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 Contacta con nosotros |  It´s time to say goodbye to Tracey, the AC Textile Studio´s pupil and work assistant over the past couple of months. Tracey, from the UK, first came here to north Spain, with Kathleen McCormick, in 2007, to for the residential 3 week intensive weaving course or “Textile Assistantship” for beginners, offered once or twice a year. 3 years on she decided to repeat the assistantship again in 2010, this time to deepen her knowledge of weaving hand-made textiles and find out more about the reality of earning a living by hand-weaving.
A total of 6 weeks of weaving tuition and immersion in the environment of a professional working weave studio meant that Tracey was skilled enough to help out with some of the professional weaving and other related work of the studio for a further period as a volunteer. This involved a range of varied work including assisting in large-scale batch dyeing with madder, weld and logwood, weaving up several saquitos, mini-Galician textiles and cushions to the studio´s own designs, cleaning and tidying the workshop, helping out with some computer-based work, yarn winding and helping to prepare looms for public weaving demonstrations and private weaving tuition given to Spanish pupils at the studio.  During her time with us Tracey also learned how to photograph her work and the importance of knowing how to develop her work for different markets, how to price her work, and see some of the different options open to professional hand-weavers today in practice – including teaching and public demonstrating at craft fairs. The world of hand-weaving today is one which offers no set career progression and so anyone wishing to make a career of weaving as a designer-maker or maker-educator needs to be able to be independent and be able to find their own way. The photos you see here are of the pieces made by Tracey during her time at the studio, and are very similar to the photographs that she herself took during an afternoon textile photographing course at the studio, as part of her training in professional skills and working practices which accompanied the more direct technical and design-based learning.
 Perhaps the most exacting project we gave Tracey was to work on a made-to-measure curtain project from beginning to end, setting up the loom, weaving sample fabric and then adapting the design for specific measurements. As you can see from the photos Tracey rose to the challenge and you can see the beautiful results in the photo to the left. We hope that this kind of project – and the knowledge gained in doing it – will stand Tracey in good stead when she returns to the UK – and starts to weave her own designs on her own and face the challenge of creating her own career path in hand-woven textiles.
So we wish Tracey the very best of luck in her textile work in the future, warm thanks for all her hard work., and hope that she´ll come back to see us in the future.  Is craft education important for kids? At Casa dos Artesans, the holiday cottage in Galicia (north Spain) with craft activities and courses, we think it is. I was writing an article, last week, about Lotte Dalgaard (the fine Danish fabric weaver and designer) who learned to weave when just 13 or 14 years old. She was just one Danish teenager to enjoy craft activities for kids and other extracurricular activities at the Danish “After Schools”. Lotte loved weaving as a kid so much that she rebelled against her parents´ wishes for her to pursue a more academic career – and went on to become one of Denmark´s finest weavers. I wonder, had Lotte not had the chance to weave as a child, perhaps she would never have become a professional weaver.
Later in the week, on Saturday 1 May 2010 – I spent the day doing interactive weaving demonstrations for children at Ourense Craft Fair (my local city in Galicia, north Spain, where I live), together with my partner, Lluis, who was offering a willow fish workshop! Girls and boys – from just 3 years old upwards – flocked to our stand to have a go on my Louet 4-shaft table loom and convert skeins of hand-dyed yarn into balls, using a ball winder and umbrella swift. Even the 3 year olds were able to pass the shuttle, and in amongst the many 6 – 8 year old boys and girls keen to have a go there were a few who quite exceptional, picking up the skills very quickly and working very well. You can see in this blog post, from the photos, just how engaged the children were, and how much they enjoyed themselves. What I didn´t photograph were the proud parents relaxing in the background whilst watching their children!!! As for me, I remember my first experience of hand-weaving well. I was 8 or 9 years old and my art teacher showed me how to weave basic cloth out of a simple frame loom made out of 4 pieces of wood and some nails. Although craft wasn´t considered (really) a real “career choice” at my school (I was funneled into following a more academic further education) I re-trained in my late twenties and early thirties, to become a hand-weaver. I do wonder whether it was partly my positive experiences of craft as a child, which led me, eventually, to set up my hand-woven fabric studio here in north Spain.
