Mar 11, 2015 | Adventures of Rear-Mirror Rissy, Showing Off, Tlingit Culture Accentuated, To Market To Market |
Sue and Israel Shotridge enjoy one another; Clarissa Rizal’s “Chilkat Child” won Best of Class at the Heard Museum Juried Art Show, Phoenix, AZ – March 2015
Doing art markets alone is not as much fun, however if you get along with other artists who may want to do the show alongside with you, like Sue and Israel Shotridge, it’s so much more fun! We had a blast! This was their first year at the market; this is my third year. We were two of 600+ Native American artists featured at the Heard Museum Native Art Fair and Market usually held the first weekend in March; this was the Heard’s 57th year. Sue and I were not quite a year old when they first started this fair! There were also a few other Northwest Coast Native artists at the Fair, though not many of us: Dolly Garza, Diane Douglas-Willard, and Zoe Urness.
Shotridges and Rizal combine their “gallery space” in each of their 10′ x 10′ booths at the Heard Museum Indian Art Fair and Market, March 7 & 8 – Phoenix, AZ, 2015
To be a part of the fair, the application process starts each year in July. To qualify, you must be at least 1/4 Native American with proof of your CIB (Certificate of Indian Blood), there’s a $25 application fee, the largest, 10’x10′ booths are $500, you must provide a resume’, and 10 images of your best work within the last 3 years. It’s easy for myself because I have established a large body of work over the past 39 years, though for emerging artists, the application process may be intimidating; however, keep your faith in yourself, put your best foot forward, and if you have nothing major to show for yourself, then get on the ball and produce some work before the Heard Museum deadline for application! Get it together, step up to your plate that’s waiting to “feed” you! It’s up to you!
Israel Shotridge drums and sings a clan song to an audience in his booth at the Heard Museum Native Art Fair & Market, Phoenix, AZ – March 2015
A select group of the booths at the Heard are 10′ x 10′. The Shotridges and I took down the canvas wall that divided our booths; we wanted to be able to converse and especially have more light AND give buyers and opportunity to “step into our gallery.” —- These shows can be a lot of work. It took three hours to set up my simple booth below. It took three hours for the Shotridges to do the same. Yet there is a simple pleasure in the accomplishment of making our space look inviting, and in our opinion, it really is like setting up a temporary outdoor “gallery.”
Clarissa Rizal’s “little gallery” art booth at the Heard Museum Native Art Fair & Market, Phoenix, AZ – March 2015
Outside of winning ribbons and with the intent you will sell some work to help offset not only your costs but pay some of your bills for the next few months, one of the best parts (for me) about doing shows are the variety of people we meet from all walks of life and the invites to other shows and events, or invites to artist retreats or residencies, and not to mention the up-and-coming artists who look to you for guidance and advice. Generally speaking, I think people like to be needed; it gives us another sense of self-worth!
Recent glassblown pieces by Tlingit glassblower Preston Singletary at his annual art show held the same week as the Heard Art Market, at the Blue Rain Gallery in Scottsdale, AZ
Jeremy Frey won Best of Show for his magnificent basket, Heard Museum Juried Art Show, March 2015
Carver Israel Shotridge and Glassblower Preston Singletary
Sue Shotridge takes a photo of the award-winning bentwood box carved by her husband, Israel Shotridge — Heard Museum Juried Art Show and Market – March 2015
Clarissa Rizal and Sue Shotridge sport their cedar bark hats woven by Haida artist Merle Anderson – March 2015
Beadwork close-up by beadwork artist Marcus Amerman – (I am partial to the Chilkat emblem in dead center!); Heard Museum Juried Art Show & Market, March 2015
Marcus Amerman’s beaded “Smithsonian” piece at the Heard Museum Native Art Fair Juried Art Show, Phoenix, AZ – March 2015
Adrian Wall’s sculptures in blown glass and stone at the Heard Museum Native Art Fair & Market, Phoenix, AZ – March 2015
Feb 4, 2015 | Tlingit Culture Accentuated, To Market To Market |
The Alaska State Library will exhibit artwork from the book Mary’s Wild Winter Feast by Hannah Lindoff. Come feast your eyes on a selection of the illustrations, a collaboration between Tlingit collage artist Clarissa Rizal and digital artist Nobu Koch. They feature Mary’s adventures hunting, fishing, and foraging with her family in southeast Alaska. This exhibit is made possible by the University of Alaska Press and will be on display through March 27. First Friday opening reception will be on February 6 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Alaska State Library on the 8th floor of the State Office Building. For more information, contact Claire Imamura at (907) 465-2458or claire.imamura@alaska.gov <mailto:claire.imamura@alaska.gov> .
