IT WAS A HOT SUMMER AFTERNOON IN AUGUST WHEN I FINALLY ARRIVED IN ESSEN-KETTWIG. I WAS LUCKY TO HAVE MADE IT ON TIME. 3 DAYS IN ADVANCE I WAS STILL STUCK ON THE GREEK ISLAND OF PATMOS – THE ASHES FROM AN ICELANDIC VULCANO HAD BROUGHT EUROPEAN AIR-TRAFFIC TO A STANDSTILL.
IN ANY OTHER CASE I WOULD HAVE BEEN OVERJOYED ABOUT THIS UNFORSEEN EXTENSION OF MY HOLIDAYS, BUT THE BEGINNING OF MY COURSE WAS MOVING CLOSER AND CLOSER, AND I HAD TO MAKE IT BACK TO GERMANY SOMEHOW. A FERRY, A BUS, A LARGE FERRY, A VAPORETTO, TWO TRAINS AND A CAR-RIDE SOMEHOW BROUGHT ME BACK ON TIME TO KETTWIG.
AND SO I SAT THERE IN MY TINY RENTED APARTMENT, LOOKING OUT INTO THE GARDEN, GIDDILY AWAITING MONDAY MORNING. I HAD LONG BEEN LOOKING FOR A SUITABLE COURSE, FRUITLESSLY RESEARCHING THE INTERNET FOR AGES.
I’D WANTED TO LEARN THE CRAFT OF WEAVING. BUT WHEREVER I CAME ACROSS SOMETHING RELATED I WAS CONFRONTED WITH ESOTERIC GARNISH, TABLECLOTHS, TOWELS AND WALA WALA ... YET I HAD MORE THE BAUHAUS WEAVEING WORKSHOP IN MIND – GUNTA STÖLZL, ANNIE ALBERS, BENITA KOCH-OTTE ...
AND THEN I FINALLY FOUND HER: WEAVER-MASTER FRIEDERIKE SCHLEE-SEIZ.
FOR MANY YEARS SHE HAD BEEN IN CHARGE OF THE WEAVING WORKSHOP OF THE TEXTILE DESIGN COURSE AT THE FORMER FOLKWANG-SCHOOL IN ESSEN, TAKEN EDUCATIONAL TOURS OF SOUTH-AMERICA, ASIA AND THE UNITED STATES, ORGANISED TEXTILE TRIPS TO CHINA, WAS A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE „HANDWEAVER’S GUILD OF AMERICA“, HAD FITTED OUT DANCE COMPANIES AND WORKED IN FOREIGN AID FOR WOMEN IN ALBANIA AND BRASIL, WHERE SHE TAUGHT AND BROUGHT BACK INTO THE MEMORY AND THE LIFE OF THE VILLAGERS THE LONG FORGOTTEN CRAFT OF WEAVING. SINCE 1980 SHE WORKS INDEPENDENTLY IN HER HAND WEAVING STUDIO AND THE FREE WEAVING SCHOOL, AND STILL TEACHES REGULAR WEEKEND AND WEEKLY CLASSES IN HAND-WEAVING. I WAS IN JUST THE RIGHT PLACE, 9 O’CLOCK SHARP IN THE MORNING, SITTING IN HER WORKSHOP WITH TWO OTHER PARTICIPANTS.
SURROUNDED BY ALL SORTS OF LARGE AND SMALL LOOMS, HUNDREDS OF SILK CONES, COTTON AND WOOL IN ALL SHADES OF COLOR, SMALL RIBBONS, SHUTTLES, SPOOLS, REEDS AND UNSEEN THINGS AND GADGETS THAT I HAD NO IDEA OF HOW TO USE. IT WAS TOUGH FOR ME TO SIT STILL AT MY TABLE.
HOW I LONGED (WOULD HAVE LOVED) TO SIMPLY GET UP AND GO EXPLORING, THOROUGHLY INSPECTING AND TOUCHING EVERYTHING, BUT A CERTAIN STRICTNESS OF THE WEAVER-MASTER HELD ME BACK FROM DOING SO, AND I KEPT MY SEAT IN A WELL-MANNERED FASHION.
THIS WAS NO EASY-PEASY COURSE. THERE WAS A CLEAR PLAN, AND IT WOULD BE A LOT. AFTER ALL WE SHOULD ACCOMPLISH ALL THE BASICS OF HANDWEAVING JUST WITHIN A WEEK. THIS MEANT: LEARNING BASKET WEAVE, TWILL WEAVE, SATIN WEAVE, HOW DO I DETERMINE AND CALCULATE A PIECE OF CLOTH, HOW DO I DRAW IT UP, KNOWING OUT OF HOW MANY PARTS IS A LOOM CONSTRUCTED, WHICH PART DOES WHAT, HOW DO YOU BEAM A WARP, HOW DO YOU SET UP THE LOOM, WHAT DO THE HARNESSES DO, HOW MANY DO YOU NEED FOR WHAT, AND ON WHICH STEP, WHAT SEQUENCE OF STEPS YOU WILL NEED, WHEFT DENSITY ... AND THEN EVENTUALLY THE WEAVING AS SUCH.
EVERYTHING WAS MIXED UP IN MY HEAD, AT NIGHT I WOULD DREAM OF WARP THREADS GETTING TANGLED UP, THEN THE NEXT MORNING EVEN MORE NEW THINGS TO LEARN. IT ALL LOOKED SO EASY, BUT NOW I UNDERSTOOD WHY IT REQUIRED THREE YEARS OF TRAINING TO BECOME A WEAVER. I WAS A FAR CRY FROM GUNTA, ANNIE AND BENITA. YOU CAN SOMEHOW SHOOT THE WEFT THROUGH THE WARP BEAM ON A LOOM THAT IS SET UP SOMEHOW ... BUT IT TAKES A LOT OF CRAFTSMANSHIP AND ARTISTRY TO KNOW EXACTLY WHAT SHOULD BE CREATED AND THEN TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU GET EXACTLY THAT RESULT. THIS ARTISANRY REQUIRES CREATIVITY AND IMAGINATION, COMBINED WITH MATHEMATICAL PRECISION.
LONG FULFILLING DAYS AT THE END OF WHICH I FELL SLEEP EXHAUSTED, NIGHTS IN WHICH MY BRAIN TRIED TO PROCESS WHAT IT JUST DIDN’T HAVE THE TIME TO GRASP THROUGHOUT THE DAY – AKA A FULL, STRESSFUL WEEK, WITH WONDERFUL CONVERSATIONS, AND MEETING WITH A VERY SPECIAL MASTER WEAVER – CAME TO A CLOSE. MY VERY FIRST HANDWOVEN SCARF WAS SECURELY STORED AWAY IN MY SUITCASE AND THE ENTHUSIASM WAS RUNNING THROUGH MY VEINS LIKE A VIRUS AS I RODE BACK TO BERLIN BY TRAIN.
I’VE BEEN VISITING FRIEDERIKE REGULARLY EVER SINCE, WE’VE BECOME FRIENDS, AND AS MOST OF THE TIME IS TOO SHORT TO WEAVE, WE SIMPLY SIT IN HER GARDEN AND CHAT OVER A GLASS OF WINE.
WHOEVER MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN TAKING A COURSE AT HER HANDWEAVING STUDIO CAN GET INFORMATION HERE, OR JUST GIVE HER A SHORT CALL.
HTTP://HANDWEBSTUDIO-SCHLEESEIZ.DE