We just returned from a trip to Spain. It was a lovely trip, and we visited all kinds of beautiful places in the northwest of the country. Although we weren't in Madrid on the right day for me to visit the tapestry works there, I did manage to find other weavers in the country.
In Barcelona, much to the chagrin of my children, we visited a modern tapestry studio in the old part of town,
Teranyina. Here you can see my corralling my reticent daughter as we enter the shop.
It is mainly a teaching studio but with a few small things to buy. The proprietor, Teresa Rosa, does not speak English, but luckily one of her students was there and spoke beautiful English and showed me around and translated.
There is a half floor with 6 upright tapestry looms sitting on it. It was a great space for the women there all of whom were considerably shorter than me. I smacked my head once on a beam and had to remember to duck as I walked around.
On the main floor there were a couple of horizontal looms.
Mainly, the shop is there for teaching, but there were some beautifully woven scarfs and woven jewelry there for sale. My daughter left with a beautiful little woven necklace. I particularly liked the way they displayed the scarves.
I asked the English speaking student what she was going to do after she finished her course. She replied that she hoped to weave and sell her tapestries. There seem to be few weavers in Spain, but as I said, we missed the enormous state run weaving facility in Madrid. It was an enjoyable half hour conversing with the women and seeing some of there work. Here are a couple of pieces woven by Teresa Rosa. To see more of her beautiful work, go to her
website.
We all loved Barcelona, and I would love to visit again. I have to say my favorite place that we visited was Parc Guell and Palau Guell. If you go, then you must see one or both of these lovely places designed by the architect Gaudi. I loved this little house and would love to live in it. It had very organic lines and lots of natural light inside.
Another weaving mecca that I wanted to visit was this little shop in Ezcaray, in the mountains of central Spain. Ezcaray was the weaving center of Spain until the early 1900's. However, now only one shop remains, Artesani Textil, which has been owned by the same family since 1930.
It is small shop with a loom in the front and the back is filled with blankets and scarves. The woman there did not speak any English, so we couldn't really ask where the blankets were woven. Although they are all woven in Spain, just not in that shop.
It was really hard to decide what to buy there, everything was lovely. Most everything there was made from local wool and woven by this family. In the end, I chose not a wool scarf but a linen one. The color was so lovely and the weight so delicate that I couldn't resist.
My son chose a blanket and we bought my daughter a scarf.
Finally, we chose a lovely blanket for our living room made from local wool. The blanket is so soft it feels like cashmere, and we bought it for only 70 euro. I thought is was an unbelievable bargain considering the beauty of the wool and the weaving.
Now, I am going to my loom to weave just a little while before I have to meet the school bus!
