2024

November 2024

Well…. Hurricane Helene has impacted me although not as bad as some folks who lost everything. Just a few months ago I had shared information at HGA Convergence about CERF (Craft Emergency Relief Fund) and donated money to World Central Kitchens. What a shock to see them at work in my community! In the middle of this, my computer and phone died and I got covid for the first time. We were without electricity for two weeks and water for three and drinking water for five. Thanks everyone who checked on me.

The studio had water seeping up through the floor and I started pulling up my engineered bamboo flooring as soon as it passed by. I’ve moved studio equipment to one side of the studio and getting ready to put the new underlayer on. I’m trying to pretend I’m doing a site specific artwork covering a large space with an aluminum covering! It has really slowed me down in terms of getting back to people trying to get me scheduled for next year, assembling the new loom I bought in September, and, oh yes, actually weaving something. Here are a couple of photos showing the chaos (taken with my new phone) and a “before” photo to remind me where I’m headed.

January 2024

I’m gearing up for a busy year teaching and have put workshops on my workshops page as they come up. In February I team teach with another sashiko weaver Phyllis Miller at the Campbell folk School. This should be a sashiko saturation with lots of ideas about this new/old structure. I’m excited to go to The North House Folk School in MN immediately afterwards. They did a little interview with me for their blog which talks about how I got started with sashiko ori. https://northhouse.org/blog/sashiko-ori-weaving-a-conversation-with-beth-ross-johnson

I have a new article on weaving friend and teacher and “weaving legend” Norman Kennedy for VAV in December 2023 and look for a rather comprehensive article on ikat with VAV coming soon.

2023

NEW PUBLICATIONS

October 2023

This summer I’ve had several pieces in textile magazines. “Destinies Drawn and Spun: Images of Eve and Mary as Spinstresses” in Shuttle, Spindle & Dyepot Fall issue; “Toshiko Taira” in September Handwoven Magazine, and “Catching Fire: Flamme Textiles of Europe” in the Proceedings of the Textile History Forum from his summer’s conference. All of these are on subjects I’ve been interested in for a long time and they just happened to be published all at once. Writing forces me to get my thoughts focused and organized. Sometimes, through the process of editing, I’ll eliminate something but realize it needs a whole article devoted to it. Later this year and early next I’ll have a couple more pieces in Väv magazine.

MORE SASHIKO-ORI

March 2023

In February of this year I gave myself an artist’s retreat and spent a week at the John C Campbell Folk School exploring a few new sashiko-ori patterns. There is no end to what can be done with this structure and I look forward to sharing it in workshops this year and next.

NEW FOR 2023- this website!

Lots of bugs to work out but at least I’ve joined the 21st century.

I have some new venues to teach at this year including at MAFA, the Mid-Atlantic Fiberarts Association workshops and Yadkin Valley Fiber Center. I also have some writing projects going on this year and continue to learn more about my most recent research projects of European Flamme ikats and Sashiko ori. Technically I have been adapting some of the warp ikat methods I saw in Mallorca to handweaving.