See it here: http://education.alaska.gov/DOE_News/InfoExch/ix150130.html#A10
Feb 3, 2015 | Honoring Others, Poetry Alaskan, Relationship Overdrive |
Clarissa and her children, Ursala, Lily and Kahlil – July 2011
A couple of weeks ago, one of my apprentices asked me if I would write a bio of myself that explained when I began to do my art and why. She said she had to choose someone who had influenced her life to become an artist; she choose me. This was an assignment she needed to present at her art class. My initial response was “Gee, I inspired her to become an artist? But I don’t want to write about me, it is so boring to go back that far and talk about who, what where when and why…” However, I gave her my word that I would do this for her that night. So, I “set the stage” with low lighting and a cup of tea; I do this whenever I have to write about my personal life to help me focus with very little struggle – then with very little editing, the words just flowed from my head down through to the keyboard onto the computer screen. Here’s what came…
19 January 2015
Sitting in the direct heat of the fake firelight of the electric Amish heater in my studio, always bundled in my sheepskin coat, sheepskin boots and hat because the heating device is not large enough to heat this one room where I work and sleep, I am never quite warm in Winter, though it’s better than being outside right now with 0 degree starlit snow. I reflect upon my life as an artist and wonder where it all started and if living the life of a full-time artist, especially now in a place without running water, without sewer, and without sufficient heat, was and continues to be, worth it.
No matter what age, for the past 59 years, I’ve always been a child of creativity, with a drive that is endless. I exist on 6 hours sleep a night; from the time my eyes are awakened by the early dawn until I suddenly stagger to my bed 18 hours later; like I am going-going-going, then gone! It’s only in the past couple of years that I realized that not everyone is like this; where have I been?
38 years ago today, my first child Kahlil was born, named after Kahlil Gibran who wrote many inspiring books including The Prophet, Spirits Rebellious, and my favorite The Broken Wings. Spiritually-inclined at a very young age, anything written about Christ had to be read; any paintings, prints and photos of Jesus had to be studied, so natural it was to read all of Gibran’s works when I was a young adult. And even though in the western way of living having a child at 20 was considered young, it was natural for me to think it normal because our Tlingit culture had the wisdom to know children are a gift of God.
My parents guided me into the way they were conditioned to get a “real job” to secure a pension plan to retire in 40 years. This worked for a little while. From the age of 14 to 20 I had real jobs working as a librarian assistant, a home-health aid for the elderly, a clerk typist for the Governor and for the Bureau of Indian Affairs Division of Contracting, until of course Kahlil was born. Being a new mother was challenging; I was not a natural-born mother because I was such a tom-boy and it was next to impossible to stay indoors day in and day out while the baby napped, I had to keep up with the diaper changes and laundry, and he had to be nursed every 2 hours 24-7! Holy cow!
