What shall we call this October 11th?

Some call it Columbus day, but that seems disrespectful to the people who lived here before Columbus came...

The school in which I work (in a native american community) calls it Jicarilla Cultural Day--which is a good name for a day we are going to get off--federal holiday, public school...

Today is also National Coming Out Day... a good day to remember the things we are hiding and perhaps should not.

Here is the yarn I dyed last weekend for the next couple pieces. I think you'll find the palette unsurprising.

I know there are now photos floating around out there of the ATB8 show in Lincoln, NE. The opening was this past weekend and I wish that I could have gone! I very much wanted to attend the Textile Society of America symposium, but the timing was off for me. So if anyone has photos of the show, I'd love to see them!

Instead, I went on a somewhat cheaper adventure this weekend to southern Utah... a nice camping trip, fantastic weather, lots of friends and family...

Memories of Utah--Weaving inspiration

My partner and I spent 5 days in Utah last month with my extended family, some friends, and 5 assorted dogs (fortunately only 2 of them were ours). The weather was beautiful and the amazing canyons of Butler Wash and Comb Ridge near Bluff were just as fabulous as ever. If it weren't for the rainstorm and the clay puddle my tent was sitting in the morning we were to leave, I might still be there.

I especially enjoyed the rock formations on this trip. The striations in the rock and the colors that swirled around each other reminded me of weaving. The tactile aspect of the various rocks and the walls of the cliff dwellings were interesting to me and brought to mind my love of the tactile nature of fiber and weaving. Touch is so important to experience. Can we allow this when we're making art also? There were many remnants of cliff dwellings in those canyons. I marveled at the way the rocks were stacked and placed decoratively in places. I could feel the grooves fingers had made in the mud used for mortar so many years ago.