Not a Teacher

I'm a self-taught weaver; a few things I do without thinking, some I don't know how to do properly and wing it; and some I do in different ways depending on the fiber, weather or just-because. Yet others, I pace, talk to and gaze for hours, days and weeks concocting a solution. This is why I don't teach; I may not know the answer, or I may confuse you because I'll blurt out three different solutions. I always thought weaving is what you make of it, and it's a solitary thing for me; I cherish that.

So it was with trepidation and anxiety that I awaited for the appointed time on Friday when Annie came with her dressed-and-partially-worked rigid heddle loom she picked up in Christchurch for $30 then hauled back to Nelson on a bus. I knew Annie to be a young art school graduate, with some experience working in several art galleries, with a famous artist big sister; we worked together packing up Red as we knew it. She asked me earlier in the week if I could show her how to weave, and I didn't know how to say no to this lovely youth, so we set a time. I thought I'd wing it, not make it a regular thing, but just show her enough; she's an art school graduate, she'll know what to dobeyond the mechanics. I should have a lovely time over a cup of tea.

And that's how it went. For four and a half hours. We talked about weaving, galleries, climate change and natural disasters, NZ politics, and we had a lovely time. She's one intelligent cookie, and I take it a superb listener. She got the basic idea from my frantic, fragmented explanation, with great illustration, (body language, that is.) We're not sure if she's going the cloth-weaving route, the art/show-piece road or both or something in between, so we went back and forth brainstorming. She's worried about putting on a new warp, so she might come back to dress my RHA. All I'll do is to think of a project, collect material/tools, and figure out the numbers; when she comes, I'll give her just enough hints so she can make the warp and dress the loom. Win, win.

Make no mistake, I'm not turning into a teacher; I'm not good at it. But I can do this with Annie.

And speaking of someone who does teach, last week when I was working on the sketchbook, guess who looked up at me from the pages of an old Australian magazine? Kaz!

And then last week I found this on TradeMe, the NZ version of eBay. Having been published in 1990, and from the title, I didn't think there would be much about multishaft or complex drafts, but if Kaz had anything to do with it, it would be full of lovely colors, and it was!!

Thursday afternoon I had a tooth extracted from top left at the back; why does it hurt at bottom right now??