bolivian warmi

About me

Weaving Since

Kinds of weaving

Navajo tapestry, Andean supplementary and complementary warp, Guatemalan supplementary weft, Central and SE Asian pick up techniques, weft twining

Pets? Kids?

siamese cat

Favorite Color

olive green, burnt orange,all colors from natural dyes

Favorite Fiber

alpaca, 8/2 mercerized cotton

State/Province

Other

Other

Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Website or blog

http://backstrapweaving.wordpress.com/

About me

My name is Laverne.

I am an Australian living in Santa Cruz, Bolivia where I teach English. I have lived in S America for 19 years. I started off in Chile's Patagonia in sheep country and, on a trip to Colorado in 1995, I learned Navajo weaving and a little about spinning. I had a Navajo loom built when I returned to Chile and made a few rugs. Then my interest grew to South American weaving and I got hold of a few books. I was lucky enough to get to go to Peru in 1996 and learn to weave with a backstrap loom as well as spin with a drop spindle and have since dedicated myself entirely to this loom. Since this first trip in 1996, I have learned to weave with indigenous women and men in Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru and, most recently, in Guatemala. I moved to Bolivia in 1998. Some of my teachers asked me to teach them techniques from Bolivia and other regions-that was fun! On a trip to Ecuador in 2007, I got a little experience studying and documenting techniques with an American anthroplogist and I hope to put out a book someday showing and teaching the various structures that I have learned. I look forward to chatting with other weavers here on this site and hope to be able to help out with any questions about backstrap weaving and also learn from the vast store of information out there!!

I have a blog about backstrap weaving backstrapweaving.wordpress.com/

EDIT: MY FIRST TECHNIQUE BOOK IS OUT! It is a how-to book on Andean pebble weave and is available as a downloadable PDF or in book form. You can buy it from Patternfish.

http://www.patternfish.com/patterns/8348

I am a teacher

I teach

I have been weaving with a backstrap here in Bolivia for the last 14 years-complementary and supplementary warp techniques and supplementary weft patterning that I have learned with indigenous weavers in Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Guatemala.

I love to teach and have taught some of my indigenous teachers techniques from other countries and regions as well as a few of my colleagues here in Bolivia.I have also taught tourists who were passing through Santa Cruz, where I live. As well as teaching techniques I also have lots of tales about my learning experiences and textiles I have collected along the way. I have taught workshops on backstrap basics and specific weaving structures at several guilds and weaving studios in the USA in California, Oregon, Maryland, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Texas. I will be teaching at Braids 2012 in Manchester England.