To keep my sanity I turned to gardening; it got me outdoors yet close to home! I turned to drawing, crocheting and sewing. While he took his naps, and directly after putting the entire household to bed each night, I’d stay awake ‘till at least midnight, creating; it was my therapy! During the raising of my three children, I made a living over the next decades in a variety of ways: besides designing and making Tlingit ceremonial regalia in button blanket, Chilkat and Ravenstail weavings, I was an entrepreneur before I knew what that meant. I made hats, I sewed custom-made clothing, created costumes for local theatre companies, owned a landscape gardening company, and was co-owner of an online newspaper. In the 70s and early 80s, I took up learning our traditional arts from some of the best artists of their time: carving, regalia-making, traditional song and dance, metal-smithing, basketry, Chilkat and Ravenstail weaving. Just before my children were grown up and gone I had created a name for myself as one of the few, if not the only, Tlingit women who has been a full-time artist working in all of the above mediums for nearly 40 years, all in the name of keeping my sanity and being a stay-at-home-self-employed-mother because I did what my mother recommended I do: stay home with my children.
In a few years I will be 65; do I see myself retiring soon? No way. I have no pension plan; I have no savings; and I surely do not have an inheritance. I cannot afford to retire. And what would I retire to!? Would I retire to taking vacations? What for?…vacations are boring; I don’t want to relax – relaxing is a lot of work! Would I retire to volunteering at something? I been there done that volunteering all my life with the house concerts I used to produce in my own home; with the children’s theatre I used to co-produce; with the art shows and classes I used to teach, just to name a few. Would I retire to what most people retire to? Watching TV from the couch. What for? Is that really fun, is it productive, is it creative, does it do anyone any good? The only results I see from watching TV is weight gain—too much potato chips!
Would I retire to what some of us retire to? Art and music.
Hello? I am already there; I have been creating art and playing music all my adult life. Does this mean I’ve been retired all my life? Hmmm…an interesting perspective.
It looks like I will continue doing what I have been doing for almost 40 years. Why change now? I’m in the groove.
My children now have families of their own. Each of my children and their spouses are self-employed artists. I have watched them struggle with making ends meet like the way their father and I made ends meet never knowing where our next paycheck would come from and if next month’s bills would get paid. I watch them live like I have, not afford brand new cars, not take any vacations, not have the latest styles of clothing, all the while living with tension about the ability to keep a roof over their heads, mouths fed, and clothing clean. However, there’s a sense of pride and awe that I feel when I see the fact that they stay at home with their children, making wholesome meals from scratch, tending to a flourishing garden, doing their “art” and their little kids “working” right alongside them: happy. These are values I did not realize were taught to them by my own example, someone who has passionate creativity, a drive that has always been driven, at the edge.
Kahlil is a professional film-maker/director who also teaches film a couple of days a week at the Institute of American Indian Arts; his wife Miki is a counselor at the Santa Fe Arts Academy; their 7-year-old Violet enjoys chess tournaments, sewing, ice-skating, gymnastics and basketball. Lily is an award-winning, professional storyteller/actress and also a Ravenstail/Chilkat weaver and teacher; her husband Ishmael is also a professional storyteller/actor, excellent writer who recently published his first book of poetry. They have four children who are being home-schooled. Ursala is an oil painter, block-print maker, graphic artist/web designer, and is president of a local Charter school she is starting; her husband Chris is a lead singer/songwriter in his band, a sculptor and a house painter. Their two daughters are obviously following their footsteps! My children and grandchildren live fully.
To my best of my ability, I live a life of integrity. I keep watch of what I do to see what I believe. My offspring and my work is love made visible. I follow my heart because my heart follows the source of creativity that inspires me and continues to drive me. I am old enough to look back upon my life and enjoy it a second time around. All my relations, my parents, my children and their children are proof of the legacy that I co-created and will leave. And when I leave, my conscious will be clear and free, knowing all that I loved and lived, was worth it.
Feb 2, 2015 | Adventures of Rear-Mirror Rissy, Latest Art Projects, Showing Off |
Hand-painted mini-coops in Chilkat yellow and Indian red! by Clarissa Rizal
Let’s go for a quick road-trip in one of these “Chilkat Mobiles” zipping through the Redwood Forests and out across Canyonlands and Arches National Monuments sliding into Sedona across the Mohave dessert and up towards the Rocky Mountains! Yep, zippidity do dah at your fingertips in the miniatures of miniatures!
