MOTIVATION

Well that was quick. Only yesterday in my first post I explained how much I had loved loom weaving but that circumstances had made me pack my loom away and now I had forgotten how to weave. As I reflected on this post I realised that I desperately wanted to get my loom out and learn to weave again. It’s only fair to say that I had been thinking this for a long time now but didn’t have the motivation or wherewithal to actually find a way of doing it. Anyway last night I started searching weaving teachers near to me. There is an adult education class virtually around the corner but this little fellow is stopping me from enrolling on that.

I think Burlington Bertie might crop up in this online diary so it’s best to introduce him early on. Bertie is two and a half now but has never been left on his own. Therefore my husband and I take it in turns to go out and do our hobbies. My husband is a skilled “veteran” tennis and padel players so tends to go out without Bertie more than I do!! Anyway I have to look after Bertie on the morning that the weaving course is running. BUT I found a brilliant young teacher who runs classes about an hour away from me and I’ve enrolled on a two day setting up the loom course. This takes place on very soon and I’ve booked a place. Just fantastic.

Www.dobbyandrose.co.uk actually run one to one sessions too so if I have a problem or need advice I can book one of these and get some help. Needless to say I’m extremely excited.

I’ve also been looking at Weaving books. (I sold ALL my craft books that I had collected over the years. There were a lot and I mean a lot of brilliant books in my collection). I just lost all motivation to make anything and wanted everything gone from my house that reminded me that I wasn’t doing crafts.

Just a quick thought on WHY I completely lost a desire to do crafts.

Yesterday I explained how my relationship with making in metal changed and also how much joy I got from making useful things when I was weaving. When my parents came down from Lancashire to live with us all the clutter associated with crafts just overwhelmed me. As I too was getting older I just felt the need to simplify my life – to make it less complicated. Since throwing out all of my incredible craft resources I have realised that without that mess, without that clutter I don’t have much joy in life. I need to be making useful things.

I have decided that I definitely need to buy “Weaving Contemporary Makers on the Loom” by Katie Treggiden which according to its leaf jacket “Explores the modern revival of weaving through profiles of twenty contemporary artists, examining themes of emancipation, migration and technology in textile craftsmanship.’

Weavers in the book include:-

Daniel Harris founder of the London Cloth Company. (Self taught weaver, rescues looms from old mills in UK, uses only wool from British sheep. He emphasises sustainability and traceability with all the textile production (spinning, weaving, finishing) all taking place in the UK.

Alexandra Kehayoglou a weaver from Argentina who practices according to Damn Magazine Damnmagazine.net a way of weaving she calls “silent activism”.

“Activism at its route can be described as a collective effort that is carried out to make shifts in social, political and economic reform. It is executed with purposeful energy and can take many forms, from the gathering of crowds on the streets to people communally petitioning through letter writing.

Historically activists have also used art, typography and fashion to propagate their messages in the hope of gaining support. Now contemporary activist groups make use of social media, and other technologies, in order to expand civic engagement and gain a larger global audience.

These new methods of activism have seen messages spread more rapidly across the world and have led to an escalation of events such as the “storming of the Capitol” in Washington DC, Black Lives Matter protests in cities worldwide, and rioting in response to citywide curfews imposed by governments in attempts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The acceleration of technology-based activism has seen both positive and negative changes occur in politics and individual awareness for the needs of local communities. It is also true that such forms of activism have become more visible, more forceful, and in some cases more susceptible to fake news and algorithmic manipulations”.