Lisa Trujillo·
Dyed in the Wool – New Mexico Magazine article
https://issuu.com/henrylopez07/docs/dyed-in-the-wool
Lisa Trujillo·
Sheep and Wool
The breed of sheep brought by the Spanish to New Mexico is called Navajo-Churro or Churro. It is a hardy breed, well suited to the extremes of our local climate and terrain. It is common for churro to bear twins, which would certainly be advantageous from the point of view of hungry sheep owners. Its wool is not as greasy as most breeds, requiring less precious water and shorter preparation time for the spinner. Churro wool has a luster that, in a lot of old pieces, has an almost silky look. Its fleece also has what is commonly described as...
Lisa Trujillo·
Finishing Pieces
Spinning is really relaxing. Weaving can be all kinds of things; exciting, tiring, frustrating, and, at its most fun, an intellectually challenging puzzle. Because the weaving process is often incredibly long I rarely think about the finishing work that will be necessary when I get through weaving. But the finishing work brings crucial qualities to the final piece, mainly what it looks like and how it feels to the human touch. The finishing process is especially challenging with my handspun churro pieces. Churro pieces, whether handspun or millspun, tend to be fuzzy looking things. My personal take is that I...
Emily Trujillo·
Spanish Market 2014
We have participated in Spanish Market for a very long time. Irvin’s first Market was in 1976, and Lisa started in 1982. It was under the two portals, at the Palace of the Governors and on the east side of the Plaza, on Old Santa Fe Trail. There are only a handful of us who go back that far. What it means, more than anything, is that Spanish Market has become a blur in our memories. We remember people we meet there kind of vaguely, even if we spent time engaged in fascinating conversation with them. I wish I could...
Lisa Trujillo·
An Evolution of Rio Grande Weaving
This is actually a fairly complete history of Rio Grande weaving. A few weeks ago we were a part of a group of amazing experts on the local Hispanic culture of Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado that met in Alamosa, Colorado. The participants are all instructors for something called the Hilos Institute. The Institute is, we learned, about teaching instructors at Adams State University about the culture that a lot of their students come from, so that they can be do a better job as teachers. And what they wanted us to understand, was how to organize our knowledge...
Lisa Trujillo·
Chimayo
Chimayo is the style that Irvin and Lisa learned first, before learning to weave the older parts of the tradition. There is a logic and a mindset that is central to weaving the Chimayo style. And there’s all of that going back and forth between shuttle weaving and tapestry weaving. It may be the first style that we learned to weave, but it isn’t necessarily an easy thing to do. Let’s start by describing and defining the style the best we can. A Chimayo has two stripes and a center design. The bigger the piece is, the more room there...