workshop in Beijing, China. Silk cloth here had lustrous sheen and satin feel.
China HPIM0555.jpg
Loom in textile area of Dong Wu Silk Factory and Museum, Beijing, China. 

I am grateful for the wonderful teachers I’ve encountered since my weaving journey began in 1977. They are each, master weavers in their own right … Dine weaver Jennie Slick of the Navajo Nation; Karen weavers Molo of the Tabitha Project and Saeng at studio Naenna in Chiang Mai, Thailand; Madelyn van der Hoogt founder of the Weaver’s School in Coupeville WA;  and backstrap weaver Laverne Waddington .

Above all,  I am especially grateful to Marilyn Greaves, my bilagaana teacher in California who taught me so much about the beauty in Dine weaving, the virtue of patience and the importance of cultural sensitivity.