Rayna Gillman’s recent blog post (Studio 78) on the difference between the European and American fiber artists is really worth the read. Her observations and analysis are insightful and the post is replete with links to artists in Europe to demonstrate her point.

Last year I spent 3 months in England and had the opportunity to attend some shows and visit many venues exhibiting fiberart. I was gobsmacked as they say across the pond, with the originality and individual expression of the work I saw there….and inspired.

Thanks, Rayna – most interesting post and thought provoking too. Click here to read

TAFA, The Textile and Fiber Art List is a rousing success by any measure. TAFA is the promotional  and networking site for member working artists and textile businesses who represent fiber in all forms. The site was conceived and created by Rachel Biel and launched in early 2010, and now boasts 145 members plus to date.

And how do we measure “success”? There are many websites for artists, seeking members, some glitzy, some selling and more. But really, artists want a site that helps them get broader exposure and recognition. TAFA’s members each have space on the site and provide terrific content, good visuals too of their work that brings readers and potential clients back to see what is new on the site. Members also promote the site  through their own social networking and on their own sites.

"Moments" by Christine Predd

Since the launch of TAFA in  February 2010, its presence on the web has grown. Here’s a few stats…

• Half of the members are active on Facebook.
• Almost half are Etsy sellers
• Our biggest following is on our TAFA fan page on Facebook.  We now have over 850 fans there.
• 97 blogger followers
• 69 subscribers via Feedburner
• 1463 unique visitors in just the last month  (55% new)
• Our three largest mediums are art quilts, surface design (dyers) and weaving so far.

A good start!  Members are quite pleased with the boost that TAFA has given them. Members also tell us that they read new member bios as they are posted, network with each other and are definitely inspired. TAFA will continue to expand its web presence and to capture good publicity.  In fact, the fabulous international magazine, “Hand/Eye” is doing a feature story on TAFA in its September 2nd edition. The TAFA community will benefit greatly from such publicity.

Linda Marcille in her studio.

So what is the membership criteria? The general criteria for membership is having a well developed web presence which showcases a mature body of work or product line. Working artists and textile businesses need to present themselves professionally, showing their intent of making a living with their art or product, unless they have a purely educational focus.  Good photography of work is essential – again a professional look. Cost of membership is $25 per year…..but will be increasing in September to $48.00.  Now is a good time to make application for membership!

Visit the TAFA Membership page for more guidelines on the membership.

TAFA seeks to grow as an international organization representing all media within the fiber art/textile mediums.  One of the most exciting angles that TAFA brings to this community is having contemporary, traditional and cultural textiles/mediums share the same platform.  Normally, these categories have strict boundaries and exclude each other, yet many of us are passionately influenced by all three and inform our choices and designs by the other.  On TAFA a Moroccan rug shares the same importance as an art quilt, a knitted sock or an embroidered doily.  The common denominators of excellence of technique, originality and excellence bring them together.  TAFA does not distinguish between “craft” and “art”, however, it does distinguish between mature and novice.  TAFA members love what they do and are in it for the long run.  As innovators, shakers, teachers, writers, and vessels of the muse, they are deeply committed to their work.  Visit TAFA.  Join us in promoting our members and in helping them make a living at what they do best: keeping traditional textile traditions alive while pushing them into new directions!

The SAQA Journal, Spring 2010, featured an article,”Weaving Women Together,” written about weavers in Thailand by the founders of TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles, Ellen Agger and Alleson Kase. TAMMACHAT supports the weavers and artisans in a fair trade, social enterprise, promoting the beautiful and traditional fiber work of Thailand and Laos’ indigenous weavers. “We founded TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles to bring together our interests and expertise in SE Asia travel, weaving, fair trade, photography and supporting women weavers in rural Thailand and Laos, ” says Ellen Agger.

I have written here before about Ellen and Alleson’s important work and urge you to read the article, “Weaving Women Together.” This piece tells of the Prae Pan Weaving Coop in Khon Kaen, Thailand where women produce beautiful silk and cotton handwovens, combining tradition and creativity, and with ecological sounds methods.

As I read the article, I had some questions about the origins of the Coop in Prae Pan and how cultural heritage is blended with economics. Ellen Agger answers below:

Bonnie: As I read the article, Ellen, I wondered how long ago the coop in PraePan, Thailand was organized and by who?