Jan 31, 2015 | Adventures of Rear-Mirror Rissy, Showing Off, To Market To Market |
“Chilkat Child” headdress and collar – trimmed with sea otter fur and 22. bullet shells – designed and handwoven by Clarissa Rizal
I am currently gearing up for a full year of travel to art shows, cultural center openings, and of course visiting my kids and grandkids along the way! Here’s my 2015 show schedule (subject to change):
1). Heard Museum Indian Art Market and Fair, Phoenix, AZ – March 5-8th – Booth #D45
2). Grand Opening of Soboleff Cultural Center, Juneau, AK – May 15
3). Teslin’s “KusTeYea” Celebration, Teslin, Yukon, July 24-26
4). Santa Fe Indian Market, Santa Fe, New Mexico, August 21-23
5). Haskell Institute Native Art Market, Lawrence, KS , September 12-13
6). Cherokee Art Market, Tulsa, OK, October 9-11
7) Autry Native American Art Market, Los Angeles, CA November 7-8
8). NMAI (National Museum of the American Indian) Holiday Art Market, NYC, December 5-6
Jan 30, 2015 | Honoring Others, Relationship Overdrive |
Ishmael and Lily Hope with their 4 children Elizabeth, Mary, Eleanor, Louis and Santa! – December 2014
Another fortunate child of mine who snuck in like her brother and sister when their mother wasn’t looking! Cheers to you for holding up with 4 children, and for making plans to go for your Masters Degree in Education, and starting the online weaving source called the Northwest Coast Weavers Supply, all this while helping to support Ishmael and his career as a writer and culture-bearer! You could sound like your mother, alas, you are your own strong-willed person — keep it up my dear while continuing to lovingly care for yourself! Lots of big hugs and kisses, my Nina!
Jan 27, 2015 | Honoring Others, Latest Art Projects, Tools-of-the-Trade |
Donna Beaver Pizzarelli, Al Pizzarelli, and Clarissa Rizal — street bench near Basin Road, Juneau, Alaska
For whatever reasons, my blog crashed on November 18, 2014. I didn’t know about it until three weeks later when I received a call from a total stranger out of Minnesota who was roaming my website and could not pull up my blog and thought he’d better bring it to my attention — like how cool is that!? How many people would go through the trouble?
In between her full-time job working for the USGS and doing her own creative works especially in Haiku poetry, and assisting her husband’s creative endeavors, Donna worked hard getting my blog up and running again, finalized today! YAY!
Check out Donna and Al’s poetry: www.haikuchronicles.com
Jan 23, 2015 | Adventures of Rear-Mirror Rissy, Honoring Others, To Market To Market |
Back side of my 1991 Toyota Corolla — Clarissa calls it her “Chilkat Mobile” — license plate “CNH 794” She considers these letters and numbers “good…!”
My “Chilkat Mobile” is originally from Juneau, Alaska. In December I put the car on the ferry for a 3-day sail to the port of Bellingham, Washington State. From Bellingham, I drove down to the mountains above Los Angelos, then across to Scottsdale and up to Pagosa Springs, Colorado. I drove through all kinds of storms, wind, rain, sleet, snow and finally sunshine! This car can make it up the infamous Wolf Creek Pass to Denver no problem. Though remember because it is a 4-cylinder, you have to drive in 2nd gear up the mountain passes.
Front of Clarissa’s “Chilkat Mobile”
“Chilkat” was owned by an elderly blonde woman who is now 92. 22 years ago, she and her husband bought two of these cars, a his and her pair: one for her, one for him. The cars were originally red, but they had both custom painted yellow. A little over a year ago, they both went into an elder-care home and so they sold both of their beloved machines. They took VERY GOOD CARE of these cars; in fact, they each had their own garage built especially for them; no kidding! Except for a few tiny nicks here and there from tiny rocks on the drive down here, the body is straight, no dents and no rust anywhere except for a small strip across the bottom part of the window on the back hatch door; I remedied that situation by placing yellow duck tape (the exact color of the car!) across the line of rust.
