Not long ago, I was in Palm Springs for a wedding. While walking through the shops downtown, I found a store called The White Llama, a store specializing in handcrafted items (mostly textiles) from Peru. I entered the store excited to look at backstrap weaving and alpaca sweaters. While I did find those, I was also greeted by several enormous abstract tapestries with colorwork so good they almost looked painted.
I pointed to them and whispered to my husband, “These looks like the work of Máximo Laura.” (Máximo Laura, if you don’t know, is a truly incredible and world-renowned tapestry artist from Peru—and one of my favorite artists in the world.) The owner of the store noticed my pointing and let us know that the tapestries were woven by a master weaver in Peru by the name of Laura. I don’t know who was more shocked, me that I was seeing the works of Máximo Laura in person, or the owner, who was amazed that I was very familiar with the weaver and his work. We chatted not just about Laura, but also about the history of abstract images in Peruvian art going back to the time of the Inca. While nobody could mistake Laura’s work for ancient Incan weaving, the inspiration is obvious.
So much in the art world is built off what came before it. For millennia, artists have looked to past works to discover new inspiration. In that vein, this issue of Easy Weaving with Little Looms is looking for weaving inspired by other types and works of art, styles of art, artists, and artistic mediums. This could mean a set of towels with colors pulled from Starry Night, a pin-loom throw pillow with cubist flair, a tapestry thick with textured weave reminiscent of impasto, or perhaps a towel inspired by the colorwork of Máximo Laura.
Although this pillow, Robin Lynde’s Mondrian in Moorman from Handwoven May/June 2013, was woven using a mutli-shaft, it’s a great example of art inspiring weaving. Photo credit: Joe Coca
As always, projects should be woven using a rigid-heddle, inkle, pin, potholder, or tapestry loom, or using weaving tablets/cards. Articles about techniques, design inspiration, or anything else related to weaving on a small loom are welcome as well.
Please note that we base our project selections for each issue on contributor photographs. We will review the proposals and ask for additional photographs, if needed. After the project-selection meeting, we will contact everyone whose project is accepted and ask that it be submitted along with the project paperwork.
You can find the palette for the issue here.
- Proposals for projects and articles due: 12/8/2023
- Photographs of projects due: 2/12/2024
- Non-project article text and photographs due: 2/12/2024
- Physical projects with paperwork due: 3/25/2024
Please use our Little Looms submission form for proposals. Submission guidelines can be found here.
Please use the address below for any questions or inquiries that won’t fit into our submission form. Please contact us and ask for a physical address to send any pieces of your proposal that cannot be emailed.
Editorial email: [email protected]
We are looking forward to seeing your proposals for projects and articles!
Happy weaving!
Christina