Marilyn Greaves and Mel Silva's Navajo Weaving Workshops • Photographs from May 5 - 7, 2008  weaving workshop at CNCH • Photographs from Mel's Workshop for the Great Basin Basket Weaver's Guild • February 20-27, 2009: Bodega, CA • March / TBA:  Grass Valley, CA • April 30 - May 2, 2009:  Auburn, CA

Photographs from the CNCH 2008 Workshop with Mel and Marilyn Mel wrote: I am attaching several photos one of the students took of the warping in progress. This demonstrates the alternate "tying on" process with a needle and string. One of our students took these pictures. She was interested in going back to her rehabilitation hospital. So, weaving Navajo style is spreading! Marilyn wrote: We had a great workshop. We had a couple from the Klamath area and a few from the Bay Area.The seven women were very enthusiastic about the craft and some have expressed an interest in learning more. It was an intense three days. Mel and I made all the looms for the students; a table-top model as you can see from the pictures. The students had the option of purchasing the loom for a nominal fee and they all took them home. I hope that means that they will try to weave another piece and/or join us for further instruction. One of our students, an art therapist at the Coalinga State Mental Hospital, is trying to organize a fiber arts program there for the inmates.  We met the most interesting people!

Photographs from Mel's Workshop for the Great Basin Basket Weaver's Guild Mel wrote: Toward the end of June, I designed a special project and taught a class in Reno for the Great Basin Basket Weavers Guild. There were 14 students and it took a lot of preparation time, because they were all beginners, (Marilyn participated that day as a teacher's aide).  I made all the looms and tools necessary for them, gathered the yarn and warp, and warped-up all their looms so they could begin weaving at the outset, on that single day we had together. The project was a small fetish pouch, about four inches square. The class was very well received and many of them bought the small weaving forks I hand fashioned out of oak. They are very nice for working on small lap looms and miniature weavings. I have enclosed a couple of fetish pouch pictures I wove as various design samples. The back sides were done in stripes and wavy lines (not shown).  It was a tremendous amount of work for the teacher, but very rewarding to see the enthusiasm and appreciation of the students.

 

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT OF WEAVING WORKSHOP AT CNCH May 5--7, 2008 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Sacramento, California