love in the time of coronavirus: sheltering at the haddaway house

staying home is fun when you live in a place as wild and fantastic as this!

shelter from the coronavirus with us

at the albuquerque home
of photographer barbara forshay and sculptor ed haddaway.

sonia usmar: contemporary nigerian artist and musician

Sonia is a contemporary artist and concert pianist living in Lagos, Nigeria, West Africa. Born in Canada, and bred in four countries.

Take a look at her beautiful series of paintings, "African Mats."

lynnette haozous/chiricahua apache, navajo, taos pueblo: activist and artist

Lynnette Haozous (Chiricahua Apache, Navajo, Taos Pueblo) is a remarkable woman. She is a passionate activist, organizer, actress, writer, and artist. She is dedicated to justice, environment, and community and reaches many, many people with her stunning artworks.

Learn more about this amazing human below.

Cristian Barnett's Arctic Photography

Do yourself a huge favor and go look at these AMAZING photos by Cristian Barnett.

Dominique Christina - "The Period Poem"

Rabari People: Photographs by Jimmy Nelson

Jimmy Nelson is a photographer who has traveled among some of the globe's last-remaining tribal peoples, including the Rabari of Western India. His images are astounding. 

Textiles and Pottery: A Conversation with Earthborne Art

Artist Dana Morton of Earthborne Art produces these amazing ceramics impressed with textiles.

Vaginal Knitting (The Feed)

This artist creates a tactile line/thread connecting herself to textile makers across the globe and across thousands and thousands of years. It's a beautiful, soft, loving, and fierce performance. It is superbly alive and real.
I love this. I love her. Her voice is so beautiful.

The Tunnel in Ruben’s Yard

A vortex of trees the corbelled sky and wind
ghosts arriving
From your guitar
I hold myself still
Hold my brain
watch your fingers intently
Think of
Quiescence deafferecence
Memories cascade calescing in the rhythm
Of your hair that arcs over the guitar
You look down at the strings as you sing
About a tear that you cannot possibly see
About cracks in the rock
Through which my dead lover floats
On dreamy theta waves and slow alphas
Mingling in the hemispheric pool of beautiful gamma
He sways there and I love you
For bringing him

and for telling me: He is the tear that falls from your eye.

MIRI

Erin Duquette: Artist

The amazing Erin Duquette has just posted a poetic loveliness about hoods 
on her blog. PLEASE check it out: WRAPPED IN THOUGHT.

Image by Erin Duquette, All Rights Reserved.

Art and Evolution: Part I (Cognitive Lines)

Pech de l'Aze aurochs bone with deliberate markings. Lower Paleo (200,000 bp) (This drawing pilfered from Don's Maps)

Art plays a huge part in our lives. Many of us dedicate our lives to creating, studying, or appreciating art. But did you know it was (and is) a crucial factor in the survival of our species?

Featured Artist: John Hopper from The Textile Blog

Each day I receive little jewels in my facebook newsfeed: the Textile Blog's amazing photographs of amazing artworks. In between political rants, scandals, and the minutiae of past acquaintances' daily meanderings, these posts trickle in, providing a moment of quiet beauty, awe, and peace. These are grounding moments. These are moments in which I can re-center and remember that the world is a good place. This virtual curation and dissemination of treasures seems to be an art in itself.

Featured Artist: Jose Van Loon

Jose Van Loon is a textile artist from the Netherlands. Visit her webpage: http://www.josevanloon.nl/, and facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jose-van-Loon.

From her webpage (this is Bing-translated  from Dutch):

"I'm trying to turn inside out,
the material is converted into a symbol,
that each one for himself can translate to a new interior."

This art speaks to me of how the wild is viewed by humans, the proprietary nature of humans, moments and breaths caught for analysis, threads binding ancient with modern, the poetics of science. Each piece is an artifact that still lives. Tangled ghost houses under glass. Categorized and labeled. Silent and proper. And infinitely beautiful.
 

Perspectives Part 4: Me and Jack Cassin on Slit-Weave Tapestry

This is the fourth and final installment in a series of interpretations of a single textile by myself and a guest expert, Jack Cassin.

Part 1 of Slit-Weave Tapestry with Jack Cassin
Part 2 of Slit-Weave Tapestry with Jack Cassin
Part 3 of Slit-Weave Tapestry with Jack Cassin

Perspectives Part 3: Me and Jack Cassin on Slit-Weave Tapestry

This is the third installment in a series of interpretations of a single textile by myself and a guest expert, Jack Cassin.

Part 1 of Slit-Weave Tapestry with Jack Cassin
Part 2 of Slit-Weave Tapestry with Jack Cassin


Jack Cassin is a well-known textile and carpet researcher and collector. He curates two fascinating websites, each well worth a visit:

Perspectives: Part 2 - Me and Jack Cassin on Slit-Weave Textile

This is the second installment in a series of interpretations of a single textile by myself and 

a guest expert. Please see the first post here.

Through this blog, I have become acquainted with Jack Cassin, a well-known textile and carpet researcher and collector. He curates two fascinating websites, each well worth a visit:

Perspectives: Part 1 - Me and Jack Cassin on Slit Weave Textile

Bohemia: Magical Textiles is trying something new. This is the first in a series of interpretations of a single textile by myself and a guest expert.

Letter from Jack Cassin, Textile Expert

Through this blog, I have become acquainted with Jack Cassin, a 

well-known textile expert with sometimes controversial views. Jack is a 
highly passionate guy! He curates two fascinating websites. The research 

presented, the textiles on display, and the extremely lively 
discussions are absolutely riveting. Please check them out. 

You will NOT be sorry.

Rug Kazbah

Weaving Art Museum and Research Institute

Featured Artist: Sonya Kanelstrand

Tiny Planet.

Exploring the association of textile art with altered states of consciousness and shamanism has started me thinking about the pivotal role of art in human culture and our survival as a species. 

Phosphenes, Entoptics, and a Tiered Cosmos

In the last post I mentioned that altered states of consciousness can result in the experience of phosphenes or entoptic images. These are geometric images or flashes of light that arise from the central nervous system and visual cortex. They are common to all humans (and possibly other animals). You can experience phosphenes by pressing on your closed eyelid. You'll see little illuminated squares, dots, ladders, and other motifs. That's a phosphene! When a phosphene or entoptic image appears in prehistoric art, it can be argued that the art is related to altered states of consciousness, trance, shamanism, or all three. These motifs appear in cave art, megalithic art, and many other forms of art including textiles.

Entoptic "floaters"