Author and photographer Eric Mindling has spent nearly three decades traveling the back roads of Oaxaca, Mexico. His 2016 book Oaxaca Stories in Cloth: A Book about People, Belonging, Identity, and Adornment shows not only his love, but his respect for the dramatic geography of Oaxaca and the people who have made it their home. […]
01
May
May
Keith Recker has worked with makers from more than sixty countries to refine their products, tell their stories, find new customers, and gain the recognition they so deeply deserve. He has gathered their stories in his highly acclaimed book True Colors: World Masters of Natural Dyes and Pigments. His book is at once an immersive […]
24
Apr
Apr
To know a Maya woman in Guatemala is to know resilience. A Maya woman has an undeniable strength, despite poverty, despite discrimination, despite the obstacles in her path. It is a strength that allows her to keep her children fed and to negotiate an uncertain future. This story of Maya artist Bartola Morales is an […]
17
Apr
Apr
This story could have been written yesterday, or it could have been written 200 years ago. Life can be painfully hard, or joyously fortunate, but life goes on. This story is excerpted from a book we published in 2013, Faces of Tradition: Weaving Elders of the Andes, and details the life of a typical Elder […]
10
Apr
Apr
If life hadn’t taken an unexpected pivot, we would be in China right now with a group of friends. This very day, we would have been visiting a village that specializes in folded embroidery (my favorite kind), and we would be on our way to a workshop in that technique and others at the Sun […]
03
Apr
Apr
When I think of the Peruvian highlands, one of the first images that comes to mind is a steep and winding dirt road with switchbacks stretching out as far as the eye can see, and mid-vision, a tiny figure walking along at a steady pace. She’s wearing her many skirts (for warmth), and her beautifully […]
27
Mar
Mar
What I love: mountains, hats, cloth, stories within ritual. On our third day in China’s Guizhou Province last spring, publisher Linda Ligon, photographer Joe Coca, and I bounced along steep and muddy mountain roads with our dear guide Wang Jun and faithful driver Mr. Zhou. We were in China to work on our newest book […]
20
Mar
Mar
A few weeks ago, I wrote about authors Lynda Teller Pete and Barbara Teller Ornelas and their busy lives teaching, weaving, and writing. In that post, I mentioned that Lynda was teaching on Valentines day at Gauge Yarn shop in Austin,Texas. She sent us this wonderful follow-up story of time spent with one of her […]
13
Mar
Mar
“A leader is a person capable of always giving a little more in everything they do in helping and contributing to the well-being of the group and the community. A leader tries to be as humane as possible to resolve conflicts. A leader must be a responsible, honest and sincere person. A leader accepts constructive […]
06
Mar
Mar
“I’d like you to meet a friend of mine,” says Wang Jun, wanting to broaden our understanding of Miao textiles. I was in Guiyang, Guizhou Province, with Karen Brock and Joe Coca, working on Every Thread a Story: Traditional Chinese Artisans of Guizhou Province. So Jun took us straightaway to meet with his friend Zeng […]
