Earth lodge, a funky little hang-out restaurant up the mountain side.  We made it to the top!

I am teaching and taking yoga classes at this yoga studio/gallery.  Yes, I know, a lot of Wendy photos, but it's only because Pat has become the resident photographer!

Mayan women resting after a market day.

I really am tall! Weavers from Atitlan delivering fabric.

Just a little more tweaking and we'll have it down!

Pat...working out some design details for the skirts.

Here is an example of the travel bags that we are making with some of the smaller fabric scraps.

Taaadaa!

La Antigua gallery dead ahead!

Okay...we are taking some time off!

A close-up of the geode stones that we cut and polished today.

My girl friend, Pat Filzen, is visiting for a couple of weeks and today we went to San Juan to cut and polish stones.  This is at a small restaurant that we went to for a smoothie break!

My art work is officially on exhibit at La Antigua Galeria,   www.artintheamericas.com

Today I worked with Glenda and her daughter Eunice.  Eunice and I did the cutting and Glenda the sewing. As you can see in the above photos cutting fabric got a little old! In the end, my cosmetic bag was more interesting! 

And...this is the dress design!

My kitchen is a perfect space for the sewing work-room. I was cutting the fabric on the table before stopping to take this photo.  I am working with seven women now...keeping busy! 

This is Marta...delivering fabric! 

Four of The Maya Woman sculptures from a series of nine on exhibit at La Antigua gallery

Fiber art:  Wendy Carpenter 
2013 exhibit for La Antigua Gallery

Wendy’s fiber art consists of weaving, dyeing & basketry techniques. Her art work spans over 35 years, her gallery in the United States can be viewed at www.interfibers.com

For the past nine years Wendy has been working with craftsmen/women in Central America and Mexico.  She has created groups for women to sew clothing, tie and stitch patterns for indigo dyeing and learn the process of re-purposing hand-woven fabric.  She has also worked with men custom cutting jadeite and quartz geodes for making jewelry.  

Her Maya Woman series on exhibit, six sculptures from a series of nine, represents her collaboration and effort to blend cultures through art. The sculptures express a connection from the past with the present, through form, color and tactile material.

Wendy purchases hand-woven fabric from local indigenous women and then re-purposes the fabric by cutting and weaving it into her sculptures. Her sculptures depict the essence of the native women in Guatemala; walking the streets arm and arm… persevering in today’s modern culture.

PROFESSIONAL ART STUDIES/EDUCATION:

• Evergreen State college, Olympia, Washington
• University of Wisconsin,  Bachelor of Arts
• Rio Grande tapestry weaving/dyeing internship, Taos, New Mexico
• Wool production internship, Boulder, Utah
• Instituto de Allende, San Miguel, Mexico
• Liturgical fiber art study grant, Wisconsin arts board

Okay…designing a dress and sewing with various fabric types is not as easy as I thought!  I am still modifying the dress design, and now skirts also, and experimenting with the different indigenous fabrics.  Tomorrow, I will be meeting with a few families that are interested in the sewing project.  The photo is another woman that I buy fabric from.

January 1^st, 2013,

This was my first New Years Eve in Antigua and I must say…it is amazing!  I am so happy to be here and look forward to an exciting new year. 

The photo is Sarta, a Mayan woman from San Juan Agua Calientes.  I bought 12 small bolts of hand-woven fabric from her; one bolt is enough to make one dress.  She represents several women from small pueblos outside of Antigua.