Teaching textile traditions is a gift mothers pass to their children generation after generation. Whether in Mexico or Morocco, Afghanistan or Laos, mothers have been teaching their daughters (ands sons) to weave, to spin, to dye, to embroider for centuries. Sharing these skills with the next generation is practical, of course, because it creates a […]
31
Jul
Jul
Last week, publisher Linda Ligon transported us to the highlands of Bolivia and Peru. This week, I’m taking us on a journey to Morocco. After my first visit there with author Susan Schaefer Davis, I described it as a place of “Layers and layers of flavor, color, and light, distilled into a single joy.” I […]
07
Feb
Feb
From time to time, I have written posts about museums around the world that celebrate the voices and the work of indigenous textiles–from the Textile Center in Minneapolis and the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection in Wisconsin to the Kurdish Textile Museum in Kurdistan and the Textile Museum of Oaxaca. Perhaps no other museum echoes the mission of […]
27
Dec
Dec
Of course, the end of the year offers a time to reflect on all we’ve accomplished in the last year, where we’ve been, and where we’re headed next. I wanted to share some of those highlights but also some of the smaller moments that have a big impact too. In the spring, Publisher Linda Ligon […]
08
Nov
Nov
I returned a couple of weeks ago from the third ClothRoads & Thrums Books Textile Arts of Morocco Tour with author Susan Schaefer Davis. To wander just a few of the 15,000 alleyways of medieval Fes, to breathe in the mounds of Marrakesh spice, or drive along the edges of the High Atlas Mountains is […]
18
Oct
Oct
I’ve been traveling for the last week with Women Artisans of Morocco: Their Stories, Their Lives author Susan Schaefer Davis. We’ve been visiting many of the artisans featured in her book on our third ClothRoads/Thrums Books textile tour. Susan has been leading our small group of textile travelers through the mountains and markets of this […]
23
Aug
Aug
Women Artisans of Morocco author Susan Schaefer Davis shares some great examples of how our books and her tours are improving the lives of women artisans in Morocco. Thanks, Susan! While working on my book on Moroccan artisans, it was obvious that the women I spoke with hoped that being in a book would increase […]
22
Mar
Mar
Travels You may have glimpsed photos from our Facebook or Instagram pages over the last couple of weeks, documenting our travels around southwestern China. Our days were filled meeting batik artists, embroidery artists, weavers, indigo dyers–many whose families have worked these textile traditions for several generations. They were happy to share their stories, their skills, […]
08
Mar
Mar
More than thirty years ago, National Geographic magazine published an issue with a young Afghan woman on the cover. Her intense green eyes were so unexpected, and her expression so loaded with hard-to-read emotion, that the photograph has become iconic. Just google “afghan girl” and there she is, after all this time. Kind of like […]
22
Feb
Feb
I’ve been an armchair traveler these days. It started a few weeks ago when I waved good-bye, electronically, of course, to Maren Beck as she left for Xam Tai, Laos. She was off to lead a small group of textile enthusiasts through the hill tribe villages of Vietnam and Laos. Maren, co-author of Silk Weavers […]
