Rachel Ehlin-Smith

Name: Rachel Ehlin-Smith

Studio location: San Diego, CA

Website / social links: mrblueskye.bigcartel.com, rachelehlin-smith.com, @mrblueskye

Loom type or tool preference: LeClerc 4-harness loom, Macomber 8-harness loom

Years weaving: 9

Fiber inclination: Silk, alpaca/silk, horsetail, dead plants. I also just bought an alpaca named Poppy and I can’t wait to start weaving with her fleece!

Current favorite weaving book: Woven Textile Design by Jan Shenton for technical support and Sheila Hicks Weaving As A Metaphor for inspiration and pretty images

 

1. How did you discover weaving and was what your greatest resource as a beginner?

I took a class at Saori in New York on the recommendation of my sister after the premature birth of my son Skye as a way to unwind and relax. To be honest I never thought about weaving before then. But I was hooked after that first class. I didn’t really know what/where/how to research weaving at the time. When I got back to San Diego after that first class I signed up at UCSD because there was a summer school weaving program. From there it just kind of snowballed into internet research and library visits.

2. How do you define your practice – do you consider yourself an artist / craftsperson / weaver / designer / general creative or a combination of those? Is this definition important to you?

I consider myself an artist, but when people ask what I do I say I’m a weaver or a fiber artist.

3. Describe your first experience with weaving.

I really love my first weaving experience. It was at Saori in New York. It was after the birth of my son who was 2 months premature. I was having a rough start to the whole new mom/baby thing and my sister offered to babysit for the afternoon so I could get lunch by myself and take a weaving class at Saori. She had just taken a class and loved it and thought it would be relaxing for me. Maybe I’m romanticising this a bit, but how I remember it is I was barefoot and there were all of the beautiful Japanese women weaving around me and sweet Japanese music playing in the background and from the first pass of the shuttle I was hooked. It was intoxicating. I couldn’t get enough of that class. When I got back to San Diego, I immediately started to look for weaving classes and came across the UCSD Crafts Center and signed up for a 2 month summer school class. I’ve been weaving everyday ever since.

4. What is your creative process, from the initial idea to the finished piece? Are there specific weave structures, looms, or fibers that are important to your process?

I get visions of what I want to make when I’m not really thinking of anything. I’ll be walking the dog or at a pilates class and I’ll get an idea. Or I’ll come across some cool dead plant(s) somewhere and I’ll feel compelled to work with it. Everything I do in my personal work is in a neutral, calm color palette. I love nudes, beige, bone or white. I sketch a lot and then I’ll play at the loom. I’ll play around with different silks for the warp and what sett/epi I want to use. I’ll make a few samples and write down dimensions as I go so I know how to make each piece.

5. Does your work have a conceptual purpose or greater meaning? If so, do you center your making around these concepts?

Even though people might not realize it most of my pieces are conceptual. My horse tail flower whips for example.  The horsetail are supposed to be roots growing up from the ground into the flower or plant that I’m using.I  like my work to be playful and evoke a sense of calmness. I’m working on a large woven installation right now that is a woven riverbed with rocks. I have no idea what I’m going to do with it, but I’m compelled to make it so we’ll see where that goes.

 

6. What is your favorite part of the weaving process and why? What’s your least favorite?

My most favorite part of weaving is when I’m weaving something for the first time and I’m really excited about it. I have these visions that pop up out of nowhere. My brain is constantly firing off with ideas and when I get a chance to put them down at the loom that’s when I’m the most energized. I make so many of the same thing because they’re in a series. After a while it gets boring for me. I want to move onto the next thing. I have 3 floor looms and I usually try to keep one open so I have something to work on for a new idea.

My least favorite process is finishing work, packaging & shipping. When I can afford it, that's when I love to have an assistant.

7. Do you sell your work or make a living from weaving? If so, what does that look like and how has that affected your studio practice?

I do make a living from weaving and dyeing fabric, but I also own 5 vacation rentals and that has really allowed me to be able to afford to be an artist. That being said, I treat being a working artist as any full time job. I wake up in the morning and I start my day at the loom. It’s meditative and a fun way to start the day. I have to put myself on a timer because if it was up to me I would only make and I wouldn’t do any of the responsible stuff. So I time myself for a few hours  at a time and I silence my phone so I’m not distracted. When the time is up then I set a timer for a half hour and then I do things like answer emails, invoicing, packaging orders or dealing with things with the vacation rentals. My days are pretty full, but I’ve found that using a timer and silencing my phone really helps to keep me on track.

8. Where do you find inspiration?

Mostly nature, traveling, vintage interior design books from the 1970’s and 80’s - I’m obsessed with anything Terence Conran.

9. What other creatives do you admire – weavers, artists, entrepreneurs – and why?

Ruth Asawa is one of my favorites. Her giant woven metal sculptures are unbelievable and intricate. I like that she focused on one material and really stuck with it and never got bored, but more inspired as her work progressed.

Anni Albers because she’s really the den mother of weaving. I’m so inspired by the Black Mountain College movement and the sense of artistic community. She ran the school with her husband Josef Albers. Ruth Asawa attended school there.  Judy Chicago and all of the artists that made work for the Dinner Party. The amount of fiber art in that exhibit is phenomenal. The attention to detail in every piece is really special.

Hilma af Klint. Her exhibit at the Guggenheim last year was insane. I went and saw it 3 times. Her paintings are maybe more current now than when she first painted them. I really love these artists so much because their work evokes a sense of timelessness and that’s a true testament to good design.

For contemporary weavers I’m really obsessed with Sean Dougall and Andrew Paulson from Dougall Pualson. They weave these insane massive metal panels out of wire. It’s completely opposite of what I work with material wise yet we use the same equipment, same techniques. Their work is magical. I can’t wait to see their pieces in person.

10. If you could no longer weave, what would you do instead?

I think I’d either be a pastry chef, a lactation consultant or I’d own an alpaca ranch.

Do you have any upcoming exhibits, talks, or events the community should know about?

I will be speaking at The Textile Study Guild of San Diego on March 26th, 6-9 pm located at the San Diego Craft Collective - 2590 Truxton Road Suite 106 San Diego, CA 92106.