Customer Reviews

Weaver of Worlds: From Navajo Apprenticeship to Sacred Geometry and Dreams--A Woman's Journey in Tapestry

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Weaver of Worlds, by David Jongeward, is the account of his wife Carolyn's progression as a tapestry weaver.He chronicles their first encounters with Navajo weavers and medicine men,combs and battens,anxiety and elation.Since David and Carolyn both kept journals,the book contains exerpts from these which provide insight into Carolyn's"world behind the loom." The Navajo priciples of beauty and harmony resonate in the full-color pictures of her tapestries.As she wove,they both read many books on ancient civilizations, art,philosophy,etc.These books were the basis for dreams which inspired more weaving, as well as discussions with each other and friends like Frank Waters(Book of the Hopi).From her first clumsy attempts to her mastery over warp and weft, this book is her journey and can serve as a roadmap for others wishing to learn to weave.A bibliography lists the books which stimulated her craft and personal growth

I was surprised that I enjoyed this book. After the first few lines I though Uh-oh... Jungian dream analysis and fake native mysticism... this is going to be so pretentious I won't be able to stomach it. But, I kept reading - and reading - and reading. This is no simple biography. Nor is it mere navel gazing from an overindulged artist. It is most of all a love story between a man and a woman, woman and creation and the creator for the created. It was enormously interesting to watch the growth of an artist from first fumblings with technique and culture to a mastery of both the art form and the marriage between myth and creation (both art and ourselves). Somewhere along the way the craft of weaving became the art of creation and we are the lucky few who get to witness the process.

I learned about myth, culture, mathematics, art, discipline, color and form. I suspect I will never be able to create anything again without at least once mentally refering back to this book - even though weaving is not my chosen medium. The design process through reflection after completion is shown so clearly that It will influence me for a very long time.