Wednesday, September 29, 2010

weavers

 

 

this is beside the front door.
i am watching Jude's small plain girlscout loom. thinking.
these belts belonged to Dora, an extraordinary woman who
has been gone from this plane for a long time. she was
tiny, had a snow white french twist held in place with
a silver comb. she was a Tai Chi Master. there was a
period of time when we needed to wait together in a very
large room with floor to ceiling windows across an expanse
of a wall. at night. outside was a woods and pond and often
the moon. beautiful hard wood floors, no furniture.
space.
Dora would practice her forms while waiting. i would sit on
the floor and watch. she most often wore her black tai chi
jacket and pants. was her "uniform for living" like my denim
jumpers are. was then in her 80's. sometimes her sleeve
would ride up with a elegant and silent gesture and i could
see the numbers tattooed on her wrist from Auschwitz.
she wore these belts that stood out against the black jacket.
there would be two of her...her, and the reflected her in the
windows.
in the second picture, i saw that someone had woven an egg
case. i like that.
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17 comments:

Elizabeth said...

Dear grace, thank you for that portrait and story.

jude said...

you are a great storyteller. i see her.

Valerianna said...

I, too, see her. She was beautiful, resilient... with color at the mid-section, I like that.

grace Forrest~Maestas said...

Elizabeth
jude
and
Valerianna
thank you for seeing her in these
words...they simply describe
moments that are still so vivid
in my mind/heart.
i would become so mesmerized by
watching that i would forget to
swallow until i realized that there
was a thread of saliva down my
chin onto my chest...
maybe i could stitch a Dora cloth
with a woven something...
"color at the mid-section" ?
maybe i will.

kaiteM said...

and maybe that sounds like it needs doing...k.

grace Forrest~Maestas said...

Kaite...yes. needs doing. i am
a believer in the when it comes
up 3 times thing. a while ago
when jude posted her pic of her
window at night was the first,
then i saw something that mentioned
Al Huang, who Dora studied with,
and then...that loom, causing me
to look long at those woven belts
that are by the door, that i
really just take somehow for
granted? so, 3 things. and
yes. i think you are right.

kaiteM said...

yup, 3 strikes of the bell...k.

Anonymous said...

Just came to agree with everything that's been said here. Indeed, you are a great storyteller; your words make a vivid picture. Maybe we have all known a Dora in our lives?

Penny Berens said...

So glad to have met Dora - you wrote a perfect picture for us to see.

helen said...

Yes, nice story. What do you mean by "the egg case" What is an egg case? and where is it? It sort of looks like a basket type thing off the bottom of that one piece is that what you mean? I just never heard of, or saw an "egg case" before.

grace Forrest~Maestas said...

Helen...it's the white fluff thing
that looks kind of like lint...just
under the hat brim? spiders make
them for their babies. some
spiders, not all.
you can google spider egg case.

what are you working on?

grace Forrest~Maestas said...

Karen...i would wish that...that
we all know a Dora. she was a
very significant woman, mentor
to me, and, really, still is.

Velma Bolyard said...

maybe you could spin the egg case and add the thread to your weaving.

grace Forrest~Maestas said...

Velma...oh lord...just the
weaving with string will be
challenge enough

plus, i think there are little
beings in there.
but it was surprisingly soft to
the touch, like very very soft.
really soft.

helen said...

Hey thanks for the "new thing learned" I now see the "egg case". I'm stitcching alot on the one piece that has cloth from people I've connected to since I found Jude and her classes, etc. Pieces from Glennis, Jude, Heike, Deb L.,T,etc. I was going to e-mail you to see if you has a piece of something you dyed when you were playing this past summer I'd love to add a piece of cloth from you. I've named the piece "evolve" because I feel I really have in the last few months since connecting on line to this "group" I will show you some day, when I get further amd a little better with the camera thing. HA! E-mail me if you have a piece of cloth you dyed, I'll even pay you for it. thanks.

grace Forrest~Maestas said...

Helen...already been "payed" just
by your asking. What an honor!
I do have pieces but i am not sure
of whether or not they are color
fast...and
i don't have your edress anymore
well, do, but it's lost in the
sent mails somewhere
so e me again and you can take
your chances.
i remember that piece and will
look forward to seeing it.
grace.porvida@gmail.com

Jacky said...

A poignant snippet of someones life...nice for us to know a little of Doris too...I see her as small and fragile looking, but really, very resilient.
I love that she wore that splash of colour, her woven belts, with her black suit.

Jacky xox