Offering children the chance to experience craft first hand is important today, which is one reason why we offer activities for families with children who choose a holiday at our self-catering holiday cottage – Casa dos Artesans (Galicia, Spain).
Whether you are a parent or teacher, and whether you see craft as developing children´s co-ordination, providing a more physical and creative alternative to video games and TV, or allowing them to follow their innate creativity, there is no doubt that craft work contributes to healthy development. But, as parents or teachers, you may also be helping to create a new generation of professional craft makers in the future. As the example of Lotte Dalgaad and many other makers today shows us; enjoying craft as a child may open the door to becoming a professional craft maker in the future.
So, well done to Pablo and Javier, Carlota, Eva, Irima, and all the children (and their parents) who had a go and we hope to see you again!
 This blog post is a plug for the special 5-day intensive weave course taught in Spanish (suitable for intermediate-level and above Spanish speakers), at the Textile Studio in Cristosende, A Teixeira, in north Spain, in July 2010. You won´t be offered any Spanish classes during the course (although Anna will always translate when necessary) but you will be immersed in a Spanish-speaking environment and surrounded by the Spanish language… What is more, this holiday craft option in Spain will enable you to learn the creative art of weaving textiles on a loom by hand! You´ll be very proud of your first hand-woven textile – woven “in Spanish”!
About the studio and venue: Anna Champeney specialises in weaving traditional Galician Spanish folk textiles and designing her own range of limited-edition textile designs for scarves and interiors. Together with her partner, Lluis Grau, Anna has been offering Spanish craft holidays and self-catering cottage holidays since 2004. About loom weaving: Many people who watched Monty Don´s Mastercrafts series on weaving earlier this year in March 2010 on television in the UK will have been fascinated and inspired by the fabrics woven by the 3 contestants over a 6 week period! The art of weaving cloth by hand from the beginning is a magical and very satisfying experience. Unlike some “hobby crafts” loom weaving is not a craft that offers easy and quick satisfaction (the setting up of the loom requires patience and care) but it is a craft which can become addictive once the basics have been mastered and offers infinite creative possibilities. The rythmic experience of weaving is immensely satisfying and also relaxing! As opposed to knitting, weaving requries two sets of threads – the warp (set up under tension on the loom) and the weft (which is wound onto a bobbin and interwoven through the warp on a shuttle). The first part of learning to weave involves setting up the warp threads on the loom and the second part is the actual weaving in the weft threads on a shuttle. The loom itself is what enables weavers to weave many different patterns and even complete beginners will be able to weave at least 3 different patterns.  About the Ribeira Sacra in Galicia, Spain: The Ribeira Sacra, where the Textile Studio is situated, is a rural area of outstanding natural beauty in Galicia, north Spain, which centres on the River Sil canyon, with its steep terraces of vineyards (D.O. Ribeira Sacra). The climate is not as hot as in southern Spain and the area retains its green-ness even in the heat of summer, with its forests of sweet chestnuts.
Loom weaving course details: Dates: 4 – 8 July 2010 Location: Anna Champeney Estudio Textil, Cristosende 76-78, A Teixeira (Ribeira Sacra), Ourense, Galicia, Spain Course Outline:
- Loom preparation (each participant has the exclusive use of a 4 or 8 shaft Louet table loom during the course and there are special discounts to pupils who wish to purchase a loom after the course)
- Weave samples – different patterns, colours and yarns
- Creative Weaving I: The Design Process, Experimentation, Obervation and Analysis
- Creative Weaving II: Understanding pattern drafts and project sheets
- Weave final project piece (fabric for cushion cover, linen towel, bathroom, wall-piece or kitchen bag ….)
