Dear Curiosity Journal,
This past weekend, Driftless Curiosity co-hosted the Mexican Fiber Arts Weekend with the Mexican Folk Art Collective. Special guest artists, Nadia Figueroa (who traveled from Mexico) and Andrea Muñiz (also from Mexico, living in Madison), led workshops on natural dyes, weaving, and embroidery. Instruction was given in Spanish and English with many bilingual volunteers and participants. We worked with wool, cotton, marigolds, Brazil wood, indigo, grana cochineal (a cactus insect), black walnut, and many modifiers, mordants, and mixes to come up with a stunning spectrum of colors from the natural world. It felt like we were making magic potions and weaving together the beauty of the diverse plants, animals, and insects of the land from Mexico to the Driftless. It was deeply meaningful to listen and connect to the cultural meaning of the art, to gain a more profound appreciation for the process of slow fashion, and to see the power of people coming together around the spark of creativity. I’m so grateful for my friend, Gabriela Marvan, for continuing to be a Capricorn Queen of a co-host who works alongside me behind the scenes to make the magic happen. I am filled with gratitude for Nadia, who came all of this way to share her craft, for Andrea for presenting a wonderful embroidery class and interpreting for Nadia, for Jovita’s Kitchen for bringing us delicious lunch every day, for the Power Station for serving drinks on Sunday, for all of the bilingual beauties who helped translate and interpret, for all of the volunteers who gave us a hand, and for all of the participants for giving us a chance and sticking with a complex project. You all made our first international workshop series a success. Muchas Gracias!
~Joy
Photos by Gabriela Marvan
