Rebecca Mezoff Blog — Rebecca Mezoff

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My grandmother's writing

My grandmother was a weaver. She wove tapestry. She got a BFA in fiber when she was 60 years old. When she could no longer use her tools, they were passed on to me. Much of my studio has been in storage for a year and a half and I have finally found time to unpack those boxes this week. I found a lot of my grandmother in there.

This box contains the heddles that fit on the 48 inch Macomber loom. There are 10 shafts on this loom, each of which has a hefty number of heddles. (Maybe some day I'll get the other 6 shafts just so I can weave some 16 shaft lace. I know a few of you are groaning right now at my tendency to multiply projects.)
But I really have to ask if she ever needed THIS many heddles.
Here is a beautiful hand-carved tapestry fork which has been emblazoned with MEZOFF. I suppose I should be grateful a student won't take it home accidentally (and that my name is also Mezoff), but it sure would be prettier without the label.
 
I especially love this peanut can which holds the hooks for the tie-up on the Macomber looms. And this may also explain my spelling difficulties. These problems are genetic, right? I am pretty sure the correct word is LOSE... all caps of course.
And a typed label stuck to a small piece of weaving she (or perhaps my grandfather) did. It may have been a gift for me at some point and the label was a courtesy.

And my favorite leash sticks. I am pretty sure anyway that they are called LEASH sticks, not LEASE sticks (the L got cut off in the photo). Although after awhile I'm not so sure about words anymore. Once I've used them wrong enough times, it is pretty hard to rewire my brain to the correct spelling/grammar/useage.
And her books did not escape either. Here is a Harriett Tidball monograph. Most books look something like this. It is of course ironic that she consistently wrote "valuable" or "do not loan" on books that she felt were valuable. But I suppose in some ways that makes them more valuable to me as a remembrance of my grandmother. She is still very much alive and kicking, but no longer weaves. So I weave for her on the days I don't have the mojo to weave for myself.
Thanks for being a weaver Grandma!
And Happy Cinco de Mayo from the sunny southwest. (The tapestry class is going great in case you were wondering.)

Studio progress

Little by little this studio is coming together. There has been a lot of furniture assembly. Somehow I feel like furniture should come in one piece, and I suppose it is possible to buy it that way. But if you go with an IKEA sort of decor, you're going to be following those little pictures and putting it together yourself.
I have a collection of those little hex wrenches this furniture all comes with. I save them religiously in my red toolbox, though honestly I expect never to take any of this furniture apart. I pulled the baggie where the collection resides out of the bottom of the toolbox today. There are many of them. Maybe 20. I have no real recollection what most of them were used for. (Emily put them in the baggie. I would have just thrown them in the bottom and never been able to find the one I need... in the unlikely event that I needed one of them. Emily is smart like that.)
And with the assistance of the taller of my helpers for the day, I got these tapestries on the wall.
These two pieces have never hung side by side and I enjoy seeing them this way. On the left is Emergence V: The Center Place (45 x 45 inches). On the right is Emergence I (48 x 48 inches).
And here is the shorter of my two helpers for the day... without which I would not have gotten the yarn re-arranged on the floor, the spool rack spun, or the boxes climbed upon. Great to have a little niece in the studio!