I bought the “her” car. Peggy was retired when she bought the car and had no children or grand-children, she mainly used the car to go do errands and such in the remote town of Juneau which has about 70 total miles of road as the town is land-locked. The car most likely did not ever go more than 60 miles an hour, if that, until of course, I drove it on the freeways from Bellingham — the car hums at 75 no problem with a load. When I drove down from Bellingham, I had the car packed with two suitcases, my paintings and prints and weaving looms. It probably hasn’t had any kind of load like that before.
On the car deck of the “MV Malaspina” ferry from Juneau, Alaska to Bellingham, Washington, then the long drive down to Colorado…!
Both cars were well maintained partially due to the fact that the husband was a boat and car mechanic as well as an inventor and both he and his wife were meticulous about everything they owned. I knew them personally. I grew up with them. They talked me into buying this car because they wanted me to have it because they knew I liked older cars and they knew I took care of my things. They also knew I needed a car to teach my classes up in Yukon Territory! For a 22-year old car, the interior is clean, barely worn anywhere because the car was mainly used by one person, so the grey upholstery is in great shape, no tears, no stains, no worn spots – there is only one worn spot on the carpet. I have my own maintenance records for a little over a year I’ve owned it since, I’ve had the oil changed three times; totally serviced and new rear brakes before I jumped the ferry with the car. I haven’t had to do anything major. It handles snow real well, hugs the road like a roadster; it’s a sweet thing!
As you can tell, I am proud of my “Chilkat Mobile”. I would not have sold it if it weren’t my need for a travel van. I need something larger because I am an artist who travels to a variety of shows “west of the Mississippi!” I need to carry all my art plus the display units. After at least 10 inquiries from prospective buyers from around the country in just a couple of days on the Craigslist market, “Chilkat” is now living in Taos, New Mexico with her new owner. I wish her a longer and more prosperous life; she served me well and in turn I wish her the best!
Jan 19, 2015 | Honoring Others |
My son Kahlil with his wife Mikiko and daughter Violet – July 2008
Kahlil has been a fortunate young man all his life; born in the year of the Dragon, a Capricorn with an Aquarian moon, married to a fantastic young lady with a beautiful child, how can things be otherwise?
An award-winning film-maker that has traveled the world, now teaches at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico and even though Violet is now 7 this March, Kahlil is actually thinking of “settling down.”
Your family is proud of you; your Grandma and Grandpa Lampe would continue to be proud of you.
Lots of love and big hugs, my “Stinkyboy!”
Dec 31, 2014 | Adventures of Rear-Mirror Rissy, Tools-of-the-Trade |
Duck tape the padded “handles” of the loose straps
When I travel back and forth by plane from Colorado to Alaska, or vice versa, I have never traveled light. I am always loaded with my work, supplies, fish, berries, etc. Many years ago, my father showed me this trick-of-the-loaded-traveler-trade.
Nowadays, with “homeland security” and all, wrapping our boxes with rope is futile; they just cut the rope off, cut open your box, and inspect it. I don’t want to waste my rope. But how do we still have our handles and use them too?
Instead of tightly wrapping your box, just make two loose-fitting straps with rope, duck tape the ends with extra tape wrapped around as show in photo. Remove the loose straps before you check your box into baggage; place your straps inside your suitcase pocket, or your carry-on. Bring them out when you arrive at your destination’s baggage claim, slip them back around your box, and get moving!
Easy to lift and maneuver heavy 3′ x 4′ box
I am pushing 60 and I weight 125 pounds. With this method I can easily maneuver a 60 pound bulky box! Thanks Dad!
