Hi! I know, I haven't blogged in... well, nine months. How's 2012 treating you? My year has been pretty strange. After three years, I left my job in June (and it was pretty all-consuming up until then) and have been doing some freelance and consulting work and trying to determine the next mission, adventure, experience, direction, and how and where to make a living. It was a summer of heat and fires and drought here, and autumn is a lovely relief (albeit a temporary one, if the climate change scientists are correct).
I did just have a beautiful nine days in Washington, DC, where I gave a presentation on Slow Cloth at the Textile Society symposium. I've put the talk and slides into PDF form and you are welcome to download it and share it. The file is about 4.5 MB.
Download SlowClothTalkSept2012
Meanwhile, obviously, I have not successfully rebooted this blog on WordPress yet. I still hope to do that but right now I'm evaluating everything and will need to let some things go or transform them into what works now.
Enjoy the PDF. As you'll see, over the past few years many wonderful people have given me permission to use their images as examples of the spirit of Slow Cloth, and I'm very grateful. I welcome and appreciate your feedback.
a detail of one of my vision boards - the quote and pictures came from pages in O magazine, I believe.
Selinde, thank you! Your Local Cloth project makes me want to move to Asheville. It looks quite amazing. Id love to learn more about your model and whether it can be replicated in other communities. Dont be discouraged - there is momentum to the slow textile approach and you are truly doing something remarkable. Ive just posted it on the Slow Cloth FB page. And thank you for your kind words. Id be honored to be on your blogroll if you feel inclined. Warm regards, Elaine
Posted by: Lainie | October 11, 2012 at 05:04 PM
I continue to be inspired by your clear and concise laying out of Slow Cloth's principles. I am a textile designer and weaver working with natural dyes, in a community committed to local craft and the honor of making, yet at times I feel like such a drop in the bucket of $5 t-shirts. What you are doing by sustaining this movement is so very important to so many of us. Please know it matters!
Posted by: Selinde Lanier | October 11, 2012 at 11:16 AM
Oops, if you do go to my site, the link I gave you isn't working because of the parentheses. Just try the blog and click on codex canadensis in the sidebar.
Posted by: Heather | October 10, 2012 at 03:32 PM
Lainie, it's so good to read your words again. Thanks so much for sharing the PDF of your talk. At the risk of being self-promoting, you may be interested in seeing the embroidery work I have been doing for the last several months (http://truestitches.blogspot.ca/search/label/codex%20canadensis) After reading the text of your talk, I feel that this work embodies the approach of Slow Cloth. You and your work have undoubtedly been an influence on me, thank you so much for defining a space where I feel I belong.
Posted by: Heather | October 10, 2012 at 03:29 PM
A great read, Elaine. Congratulations.
"Make some or all of the qualities of Slow Cloth your reference point, and you regain power,
control, and meaning over your relationship with textiles." To me, reading your thoughts on Slow Cloth always brings me calmness and also courage; at once your thoughts bring me back to my 0,0 in my making, and that I needn't worry so much.
You have known that I always wondered about place/origin of certain textile traditions and the Internet/travel and transplanting of techniques, aesthetics and other components of the making. This time I also wondered if generational cultivation/handling of certain traditions relate to SC; that traditions (and I think I mean largely aesthetic,) that have survived in a region, say, have something of a universal appeal. Being a twice-transplanted citizen of this planet, I think this may be a never-ending issue for me.
I was reminded that in 2001-2 when I started to think about a url for my weaving website, Slow Weaver remained a strong candidate until at last it lost the one I picked. It was between justifying my slow speed of work vs making me get working and the latter won.
And lastly but not at all the least, I'd love to see more of your textile work. Pretty, please.
Posted by: Meg in Nelson | October 03, 2012 at 02:23 PM