My looms are not pretty, they are functional. They are well used. They have 'scars'. The wood has gained patina from the sweat from my hands on the beater - literally.
(And for those of you who would comment that you must always hold the beater in the precise centre, let me hasten to reassure you that on this loom, you don't need to. Therefore I hold the beater in the more ergonomic position of in alignment with my shoulders.)
At times I feel a little embarrassed about the condition of my looms. The Leclerc was a rescue loom and has many 'scars' from how it was treated before I got it. Doug cleaned it up but most of the scars are cosmetic and I needed it in production not getting a beauty treatment so he just sanded the worst of the dings and scratches out of the wood - anything that might interfere with weaving.
Since the Next Big Project will happen in my studio I am not going to be able to disguise the marks of being well used from public scrutiny and that bothered me - a little. Until I decided that my looms are a reflection of their lives, just like my body is a reflection of my life.
I come with wrinkles and scars at my age and experience. So do my looms.
2 comments:
Laura, your looms are as beautiful as you, full of stories, experience, wisdom. Anyone who might enter your kingdom must appreciate that
Ditto Claudia.
If our looms lived in our living rooms, we might want them to be pristine, but then, they don't, and making a living on 'em is more important than how pristine they are!
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