I’m teaching in Taos this week at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House. This is a group of alumni to my retreats and most have been to Taos before. We have become a great group of friends over the years and it is a marvelous way to share about tapestry weaving, coming together in a beautiful and quiet setting. There is a fire going in the house at all times, the food is beyond marvelous, and the thick adobe walls ensure quiet rest.
Sightings of The Art of Tapestry Weaving
This fall is the first time I’ve taught in person since Covid. My book, The Art of Tapestry Weaving, came out in November of 2020. I was unprepared for seeing so many copies of it scattered around the workshop rooms. I’m grateful for all the people who bought it and use it and for my editors at Storey for helping me through the hardest parts of making it happen (Mia and Gwen, it wouldn’t have happened without you).
Testing my new backpacking loom
When I was teaching at Spin Off Autumn Retreat last month a student had a tiny slotted tapestry loom made by Handywoman Shop (thanks for letting me examine it Emma!). I immediately knew it was my new backpacking loom and put in my order. I have been using a tiny Hokett loom for a decade now but since Jim Hokett retired, I knew there would come a time I’d have to replace it. This loom is thinner and lighter and it works every bit as well. This is the bamboo version and it is light and strong.
The weaving is handspun from a dyed roving which I stripped and then wove without any tapestry techniques. The color changes are enough interest for me. This is 12 epi on a 6 dent loom. Janet also makes 8 epi looms like this and they come in different woods.
Weaving at Mabel Dodge Luhan House, Taos, New Mexico
Small tapestry loom by Handywoman Shop. This is my new backpacking loom!
Mabel Dodge Luhan House
Mabel Dodge Luhan House in the snow
This large rambling house and various other buildings were mostly built by Mabel Dodge Luhan almost a century ago now. She is famous for her own writing, this house, and for the group of artists she attracted to Taos over the years. It is great fun to read books about Mabel and the people that came here. I just finished one of them by Lesley Poling-Kempes called Ladies of the Canyons. This book isn’t really about Mabel but about others in her orbit. I highly recommend her other books including Ghost Ranch and Valley of Shining Stone.
Last year I read Edge of Taos Desert by Mabel herself which is a great story. The story of how she arrived in Santa Fe via train and found someone immediately to drive her over difficult roads to Taos and quickly decided she was going to live there is worth the read.
Sunsets and snow in Taos
I’ll leave you with a few images of Taos. We had some snow on the first day and the sunsets here are always marvelous.
Sunset from Mabel Dodge Luhan House, Taos, NM
A snowy evening at Mabel Dodge Luhan House, our first night there
A view over the adjacent Taos Pueblo land the morning after the snow.
I’m off to have some of my favorite food at La Cueva (I favor the GF shrimp chipotle enchiladas) and relax by the fire for a bit before sleep. Tomorrow is another day of talking tapestry!