A Talk with Alice Seeger,
the Fiber College Artist in Residence 2010
Fiber College of Maine 2010
Fiber College of Maine 2010
What do you do for fun besides weaving ?…
Sailing. Nick and I have a 34’ Catalina named Taki Taki. We try to sail her up to Penobscot Bay whenever we can, but otherwise she’s moored at Poughkeepsie Yacht Club in the Hudson River, a great place to relax especially at sunset. Beautiful!
Gardening. I’m a Master Gardener Volunteer with Cooperative Extension. I love herbs, vegetable gardening perennials an water gardens. I spent 3 years building pond with double waterfall and have transplanted loads of ferns and native plants around it. Playing in the water was fun just like being a kid and messing around in the creek.
Photography while taking photos to document arts residencies I discovered how much I love Photography.
Playng Music and singing with my husband Nick. I play harmonica he plays banjo and guitar.
I’m also a member of the Board of Directors for the Dutchess County Arts Council. I help create and attend events, art openings, go to plays and performances to have fun with my friends, advocate for the arts and support the cultural community in the Hudson Valley.
2) What is your favorite way to relax after a challenging day?
Watching the sunset or listening to good music with a glass of wine.
3) How do you handle the business side of being an artist?
I like the creativity of promoting and advertising but record keeping is worse than a “pointy stick in the eye” for me. I have developed lazy ways of keeping track of income and expenses and I have a wonderful accountant who keeps me on the right side of the law.
4) Where do you see yourself in ten years?
Living closer to better sailing. More self-sufficient with bigger gardens, greenhouse, chickens. A big kitchen for friends and family to hang out in. Published. Teaching weaving and other fibery stuff in a studio with a great view.
5) What advice would you give to an artist who was just starting out?
Learn from as many different teachers as you can and develop your own style.
6) What artists have influenced you and why? Rita Buchanan, Celia Quinn, Anita Mayer, Inspiring women in fiberarts
Claude Monet, Georgia O’Keefe, Chuck Close for their use of COLOR!
7) What is it about weaving that keeps you interested and what are you working on lately? We’re packing the house to move right now, I’ll get back to you on this one.
8) What’s the best and the worst parts of being a working artist? Best is the freedom to make my own decisions about everything! Worst is not having Health Insurance..
9) What is your favorite source of inspiration? Colors of Nature,
10) Five adjectives that you would use to describe yourself are:
I’m not really good at describing myself, I can tell you what I love and believe in but I leave this task to others. (I’m always surprised at how I’m described by my friends.)
11) Do you have formal training or are you self-taught?
My formal training is in Design. I took loads of color theory, and courses to learn the elements an principles of design.
Most of my textile instruction is from nationally known, published artists. When my children were babies and I couldn’t travel, I hosted workshops at my studio. I got to meet and know a lot of my “heros” personally as my house quests while they were teaching. I learned everything I know about weave structure when a group of us hired Peggy Ostercamp. Once a month for a year she would do a full day workshop on a particular weave structure and give us homework to weave and bring back to share with the class.
Do you believe one is more important than the other? ( i.e.. formal training vs. being self-taught.)
I don’t necessarily think you have to attend college in a formal degree program for textiles but there’s only so much you can discover on your own when you’re starting out. It’s not necessary to re-invent the wheel. The first time I warped the loom I followed instructions in a Better Homes and Gardens Craft Book. I would not advise this if you plan to be successful. Finding Ramonde Bostwick, my first weaving teacher, was the best thing to happen in the early days of my weaving.
Locate great workshops, go to fiber conferences, get involved in guilds.
12) Do you see anything exciting developing within the fiber arts community that you feel will have and affect on the fiber art scene?
The Internet is amazing in connecting people and ideas! Sites like Youtube and Etsy make it so much easier to communicate, learn and get your work out there! I am a bit disappointed by the work they’re putting in printed magazines. I think it was much more exciting 20 years ago.
13) Why are you an artist and a weaver, spinner and natural dyer?
I like the variety that weaving provides, in 35 years I have not even scratched the surface of what can be done. Spinning is so meditative and peaceful, I should do it more I always feel great when I have time to spin. Natural dyeing is magical, I like using natural dyes when I’m creating a piece completely from scratch. It gives me such a sense of accomplishment when I can cook or create anything that was grown or foraged and did not come from a store or factory. I also like using natural dyes to give colors that are subtle with wonderful variations that create richness in the finished project.
14) When did you first know that “artist” was a label that you could wear proudly?
The Fine Arts Department at Bennett College went to great lengths to separate itself from the “Design” majors, so “artist” was not how I thought of myself for quite some time. I’ve always been proud of my technical skills. Early in my weaving experience I was hired to weave for Martha Zimiles. I enjoyed producing straight edges and even beat in mile after mile of handwoven rayon chenille fabric for Martha’s clothing.
