A love of creating is often passed down from generation to generation. When you ask someone what made them want to learn to weave, the answer is so often linked to a loved one: An aunt who crocheted your first blanket; a grandfather who bought you your first paint set; a mother who taught you to sew.
This blog post features three customer stories about the people in their lives who passed down a love of creating.
Marc Benja (Filerman)
My friend Teri Carson (Teresita Carson Valdez) got me interested in weaving. She owned a cafe in Chicago called Intersect, which was much more than a cafe. Her and her bf are art collectors and patrons, and they displayed some of their art in the cafe, offered a textile/fiber residency, and hosted audio/music/sound and other art related events. Teri taught me to weave on a giant floor loom! Her and her husband Mark, a sound artist, are two of the most generous people I know.
Inside their cafe/art space were many looms. At least three large floor looms that I can recall, as well as a number of medium sized table looms, yarn, etc. It was a dreamy place for any artist, as you can imagine.
Unfortunately the pandemic hit and made the cafe impossible to run, but Teri and Mark kept their art programs going in their huge art studio. They still host many events in their space.
Geoff Adams
My mother, Florence, must have inspired in me an appreciation of fabric. She sewed like mad when my brothers and I were kids (in the 1960s), making clothes for us and herself. There was always fabric, patterns, thread and pin cushions around. The musical sound of her old Singer is still in my head. My favorite thing was a round cookie tin full of buttons. I poured though those buttons like they were jewels. We did many creative projects together. Once we were older, the sewing was limited to repairs. I went into another creative medium, and started weaving this year at age 63, as retirement looms. My mom is gone but I think of her – when I moisten the end of a strand with my lips to thread the needle – like she did. When I’m fussing with the tangled ends of strands – like she did. And now I’ve accumulated tapestry needles, scissors, and other sundries – I need to find a round cookie tin to store them in! I wish my mother could see me now!
Lloyd Pollack
While my mother enjoyed needlepoint, it was not her who sparked my love of tapestry. Two events come to mind: When I was in the 4th grade, my parents took me to Springfield, Illinois where I became fascinated with the life of Abraham Lincoln. I read everything I could about Lincoln, and drew his image incessantly. That is how I formed a lifelong passion for Art, which is at the foundation of everything that I do. I earned a degree in Art Education and became an art teacher. I liked painting and photography, but searched for my medium. Weaving was discovered in a most serendipitous way. Newly married, my wife decided to take a YMCA tapestry class. I decided to take it with her. It didn’t stick with her, but it sure stuck with me. That was over fifty years ago and I have been weaving to this day.
Drawing I did for my students
My first weaving done at that YMCA class in the 70’s.
