I’ve always lived somehow in two worlds, with one foot in each. In college, I did a double major (women’s studies and environmental design). In grad school, I pursued concurrent degrees, in management and in urban planning. I lived for years in India but always kept a presence in my native California as well. And now I divide my time between the same California and Milan, Italy where my husband, two cats, and two stepchildren live.
I’m a textile artist… or am I a craftsperson? I never know whether to call myself Freilich, my legal surname, or Rinchen-Wongmo, my Tibetan and “artistic” name.
I’m a contemporary western fiber artist trained in an ancient and sacred Asian tradition. This blog will explore Tibetan (or Buddhist) Art and Textile (or Fiber) Art. (See, even in identifying each of my two parts, I need two labels… Am I a bridge or am I just indecisive?)
Maybe I just need a warp and a weft to make sense of things. I’m not a weaver, though. Not yet, at least. I just work with woven materials. Silks, mostly. Brocades and satins. And I stitch pieces together, by hand, to form images — sacred buddhist images and, more recently, images of real people in the Buddhist sphere of influence.
This blog is about these two: Tibetan/Buddhist Art and Textile/Fiber Art.
The truth is I know very little about either, but I am intimately involved in one particular intersection between the two: pieced silk thangkas, as I like to call them, or appliqué thangkas, as they’re more widely known.
Having completed a four-year apprenticeship with Tibetan artists in India and having made these thangkas my life’s work for the last 15 years, I’m one of very few people in the world familiar with this particular intersection.
Since I also happen to be relatively computer literate, I’ve decided to try my hand at blogging. I’ll endeavor to shine some light on my little street corner, my intersection between textile and Tibetan art, and to take you along with me as I venture sometimes down one road (exploring the origins, significance, and forms of Tibetan art and stitchery) and sometimes down the other (experimenting with new ways to express my vision in cloth).
And where better to start than on an airplane, flying between my two homes? We’re somewhere over Greenland now, flying west from Italy to California…
Saw you segment on CAREERS and loved it. Where in California do you teach?
I would love to view more…..and learn.
Lovely !
Maureen, I have a studio in Ventura and host occasional introductory workshops there — a Sunday afternoon “Sacred Art Experience.” Click here for info:
http://sacredartexperience.com/
But my in-depth teaching happens in the Stitching Buddhas Virtual Apprentice Program and its associated retreats. The program is hosted online because students are scattered around the world. But California students are most welcome too! We have a private online Atelier, Skype and phone calls, along with written lessons and video demonstrations. See http://stitchingbuddhas.com for more info.
P.S. So glad you enjoyed the Career Day episode!
I REALLY enjoyed it !!!! I am as computer illiterate as you are savvy………..thinking about the online classes, but computers do sense fear !
I confess that I do not know the term ” Atelier “, but I would guess it is pronounced Ah-tel-yay….am I right…gotta go look this up.
Mo
Hi again Mo!
Did you look it up?
An atelier is an artist’s workshop, especially one where a principal master works together with students and apprentices, to train them in art and produce artworks. The tsemkhang (sewing workshop) where I did my apprenticeship in India could be said to be a true atelier (even if the term is normally associated with European art, not Asian). I try to mimic that working/learning/apprenticeship/studio feel in my online program. Of course, it’s not perfect, but we combine a variety of communication modes to get as close to a live Atelier as possible — private forum, conference calls, Skype meetings, audio snippets, video demos, etc.