In the Summer of 1991, I took a job as weaving instructor at a sleep-away summer camp, mainly so my boys, who were 5 and 8 at the time, would have a wonderful summer at camp. To my surprise I found I’d landed in a truly exceptional, international community of creative and caring people. My weaving studio included a covered porch shaded by lovely hemlock trees overlooking the clay workshop, dance studio, fencing circle and the cool blue swimming pool.
Many of my colleagues at camp were in MFA programs at very impressive schools or were working artists. As we shared ideas, philosophies and creative process throughout the summer I realized my creative process was the same as the other ‘fine’ artists. One night while watching sparks fly into the inky black sky during a Raku firing I felt something shift. It was not only the clay that was being transformed that night, I stepped into the role of Artist and it felt right.
15 )Have you travelled with textiles in mind?
Definitely! I’ve traveled to the Laaken Halle in the Netherlands where they’ve produced and traded woolen cloth since the 1400’s.
The Navajo Reservation in Southwestern United States where I stayed in a Hogan at the home of weaver Effie Ben and to Peru in South America, and the village of Chinchero meeting Nilda Callañaupa of Traditional textiles of Cusco.
What experiences stand out most clearly?
Before going to New Mexico I was told by a Native American friend of mine that the Navajo were very suspicious of outsiders and I would have to stay with them for a year to gain their trust before they would really share their knowledge with me. I felt guided or pulled to make this trip and was sure I could connect with my Navajo hosts in a much shorter period of time than a year! The research I had done about the Navajo culture pointed out their tradition of gift giving. I made sure to pack lots of small gifts in my luggage for the trip including some of my handwoven scarves.
I booked my flight for September 25, 2001
On September 11, 2001 in the interest of National Security, all flights in the country were stopped for almost 2 weeks. September 25 was the second day of resumed air travel. Many of my friends and family told me not to go or asked if I was afraid. I really felt called to make this trip. I was shaken by the events of 9/11 but not afraid to fly. There was no extra security on the morning I left JFK airport. There were only 20 people on the flight to Denver. It was very peaceful. I rented a mini van in Denver took the seats out and left them at my brother’s house in Gunnison Colorado, so I could use the van to camp in along the way. The landscapes on the trip across beautiful sparse mesa land and deserts, along the Rio Grand, so different from the lush Hudson River Valley that is my home. Dreamlike.
I always believed that World Peace would happen in my lifetime. I am a peace worker. The trip to Navaho Land was in preparation for an Arts in Education Residency to make children more aware of other cultures. Although we may be different, we’re all one family on this pretty blue planet. Really???
I arrived at Effie Ben’s just before dusk. She showed me to the Hogan where I’d be staying. Gave some brief descriptions of where I could take a walk and cautioned me not to travel after dark. After settling into the hogan with a dirt floor and a smoke hole to the sky.
I sat on a bench outside and before long I was surrounded by about 10 children all asking questions like.... Where was my home? They had heard of New York and the big planes that hit the buildings. They proudly showed me their bikes and took me to meet their horses. One little girl would not look me in the eye (which is a traditional form of respect for elders) she looked at the ground and in one breath told me she was named after her grandmother, she was 10 years old and she was a weaver. I told her I was a weaver too.
Before it got too dark, I asked the children to come to the back door of the Van, close their eyes and hold out their hands. In each out-stretched hand I placed small presents. Colored pencils, little pads of paper, watercolors and such. The last in line was the little weaver. I placed one of my handwoven scarves in her hand and told her I had woven it. Her face lit up, she thanked me and ran to show her grandmother.
Each morning Effie would bring a home cooked traditional breakfast then Will Tsosi would guide us on various trips throughout the reservation, telling stories along the way. Effie and I sat on the Hogan floor one whole afternoon spinning wool on the Navajo Spindle.
On the last morning the hogan was filled with all of the women of the family. The smallest girls, their teenage sisters and cousins, mothers and grandmothers sat in an unbroken circle on the ground, Grandmother Earth, with the smoke hole over our heads revealing Grandfather Sky. Laughter and stories were shared. It was so beautiful and perfect to be sitting together, I did not want to leave. As I said my tearful goodbyes, the oldest woman of the family tottered slowly from her trailer, she wrapped her arms around me and whispered in my ear, “You’ll be back.”
During the trip dreams and feelings slowly revealed this message...
It might take a bit longer than I thought to realize World Peace but
I am a Peace worker and this work is needed now more than ever.
16) What’s the most fun class you’ve ever taken? On any subject at all… African Drumming!
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