Cost: (includes materials and teas/coffees, excludes accommodation and travel): 390€ (approximately 351 pounds stirling (correct at the time of writing)) Accommodation options: 5 accommodation places in individual / shared rooms are available at Casa dos Artesans (awarded the Spanish mact quality symbol), some 30 metres from the Textile Studio. Shared rooms (2 people) – 30€ per night / Individual rooms – 45€ per night. The Casa Grande de Cristosende (rural hotel and restaurant in the same village as the Textile studio) has rooms from approximately 65€ per night. Further information about other accommodation options on request. How To Get Here: Fly to Santiago de Compostela (flights available from Stanstead or Heathrow) and hire a car or travel on by direct coach service to Ourense city (we facilitate a time-table when you book on the course) from where a transfer is available to the Textile Studio. Alternatively, fly to Madrid and take the train / coach to Ourense or Monforte de Lemos (where a transfer service to the Textile Studio is available).
You may also be interested in the following options- Self-catering cottage holidays in the Ribeira Sacra for 2 – 5 people (additional craft activities available in Spanish or English) / 3-week Textile Assistantship in the Ribeira Sacra / Basketry and Weaving Tuition in the Ribeira Sacra / Otros cursos de artesanía en español |
Pago seguro
 NUEVO Octubre 2023 Curso presencial setmanal de teixits de baix lliç (Girona)!Un curso nou, setmanal (3h) a Sant Gregori, Girona, amb l'Anna Champeney. Trimensual, plaças limitadas).
Octobre 2023. Ven a aprender a diseñar y realizar tejidos en telar de bajo lizo a mano. Docente: Anna Champeney, profesional desde 2004, con marca textil propia, experta en tejido de bajo lizo, docente en la Escola Massana, Barcelona.
 Haga clic aquí para informarte |
Casa dos Artesans Holiday Cottage and Craft Workshops – Encouraging a New Generation of Young Hand-Weavers and Basketmakers with Children´s Craft Activities and Holiday Workshops in Ourense Craft Fair 2010
Later in the week, on Saturday 1 May 2010 – I spent the day doing interactive weaving demonstrations for children at Ourense Craft Fair (my local city in Galicia, north Spain, where I live), together with my partner, Lluis, who was offering a willow fish workshop! Girls and boys – from just 3 years old upwards – flocked to our stand to have a go on my Louet 4-shaft table loom and convert skeins of hand-dyed yarn into balls, using a ball winder and umbrella swift. Even the 3 year olds were able to pass the shuttle, and in amongst the many 6 – 8 year old boys and girls keen to have a go there were a few who quite exceptional, picking up the skills very quickly and working very well. You can see in this blog post, from the photos, just how engaged the children were, and how much they enjoyed themselves. What I didn´t photograph were the proud parents relaxing in the background whilst watching their children!!!
As for me, I remember my first experience of hand-weaving well. I was 8 or 9 years old and my art teacher showed me how to weave basic cloth out of a simple frame loom made out of 4 pieces of wood and some nails. Although craft wasn´t considered (really) a real “career choice” at my school (I was funneled into following a more academic further education) I re-trained in my late twenties and early thirties, to become a hand-weaver. I do wonder whether it was partly my positive experiences of craft as a child, which led me, eventually, to set up my hand-woven fabric studio here in north Spain.
Offering children the chance to experience craft first hand is important today, which is one reason why we offer activities for families with children who choose a holiday at our self-catering holiday cottage – Casa dos Artesans (Galicia, Spain).
Whether you are a parent or teacher, and whether you see craft as developing children´s co-ordination, providing a more physical and creative alternative to video games and TV, or allowing them to follow their innate creativity, there is no doubt that craft work contributes to healthy development. But, as parents or teachers, you may also be helping to create a new generation of professional craft makers in the future. As the example of Lotte Dalgaad and many other makers today shows us; enjoying craft as a child may open the door to becoming a professional craft maker in the future.
So, well done to Pablo and Javier, Carlota, Eva, Irima, and all the children (and their parents) who had a go and we hope to see you again!