urban weavers

After visiting Sra. Iselia and her sister out in the countryside, Francisco and I took the bus back into Padre Las Casas to visit another weaver who will be having a workshop built in her home. Isabel has been weaving in one of the upstairs rooms of her house for over ten years. The space is tiny and barely fits the loom in which she is currently making pillow covers. One of the wooden poles of the loom has created holes in the wall and ceiling from the weight and pressure over time. Much like the reaction I had to the beautiful weaving I saw in the dark and run down space at Iselia´s sister´s place, I was also immediatedly enamored with the soft green pillow cases being created on Isabel´s loom. She dyed the yarn with eucalyptus leaves and is incorporating Mapuche designs into each piece. She showed us some of the yarn drying outside (for another project) which she had recently dyed olive green using peach leaves. Whatever is surrounding the loom or the yarn, whether it is a dirt floor or a torn up wall, it seems to fall away and the art of the weaving process always shines through.