Ellen: PraePan Group was started to address issues of women’s health, education and empowerment. From PraePan’s website (http://praepangroup.wordpress.com), created with the help of a volunteer in 2009:

Encouragement to form the group came originally from the Handicraft Center for Northeast Women’s Development (NWD) that proposed the following objectives:

• To preserve and teach to others the techniques and traditional patterns of hand weaving to the Northeast.
• To provide a lasting career and steady income for the women.
• To encourage the women’s participation in all aspects of community affairs while they cooperate with one another in the weaving project.

The NWD program continued for 10 years. Beginning in 1997, NWD turned the management of the program over to a committee consisting of representatives of NWD and of each of the villages. The parent organization has gradually withdrawn as the village group has learned to take over its functions, until NWD now has only an advisory role.

Bonnie: Was this coop formed with the idea of sustainability or creating a market or both in mind?

Ellen: Self-sufficiency has always been a core value of PraePan. They bought their own shop building in the province’s capital city of Khon Kaen, where the co-op sells handwoven products made by (and purchased) from members in 7 surrounding villages. They are extremely proud of managing their own shop and community business, as well they should be.

Access to a market is a huge challenge for rural artisans, so belonging to a group like PraePan gives individuals access to markets they can’t otherwise reach. TAMMACHAT’s role is to link these artisans – and others like them – to markets in North America and online to the world. This access to international markets is critical with the drop in international tourism in Thailand over the last 2 years.

Bonnie: You mentioned in the article that there are similar groups of village weavers throughout Thailand and Laos – does this seem to be networked or growing?

Ellen: This artisanal work is very much at risk. Women who have been involved with weaving groups in Thailand for decades have predicted that home-based silk weaving may disappear in a decade because of increased competition from factory-produced “silks” from Vietnam and China.

These weavers learned their craft from their mothers and grandmothers, often starting by age 10. Their daughters and granddaughters are not continuing these traditions, they tell us. Unless the younger generation sees income potential from these crafts, we suspect they will die. The good news is that the internet can potentially make a real difference by opening markets, providing income and showing that there are people all over the world who appreciate these handcrafted textiles and will buy them.

Bonnie:  Are most of what is produced ethnic or traditional in design and the importance of this in preserving cultural heritage of women’s handwork.

Ellen: Each group with whom we work is made up of women in different villages and even provinces, both in Thailand and Laos. Some villages have specific traditions that the artisans prefer to follow. For example, one village where PraePan members live and work specializes in cotton traditional “khit” weaving (supplementary weft for you weavers).

Some weavers have worked with designers from Europe and Japan to create specific products and designs that suit those markets. When we asked weavers on our last trip what they preferred to weave, most told us they want to weave whatever will sell.

We try to choose designs that will have appeal in our market and also respect their traditions. It’s a process of collaboration for us. Also, we have sought out groups that work with women who make the silk yarns (sericulturists), natural dyers and weavers – all of whom work using traditional methods they have honed over generations, even if the designs are not traditional designs. It’s important to us that not only do we help them generate income, but also sustain these traditions of handwork. It’s really part of their cultures.

Autumn Moon

I am pleased to announce that I’ve posted new and recent work on my website, Bonnie Samuel Designs. My site also has undergone some revision and I’m quite pleased with the site.

During the past ten months, my objective was to immerse myself in learning about various techniques applicable to fiber art as a medium, then sort through and incorporate those that I found most expressive. There are many, many “techniques” popping up in our fiber medium and it is interesting to try some, perhaps with one’s own take on the process. Then analyze that technique as a fit or not as adding to your art expression.

The past months have been intense, but also very revealing in terms of finding my own voice and style. Learning is an ongoing process and it continues for me. More work coming soon to Bonnie Samuel Designs.

When I bred and raised alpacas, I learned about their history. Research tells us that the alpaca has been a domesticated livestock for over 4000 years, producing fiber that was the basis of class struggles in South America, often called the “fiber of the gods,” and even now referred to as “the gold of the Andes.” Alpacas were part of the traditions and cultural development of the herdsmen and women of the Andes, known as “compesinos”  who today still are part of the alpaca industry in Peru. The Compesinos, generation after generation, have raised their herds high in the mountains, with skill and caring, and the alpacas in my pasture were descendents of those alpacas. Awe inspiring to say the least.