Dec 26, 2014 | Honoring Others, Latest Art Projects, Showing Off |
From a 22″ half circle, Clarissa irons the “Christmas Tree” napkins
Using my daughter’s cutting/work table, you can see the black foam core template and the cutting tools and the stacks of fabrics in the back ground with the already sewn half-spheres
Napkins for the in-laws — the Ellis’
When Sue Shotridge and I went into the “Island Quilter” store on Vashon Island to buy some sewing notions for a button blanket, we noticed a napkin in the shape of a Christmas tree – suddenly we just had to buy some fabrics to make ’em for ourselves and Christmas gifts of course!
Christmas Tree napkins made for the Hope Family
First thing you gotta do is choose a selection of colors you like; before you do any cutting, make sure you pre-wash the fabrics and then iron all the fabrics folded in half, right and left selvages matched up. Then cut a template from a piece of smooth cardboard, cut a half circle that is 22 1/4″ long and 11″ wide. Lay out your fabric with salvage edge on both the left and right sides. Lay the straight edge of the cardboard along each salvage. You will get 2 double sets of half-curve; with right sides together sew along all the edges except leave about 4″ open, this enables you to turn the fabric right side out. Press. Topstitch along the entire edges. Then fold the half circle into the “trees” (shaped above). Voile’ ! Christmas trees!
After pre-washing the fabric and drying, then iron all the fabrics you intend to use
I had a stash of about $500 worth of beautiful textured cotton fabrics I had bought about 10 years ago when I was commissioned to do a large 25′ x 15′ wall mural, which got “vetoed” at the very last minute. so finally I put them to use. Sure I could have sewn a huge mural (if I had someone else paying my bills while I sewed), or used the fabrics for something that would have brought in an income, however, I have great pleasure in making things for people, and it’s been since 1989 that I have done that. So I cut into all the fabrics without any harm!
A beautiful selection of 100% cotton fabrics
I made 150 napkins during the week of Christmas. It was very nice to take a week off from any kind of business and just do a sewing project for my family and friends. Sewing always has a calming effect with lots of joy felt within me — very healing. I gave some away for Christmas, gave some away for birthday presents and will give some away for wedding gifts this year.
Another nice selection of Christmas tree napkins – these ones for K & M !
Dec 20, 2014 | Class Act, Tlingit Culture Accentuated |
A Chilkat apron started by Dodie Gannett in the 1980s
Two months ago, I received an email from a weaver who wanted my mailing address so she could pay me for copying my “Jennie Weaves An Apprentice — Chilkat Weavers’ Handbook.” Then she emailed me a couple of photographs of the above apron that was gifted to her and her 4 weaving buddies by John Beard. Of course, in the weaving world, everyone knows the infamous Ravenstail weaver John Beard, so I was intrigued by the story of this apron and John’s connection! Even though I do not normally teach non-Native women Chilkat weaving unless they are part of the Native community (i.e. married to a Native man OR adopted into a Clan), because they had already started to learn how to Chilkat weave, I felt right telling them that if they wanted my help, I would be willing to assist in teaching them things they would not learn from any other teacher nor any other book on the subject, and also since I would be up in their neck of the woods in December when I do my public presentation on Chilkat weaving at the Portland Art Museum. I put my line out there and they bit!
The following is a follow-up report from the five “Apron Apprentices” to their sponsor, the Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon:
“December 15-19, 2014, the Apron Apprentices spent five fun and informative days with Clarissa Rizal, a powerful Tlingit woman. These days were made possible in part due to the generous grant from the Native American Art Council to pay for Clarissa’s teaching fees and Sally Ishikawa’s kindness in providing space in her home for us to meet. Words alone cannot express our gratitude for these generous gifts.
The Apron Apprentices: Stephany Anderson, Sally Ishikawa, Margaret Woods, Joni Zimmerman, and Margaret Emborg Jeppesen Each with their “Apron Apprentices” bags gifted to each of us by Joni
The Apron Apprentices were first given the opportunity by John Beard to finish a Chilkat Apron started by Dodie Gannett in the 1980s. After two or three sessions of reading the weaving and slowly beginning to put in the first few twining stitches of our own, we began wishing for a teacher. Each of us in our own way began talking to our “left hand corner” looking for guidance in our journey with the apron. Our requests were answered when Clarissa offered to teach us the finger that Jennie Thlunaut taught her and share her weaving journey. She encouraged us to study and understand the spiritual journey of Chilkat weaving. With this special Apron, we have the opportunity to bring an important ceremonial object full circle back to life.
