Fiber Dad's Weekly Adventure
I wish that this post was one of those indulgent, hifalutin types of essays that shows that I had a bunch of time to reflect and think about my work. It isn’t though. My poor daughter came down with the stomache flu on Wednesday night. We have had plumbers in the house trying to clean out our laundry line for three of the last four days, and we are on break from school. Life happens, right? Totally, I am sure all y’all know that to be true. That’s why I have started calling myself Fiber Dad. I just do my day job; gleefully weave away at my little fiber spells while hanging with my daughter; and I dream, scheme and plan my next steps. Honestly, we are glob darn due for a more pedestrian essay that isn’t trying so hard to be something, to do something out of the wreckage that is being wrought in the world right now. I am not saying that we put our heads in the sand, but there is nothing wrong with taking care of my Fiber Dad responsibilities and going into a relative power save mode on everything else.
So, what’s our agenda for this week? Well, I want to give you a run down on what’s going on in my studio with my weavings (my couch lmao), talk a bit about what I am cooking up for fiber club, reflect on a wonderful quote from Robin Wall Kimmer from her book The Serviceberry, and give a brief photo essay. I am sure that I will go off on numerous tangents, so buckle up dear reader, the Fiber Dad is deploying his imaginarium. tehehe
Studio Update
If you follow along with me on thee olde instagram, then you probably have noticed the uptick in posting about my process. The reason for this is two fold. First, I have been creating a lot more. I am not sure what has come over me. Last week in my essay “On the Path,” I talked about how people being willing to accept a hand crafted spell I made with my hands for gives me a purpose that is like a shot in the arm. It’s not that the other things I have woven over the last few years weren’t fulfilling. I loved being able to tell my story in fiber. However, its different when your piece is going someone for an explicit purpose (protection or adornment) and the item is a gift. It feels like throwing the yoke off of making my fiber practice “make money” has freed me to be a community-based artisan in the best possible way. So, I finished an entire 10 in. x 6 in. weaving this week for my new bud Amber right after I finished a protection weaving for long time bud Farmer Jade. I have not delved into that sort of pedal to the metal weaving in some time. Let me tell you though, dear reader, it felt good to feel like I was needed.
The trouble with plying an ancient craft and trying to charge for it is that it puts too much of the worth that’s connected to a piece of art in the hands of the “marketplace.” As a sociologist, I know this is like a, “DUH,” moment, but I still need to say it: Commodifying your art, or making your art into an object that is sold, can take away the joy and meaning that you derive from the process. I first learned this lesson by selling my love for sociology and turning it into an wage labor job: be careful plying your passion for money. Now, I am learning it again with my fiber art. Now that I have gone back to plying my wares as gifts and trades, the passion for the craft has returned. Go figure, right? Well, it’s that and nobody is gonna argue with a free handcrafted object, unless they are scared of Beardos like me. hehe So, in economic terms, a free price tag increases demand a wee bit.
Fiber Club
As y’all probably remember in my recent essay, I Want to Build my Local Fiber Infrastructure (see link below), I really just want to be in my local community with other handcrafters. As part of my efforts toward that goal (hehe its so weird to say its a goal to be in community with people), I have been going to the Fiber Club at the Art Gym, an artspace close to my house. In keeping with my gifting tendencies, I have been gifting up a storm to my fellow members. It started small last month with cupcakes from my local bakery and yarn for a friend who was attending. This next month I am doing a giveaway for a copy of Leodrune Press’ “Occult Needlecraft” to one person who attends our meeting this Tuesday, December 3 from 4-6 pm. Why? Well, I want to spur on people getting access to the sorts of resources that were central to me writing the Enchant Your Fiber Arts Series. You know weavers are smart to always reach back and bring others along on their journey.
Next month I will be giving away a “Fiber Artist of the Month” Blue Ribbon to each person who shows up to our January meeting. Again, the small-minded person would ask, “Why spend your precious money on such a frivolous thing?” Now, that small person I envision as a white male libretarian who believes that government should only pave roads and “ensure public safety.” To that person, I would simply respond that you cannot weave a web in a community without forging the bonds with the people around you. Me spending $100 dollars to get those ribbons custom printed for the fiber club and having left overs to send to people around the world provides me with with the opportunity to build the people up around me by giving them a physical symbol that their art matters. The ability to do that with a silly little spectacle of a blue ribbon cuts away the facade that such accolades must be earned. No, you already earn them by handcrafting in a culture that would rather you be rendered a passive consumer who doesn’t let your wild, passionate heart run free in the cauldron of creation. Your art matters.
Anyways, it is really fun to work on these projects as little community-building exercises. I love making buddies. I don’t have a ton, but I am open to being buddies with folx.
William Morris Memorial Fiber Arts Guild
One thing I learned throughout the years is that making something free doesn’t increase “demand” exponentially though. I have often times offered to teach people to weave for free, sending folks a loom, tools and yarn to get started and offering my time to demo. Surprisingly enough, not a ton of people take me up on this offer. I experienced this again with the blue ribbons that I made for Fiber Club. I offered them up to folx online for free, because who doesn’t want a Fiber Artist of the Month blue ribbon? I mean, comon! That is awesome to have on hand. Well, the demand for this blue ribbon was not high. I had exactly one person reach out for one when I offered them up.
