When Lynda Pete or Barbara Ornelas greet you with the naming of their clans, they’re greeting you on behalf of their extended family: grandmothers, aunts, children, grandchildren. Their clans wrap them in the warm blanket of their history and culture, their lives. I’ve been thinking about the Elder women of their clans who appear in […]
22
May
May
Our minds and hearts have been in the Navajo Nation in recent weeks, as we have put finishing touches on our new book, How To Weave a Navajo Rug and Other Lessons From Spider Woman (available in October). We’ve also worried and grieved as we hear news of how hard-hit the Navajos have been by […]
21
Feb
Feb
In mid-December, we received a detailed narrative from Lynda Pete and her sister Barbara Ornelas (authors of Spider Woman’s Children: Navajo Weavers Today) about the consulting work they were doing at the Bard Graduate Center Gallery in New York. It seems they were on hand to help prepare an interactive Navajo weaving exhibition at the Bard […]
31
May
May
I’m continually impressed with our authors and their ongoing work. I shouldn’t be. I know how extraordinary they are, but when I receive missives from far and wide, apprising me of their activities, I have to marvel a bit. Deborah Chandler writes from her home in Guatemala City to say that on her way to […]
04
Jan
Jan
Spider Woman’s Children author Lynda Pete has taken time from her demanding teaching and lecturing schedule to send us this moving story of sharing the first copies of Spider Woman with her family. You’ll love it. Thanks, Lynda, and welcome home! Thump, thump, thump, my weaving comb is singing to me as I beat down […]
16
Nov
Nov
November is National Native American Heritage Month—a country-wide celebration of the rich ancestry and traditions of Native Americans. Thrums Books joins the Smithsonian, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Gallery of Art, the National Park Service, and other organizations in paying tribute to Native peoples. We’ve been celebrating the ancestry and traditions of […]
21
Sep
Sep
Watch Mary Louise Gould spin wool from her sheep, inch by inch, and you get a visceral idea of the patience and care and sheer time required to create a fine Navajo rug. No, really! Just click HERE and take a couple of minutes to see a real Navajo master weaver make her yarn. Actually, […]
10
Aug
Aug
I’ve been to some fascinating parts of the world in pursuit of indigenous textiles and artisans. Traveling to Bolivia, Peru, Guatemala, Mexico, India, Laos, Afghanistan, China—seeking out people and far flung places where traditions are maintained and sometimes crafting a book to tell the stories—has been a joy and a privilege. But I had to […]
19
Jan
Jan
This is Fatima El Mennouny sitting on her flatwoven picture rug. She lives in a small village at the foot of Morocco’s Anti-Atlas mountains. She’s one artisan featured in Susan Schaefer Davis’s book, Women Artisans of Morocco. A book that is being loaded on a ship in Hong Kong as I write, bound for safe […]
29
Sep
Sep
Linda, our beloved photographer Joe Coca, and I have been crisscrossing vast stretches of Navajo country this last week with Navajo weavers Lynda Teller Pete and Barbara Teller Ornelas. We’ve had a grand time (and a lot of fun) taking in the gorgeous views in the fall sun, navigating muddy tracks through wild rainstorms, and […]
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