In Studio

6/7/19, 6:37 AM

By: Julie Rockefeller

Although you'll find me often at La Basse Cour, my official "studio hours" for this season are Fridays 10 to 2 p.m. What do I mean by that, and how are those hours different than others that I spend at the farm?

During other time spent at the farm, I do many things: organizational work, participate in social gatherings, help clean and fix up the place, tend the dye garden, or simply relax by petting the studio cat.

My dedicated studio hours are different. They are devoted to working on specific textile / fiber projects. I might work on putting our hand dyed yarns up into hanks and ready to sell. Maybe I will knit on a project that requires concentration, or practice spinning without interruption. I can design patterns or block finished pieces or work on my small weaving projects. This particular Friday, weather permitting, I intend to focus on getting fleeces ready to take to the mill.

Most of those things I can do at home, but there are reasons I prefer to work in the studio: I am away from distraction, I can leave my projects out without being in anyone's way, and the space is filled with textile inspiration.

Sometimes others are working in the studio at the same time. Someone might be spinning on a wheel, sewing on a machine, or weaving on a loom. There are things I can learn by watching and listening, and things I can teach by doing. I don't mean classes or workshops, but a type of quiet learning that happens almost by osmosis, simply by being in the company of others who are also busy at work.

And perhaps best of all, the sounds of the farm drift into the studio, reminding me of the connection between field and farmer and fiber and me. My work is all the way at the finishing end of things, and it is good to be reminded of all that comes before me.

Photo by Judith Cheng