Susan Johnson
Textile / Handweaving
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[email protected]
Cloth has interested me since I was very young, sifting through my mother’s sewing scrap box to make hand puppets, and doll clothes. My nap rug in kindergarten was a rag rug from my mother’s childhood home in Northern Minnesota. I studied the weave, with my cheek pressed against the rug, wondering how it was possible to get so many threads organized under and over.
I never intended to be a weaver, but looking back, I remember so many times I’d be surprised by a strong desire to work at a loom, even though I knew nothing about how it was done.
I did finally acquire a loom, after my first daughter was born, and wove rugs on it—many, many rag rugs, in the Swedish and Finnish style of my mother’s family. Rags were a cheap and abundant source of material. As I wove I discovered so much about color, texture and design. To this day, though I rarely weave rugs now, my weaving keeps opening new possibilities, to express ideas and emotions through a language of color, texture and design. I’m always interested in what comes off my loom. There is an element of surprise. That’s good. If I weren’t interested, how could I expect any one else would be?
[email protected]
Cloth has interested me since I was very young, sifting through my mother’s sewing scrap box to make hand puppets, and doll clothes. My nap rug in kindergarten was a rag rug from my mother’s childhood home in Northern Minnesota. I studied the weave, with my cheek pressed against the rug, wondering how it was possible to get so many threads organized under and over.
I never intended to be a weaver, but looking back, I remember so many times I’d be surprised by a strong desire to work at a loom, even though I knew nothing about how it was done.
I did finally acquire a loom, after my first daughter was born, and wove rugs on it—many, many rag rugs, in the Swedish and Finnish style of my mother’s family. Rags were a cheap and abundant source of material. As I wove I discovered so much about color, texture and design. To this day, though I rarely weave rugs now, my weaving keeps opening new possibilities, to express ideas and emotions through a language of color, texture and design. I’m always interested in what comes off my loom. There is an element of surprise. That’s good. If I weren’t interested, how could I expect any one else would be?
