"Melissa Weaver Dunning's January 2017 workshop at Marshfield
titled "L'Amour de Maman: 2-Harness Weavings of the Acadians and French
Canadians" was enjoyable and a great learning experience for my wife
Melanie and me. More than we
anticipated, studying at Marshfield School of Weaving was rewarding and
transformative. Marshfield is a unique
facility with an amazing diversity of historic looms, spinning wheels, and
related equipment, and the instructors share the knowledge and skills that
allow workshop participants to continue the legacy of traditional weaving heritages. We were hesitant about travelling from
Florida to Vermont in January, but Marshfield offered a warm and welcoming
environment that made our trip worthwhile.
Walking in the door was like stepping into the past, and we were
inspired by all facets of weaving work around us. There was an impressive reference collection
of dyed yarns at the entrance, and a large collection of historic spinning
wheels was undergoing restoration in a workshop.
Comaraderie among instructors and participants was wonderful. The current owner of Marshfield, Kate Smith,
was accommodating and had all activities well organized. We were very fortunate on this occasion
because our instructor Melissa was joined by Norman Kennedy, the school's
original founder and a Master Weaver who has studied weaving traditions around
the world.
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Melissa began with a lecture about the history of weaving in
French Canada, and how it travelled to the Acadian culture of Louisiana. She demonstrated distinctive aspects of
weaving traditions of both cultures.
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| Gladys Clark, who Norman new personally, was one of the great Acadian spinners and weavers in Louisiana. |
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Norman returned from lunch one afternoon with a collection
of his fine work from years past, which he shared with participants. It was truly inspiring.
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Traditional weavings of French Canada are a particular
interest of mine, and learning techniques on a historic, 2-shaft loom, such as my
Canadian ancestors would have used, was a special experience.
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L'Amour 2017 instructors and participants.
We learned a great deal, and our time at Marshfield was richly
rewarding and inspiring. I waited 8
years to take a workshop at Marshfield because I thought my weaving skills needed
to be more advanced, but I was mistaken.
Beginners were made welcome and comfortable, and were quickly brought up
to speed. I missed opportunities by
hesitating in taking Marshfield workshops in the past, but I will not do that again. We sincerely encourage others to seek their
own great experiences at Marshfield.
-Tom Whitmore
St. Petersburg, Florida
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