Many of us who work with cloth and fiber, were drawn to this medium in part, because of our interest in the role it has played in the history and cultural development of a people. There is a connection to the past, to the earth and to people who created and were sustained by cloth before us.

Like Carlo Petrini’s Slow Food movement in concept, the Slow Cloth Movement is about one’s relationship to your work, life and expression with cloth. In 2007,  Elaine Lipson starting developing the Slow Cloth movement and in ‘08, after much reflection, identified ten principles applicable to any textile-related process. Just recently, Elaine together with two artists of like-mind, Jude Hill and Glennis Dolce, have gone Facebook with a Slow Cloth community page. It has grown remarkably fast, has many interesting discussions and great array of resources too. Join the community and become part of the movement.

HandEye Magazine featured Elaine Lipson’s “Slow Cloth Manifesto” in their February 14th edition in which she outlines the ten principles of the movement-reflective and meaningful to those of us who work with cloth.

Elaine Lipson is a writer, editor, and artist, and the author of  The Organic Foods Sourcebook (Contemporary Books, 2001), The International Market for Green and Sustainable Apparel (Packaged Facts, 2008), and many articles on organic farming, supporting local growers, sustainable apparel and more. Her blog is Red Thread Studio blog at http://lainie.typepad.com

The issue for artists who work in fiber/textile medium and what they call themselves is a hot topic …. the problem is if you use the adjective “fiber” or “quilt” or “textile” artist, your work gets pigeon-holed and type-cast
as quilts or even craft. Many artists who work with fiber have found acceptance in the many fiber and quilt shows. A bit limiting and frustrating too. Other artists have broken away from this mold and have found acceptance in art shows and exhibitions.

Artist Joanne Mattera has written a thought provoking, must read piece on her blog about how we define ourselves — the adjectives artists use and the perceptions associated with such terms. Not only is this a great article, but the comments are also worth reading for their insights. And reading the comments, one senses that a new path has been forged for recognition as artists. Period.

Jeanette Campbell, alpaca  breeder in Kansas, has just opened her new blog with a very interesting article about poor Bolivian women and their traditional textiles. A center has been built as a memorial to serve the needs of these traditional craftswomen. It’s a good read….and so nice to read about good things happening for people in the world today. Click here to link to the story.

Jeanette and her husband, Jim, own Alpacas at Willowbrook Farm in Louisburg, KS. Their website has a wealth of good info on fiber and alpacas too.

Raylene McCalman has a post on her blog today describing her huge project of gathering alpaca fiber for a fiber processing mill in Mexico. Raylene’s knowledge of fiber from production to art is a great attribute to this work and her art. She recently founded and runs a sanctuary for abandoned and abused camelids (llamas and alpacas) in Colorado. The fiber mill project, her fiber art and educational components, end products all figure into the sanctuary as partial funding for this much needed help to our beloved animal friends.

To find out more, read her blog, “Pachamama’s Way“.

Morris Museum’s Exhibition of Quilt Art
Morristown, NJ, January 13-April 25th.  Another major museum gives recognition to the quilt art medium with it’s exhibition of 80 beautiful art quilts of 35 distinguished, award winning artists including Michael James, Nancy Crow, Teresa Agnew, and Karen Perrine.

This exhibition reflects the contemporary art quilt movement in America. But it is also explanatory by grouping the quilts into five segments to give views a better understanding of the medium. Find out more at the Morris Museum website.

Llama

Pachamamma’s Way is a sanctuary for llamas and alpacas in Colorado. Founded and managed by Raylene McCalman, longtime fiber artisan and alpaca owner, the sanctuary provides a haven for camelids abandoned in these hard economic times.

“Our sanctuary and its programs, in collaboration with rescue organizations throughout the US, will support rescue, rehabilitation and adoption of alpacas and llamas, as well as provide a safe environment for animals unable to be adopted to live out their lives,” says Ms McCalman.

Pachamamma’s Way Sanctuary, in conjunction with Durango Fiber Works will use the stories (and fiber too!) of the camelids,  to promote the growing fiber cottage industry in the USA.

Funds are needed, of course, for feed, vet care (some of which has been donated) and equipment at the sanctuary. Go to their blog for info on how you can help: http://pachamamasway.blogspot.com/