One could call it kismet, happenstance, or coincidence, but in May, 2003, something happened that would change my husband, Fred's life (and by association, mine) forever.  It started out as a lovely visit from Fred's older sister to our relatively new house in Taos County.   We had gotten into the habit of taking guests from near and far across the beautiful 10,000 foot mountain pass between Tres Piedras and Tierra Amarilla, to Tierra Wools in Los Ojos.  Fred and I were both enchanted by the beauty of the area and the weavings.  On this particular day, we made the trip once again, and spent time talking with a man by the name of Robin Collier, who was working in the gallery that day.  As always seemed to be the case, we wanted every rug in the shop but bemoaned the fact that we couldn't afford them.  Unbeknownst to us, Robin was one of the owners at that time and he said to Fred "You know, you can take a weaving class."  We continued our visit and the next week, Fred signed up for a week-long beginning weaving class.  As they say, the rest is history.  A week later after driving over the pass every day to weave, Fred left Tierra Wools with his first rug, otherwise known as Rug # 1.  Then as now, it was constructed of 100% Navajo-Churro wool.   As far as I know, the woman who bought it originally still has it, a friend who owned a public darkroom in Santa Fe for years, in which I developed many a roll of black and white film, made multiple prints, and reveled in the entire atmosphere.  But I digress.  Here is an image made with color film, printed, and which I had to photograph again because I no longer have the negative.  Thus the relative lack of quality.  You get the idea.

Twenty-two years later, Fred has reached a righteous number of 500 weavings.  He has woven 423 rugs, and the remaining 77 pieces are floor and table runners, pillows, rifle scabbards, bolsas, place mats, and coasters.  Here is his latest, Rug 423, in progress, and then in its completed form, in the style of Joseph Albers' series of paintings Homage to the Square.

Rug 423 detail Rug 423

Here is a sampling of Fred's work through the years in Southwestern, architectural, and contemporary styles.  

Left to right, top row is 346 and 347, followed by 354 below.

Rug 346 Rug 347 Rug 354

From left to right 397 and 403, followed below by 405 (left) and 408 (right)        

Rug 397 Rug 403 Rug 405 Rug 408

The Celtic knot below was one of the more complex rugs to date.  It took 120 hours to weave.  

Rug 409 in progress Rug 409

Below is the bottom half of a stylized landscape "Canyon Storm", Rug 420.

Rug 420 for NM True

Rug modeling at El Malpais Rug 353 A Selvedge Magazine

The process of learning to weave, finding the right loom, wool, and achieving certain skills is solitary at times, but many people helped along the way, including Connie Taylor.  She and her husband, Sam, were long-time residents of western Taos County, and our closest full-time neighbors. Somewhere along the way, someone asked Fred if he knew Connie Taylor, since she was dying the wool almost everyone was using.  She had a flock of Navajo-Churro sheep near Cerro Mojino, and was the national registrar for the Navajo-Churro Association.  At some point during 2003, we met Connie, and Fred couldn't have asked for a better mentor.   She has a wealth of historical knowledge about the sheep, and overall information about the wool business, and dying, including types of dyes, color combinations, fiber consistency and general "how to the heck to do certain things". She has been and continues to be a major influence in the world of wool.  Fred has been lucky to have had a number of people (and you know who you are) who have supported Fred's work over these 22 years with your encouragement, enthusiasm, and purchases.  Just in case you would like more information, you can check out his website -    https://www.bigsageartisans.com/index.html

Thanks to Jean & Sam, Tim, Karren, Connie, Lawrence, TTT, Kay, Ingrid, Marilyn G., and Steve for commenting on last week's blog.  

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image©