By Benjamin Krudwig
It's not every day that you are given the opportunity to spend a month in a foreign country. When the moment came for me to decide if I should go to Mexico with my wife for a month as she studies opera, I said yes!
Since I knew that I would be away from my studio for 5 weeks, I had to pack accordingly.
Even before packing clothes, I grabbed my Zoom Loom and placed it in my suitcase - a fiber artist cannot be too far away from yarn!
First stop: TNNA - Columbus, OH, United States
I was on the lookout for some yarn to use while traveling. On the last day of the show, I saw a picture on Instagram from Dream In Color Yarns. They were giving away their mini skein samples! I jumped on the opportunity and came back with a huge bundle of skeins, which joined my Zoom Loom and other travel necessities for the next leg of my journey. Did I need all of this yarn? No! But I knew that the mini skeins would be perfect for the Zoom Loom, since each one would yield at least 2 squares each.
Next Stop: San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico.
As soon as I arrived, I was greeted by so much color and texture. Everywhere I looked, I saw something that inspired me.
Since I had so many colors of yarn available, I decided that I should start weaving squares that matched my surroundings. It became a fun challenge to see if I could produce the perfect color for whatever I encountered! Rebecca Mezoff, a tapestry weaver now based in Fort Collins, inspired this project, which is based on the mini tapestries she wove to document each day spent as an artist in residence at a National Park. While her tapestries were more representational, my final project will just be blocks of color. So far, I've drawn inspiration from buildings, flowers, plants, and other sights.
Since I have two more weeks to go in San Miguel, I am sure I will come home with more than enough squares to make a wall hanging to remember this amazing trip.
Follow us on Instagram for more inspiration photos and Zoom Loom squares to match!