Those Masks

I wandered over to the Wednesday Spinners Tent while Lori was "lost" in the fleece tent. I had never heard of this group before, and so I was instantly drawn in by a table of natural dye stuffs and some beautiful artifacts on/about dyeing, including some hand bound books with wool samples and notes on the process. It was exactly how I envisioned keeping track of my dyeing experiences, so that was the beginning. As I made my way down the back table, a row of women sat spinning in the front of the tent, three masks appeared before me and totally took my breath away. It's hard to describe how they made me feel - but they brought up all kinds of memories immediately and I found myself standing in front of them, in awe. And then their creator walked up.

Susan Barrett Merrill. One of the Wednesday Spinners. We started to talk - about spinning - and then it turned to weaving and the masks. This one is named "Crow"... many more can be seen in the gallery on her website. The three that were on display at the fair were very different than this one; then again, from what I have seen, each one is very different than the next. The more I read, the more I am intrigued by the masks and everything they represent. It was one of those encounters that seems far from coincidental. Had I not gone on a Friday, it would have been too crowded to have the conversation we had. Maybe we would not have met at all. If I did not have my own sheep and was as enthralled by the Fleece Tent as Lori was, I would not have spent that time in the Spinners Tent by myself. And so it goes. Uncle Herbie was right. I am going back to the family's roots.