The weavers at their looms
One mystery associated with our Apron is that when it was brought to John Beard, it was accompanied by an older, also unfinished apron, of the same pattern. Some of the weavers at Damascus Fiber Arts School had vague memories of this apron, but no one could remember where it came from. We showed it to Clarissa, and as she held it in her hands she said, “Doris Kyber-Gruber.” Doris was a weaver who learned Chilkat weaving before she even went to Alaska, and was associated with Chief Lelooska in the 1950’s. In the 1960’s she went to the Haines area in Alaska, and she knew Jennie Thlunaut. (Clarissa notes: “I remember Agnes Bellinger telling me about Doris who learned Chilkat weaving from her mother Jennie. She said that Doris had written a manuscript on Chilkat weaving, but she decided to never publish it because she realized the sacredness the Tlingit held of this style of weaving. About 15 years ago, a friend gave me color slides of Doris sitting next to Jennie learning how to weave with a couple of Native women in the late 1960’s I have to find these slides!)
Stephany shoots a selfie of the 6 of us!
Doris later moved to Portland, and John Beard has been able to confirm with Dodie Gannett’s family that Dodie and Doris knew each other and that they actually went to Kasaan Village in SE Alaska together in 1971 to teach a Chilkat Weaving Class. l We did a little bit of research on Doris, and learned that she passed away just last summer. This is a link to her obituary: http://obits.oregonlive.com/obituaries/oregon/obituary.aspx?pid+171863740
Margaret Woods models John Beard’s latest Ravenstail robe: equisite!
Our group is in awe over these amazing connections through these aprons. During our week with Clarissa, besides the cultural and spiritual aspects of the weaving, we learned a lot of technical information. Clarissa understood and explained notations Dodie had made on her “pattern board” that will enable us to move accurately finish the Apron as Dodie intended. Also of interest is information on the pattern we are weaving.
Joni Zimmerman
The Field Museum in Chicago, in possession of a very old apron after which our Apron is patterned, has notes that the pattern is “Hoorts, the Bear.” Internet research of old legends says Hoorts is the grizzly bear. Clarissa noted, however, that there are flukes on our patter, which would make it the “sea grizzly,” associated with a clan on North Vancouver Island (area). As part of our weaving journey with this Apron, we will continue to research information on the history and legends associated with the pattern. Our week with Clarissa brought us closer together as a group and has given us knowledge needed to move forward with this project. We will not take this privilege lightly.” — The Apron Apprentices (Sally Ishikawa, Joni Zimmerman, Stephany Anderson, Margaret Woods and Margaret Emborg Jeppessen)
In the weaving room, the two aprons “meet” – In the foreground, we see the back side of the apron started by Dodie Gannett in 1980’s and facing us, we see the child-size Chilkat robe (also be worn as apron) started by Clarissa Rizal
Margaret Jeppesen
Margaret Woods
Sally Ishikawa
Stephany Anderson
I feel the “Apron Apprentices” need to partake in a ceremony where they experience the apron(s) being danced amongst our people. I would like them to experience Haines, the culture and it’s people in full context to Chilkat weaving. I encourage the Portland Art Museum that they assist all five of these women (and maybe John Beard too!) to attend a two-week weaving class in Haines and then attend Celebration 2016 in Juneau, Alaska.— The story of these aprons is not yet complete; they may be an on-going tale like any human life…!
The older Chilkat apron possibly started by Doris Kyber-Gruber in the early 70s is held before the new Chilkat apron started by Dodie Gannett – Left to Right: Sally Ishikawa, Jodi Zimmerman, Margaret Jeppesen, Margaret Woods, Stephany Anderson and John Beard