Upon riffing upon this issue with friend of the Fiber Dad M. Graves, it dawned on us that you can’t just ask people to buy a “Fiber Artist of the Month” Blue ribbon. We call these sessions RIFFING WITH THE BOSS HOSSES, because we are both primo hoss nerds. lmao. Well M. Graves isn’t. They have met Enya. Me? I am just some dude writing to you from his basement trying to riff with the greats. Anyways, the riffage helped us understand that this sort of accolade needs to be bestowed on the artist by an esteemed, august guild of crafters. So, what did we do? We created the William Morris Memorial Fiber Arts Guild. Through the magical art of creating a logo and placing it on letter head, we created a respected guild that will spread the joy of the Fiber Dad and his fellow much more qualified guild members throughout the land. Yes, building things is that easy. All of this stuff, like gender, race, and private property, is just made up in society, but real in its consequences for folx lives. I figure why not use the fact that we are surrounded by social constructions to make a positive difference in other folks lives to push back on all the garbage can social constructs we have to deal with. A new fiber art guild that gives out blue ribbons can only be a net positive for folx methinks.
You know that one person who reached out for a blue ribbon? Well, they were the first recipient of the William Morris Memorial Fiber Arts Guild Fiber Artist of the Month Award, complete with a personalized official letter that explains why they received the award and blue ribbon. I will also throw in some of my kooky stickers as an added prize. Congrats to Caitlin Ffrench! tehehehe.
The Serviceberry
In the online Missing Witches circle I am a part of, I offered to teach folks to weave for free and no one took me up on the offer. Like, I even offered to send folx a loom, yarn, and tools and show them over zoom. Crickets. TEHEHEHE However, the universe decided to reward me for my offer by prompting someone to post this wonderful excerpt about gift economies from Robin Wall Kimmerer in response to my offer:
Holy shizza! This is the language that I have been looking for, so I must thank the great gelatinous globules that reign supreme in the Jello badlands for having someone send this my way. Honestly, relationships are the currency that I want to live by. I want to help people and rest in the reward of knowing others will help me back. I want to get lost in weaving a web that is marked by a never-ending cascade of reciprocity where everyone gets to flourish. I don’t want to exchange money. I just want to trade my wares for other people’s wares so that we all may just get to enjoy each others work. But for real though, if you want to learn to weave, I will teach you for free. We could trade or you could just enjoy learning from a Beardo. hehehe
So far, this week I have lined up trades for Awenden’s new album World Map I, which I have had on repeat since it got released this week. Not since This Will Destroy You got pissed that evangelical churches were using their Self-Titled album in their recruitment videos and released the incredibly dark Tunnel Blanket have I experienced a post-rock record that is willing to be unabashedly dark and enchanted at the same time. As some one who finds illumination among the dark muck of grief, I find a kinship with the record, because it doesn’t trade in cheap crescendos. No, it just meanders, like we all do, through the dark, looking for deeper meaning. I often times find myself lost in thought while listening to the record and startle to the recognition that a section of the song is incredibly poignant or beautiful. Well done, Awenden! I hope we get many more World Maps. (Amateur music criticism done. hehehe)
I also get to trade my work with two of my biggest inspirations this coming month. This message just came through in the last few hours and I am over the moon. Like the fact that they would even want one of my weavings in their home is so deeply humbling. I literally fan ghoul around about their work to everyone and wear their shirts all the time. They are gonna draw something for me! So I am thinking of getting a cartoonish depiction of me in robes carrying a loom and spindle. tehehe I cannot wait to make their piece! My weaving queue looks like this right meow:
1.) Bike adornment for Ayla
2.) Tiny Symbol Weaving for World Maps I
3.) Larger weaving trade for illustration trade.
4.) Bike Adornment for my Mechanic
5.) Bike Adornment for Friend.
6.) Larger weaving trade for a Spider tattoo from Leah Samuels.
I cannot tell you when the last time I had this many weavings on my docket. The only difference? I am not trying to sell anything. I am literally just asking people if I can weave something for them. Some folx are like, “yeah, but let’s trade,” which is even better. There is an abundance of purpose and a life of service to be found when you surrender to the web in this way. There is a reason that the Gaelige word for weaver, fíodóir, also means spider. We weavers are also webmakers, trying to weave everyone together. Well, I am at least trying to weave myself to others as a way to combat the hyperindividualism of our times. I’m done seeking out renown for myself. I just want to be of service to others.
Photo Essay
Assorted polaroids from recons for daycare facilities, our forced day off for colonial holiday table post stomache flu, and other adventures of Fiber Dad! This works the same way every week. I give myself one $13 pack of polaroid film to shoot a week—that’s 8 shots. Sometimes I hit a homerun on each shot, others I don’t. Sometimes I even get the dread double exposure of two film shots shooting out in with one camera click. Sure, I could just use my 35mm film camera, but I love the practice of shooting the polaroid photo, squirrelling it away in my bag, and getting to look at the shots when I get home. I don’t think there are many feelings that rival getting a cool polaroid shot.
Welp, I told myself I wasn’t gonna write a long one, but here we are and its 8:26 PM on Saturday. LMAO. Thanks for being here. I really appreciate you caring. It makes this place so much more tolerable.
Until next time dear reader,
James
Robin Wall Kimmerer, “The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World.” Bookshop.org ↩
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