Hands of the Weaver
by Julia Springer
Title
Hands of the Weaver
Artist
Julia Springer
Medium
Photograph - Digitally Enhanced Photograph
Description
Julia Springer
Hands of the Weaver
A companion image to "The Spinning Maestro" and "Backstrap Loom - Ecuador", this image focuses on the hands of the indigenous weaver, who follows in the footsteps of his father and grandfather before him.
In a small Andean village to the north of Quito, Ecuador, el Maestro continues to produce textiles using the traditional spinning wheel and backstrap loom handed down through the generations of his family. At 87 years of age, he still has a twinkle in his eye and a gracious pride in both his work and his granddaughters, who play at his feet.
The backstrap loom weaving technique used by this Quichuan artisan has its roots in Mayan culture. Legend has it that the godess Ixchel used a backstrap loom to weave the cosmos.
The loom is highly portable, consisting simply of sticks and the namesake back strap, with which the weaver maintains the tension of the warp threads as he passes the weft back and forth. The resulting textile strips are then stitched together to produce broader sections of fabric to be used as clothing, rugs or blankets.
The original photograph has been post-processed in Topaz labs' photoFXlab. To give the end result a more aged effect, in keeping with the ancient nature of the subject matter, I have applied a bark texture as a blended overlay. I hope you enjoy the result!
Uploaded
February 6th, 2013
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Viewed 934 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/20/2024 at 7:17 PM
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Comments (23)
Lianne Schneider
Beautiful painted effect, amazing light and just incredible information Julia. I've just fallen in love with your art. This is outstanding. F/V
Julia Springer replied:
Thank you for all your wonderful comments Lianne. I'm so pleased that you like my style, and that you enjoy the background information.
Kathy Braud
Thank you Julia for the story and the wonderful digital enhanced photo. I do feel the color made it feel more ancient but the wrist watch limits how far we can go backwards in time. Smile! Great angle too! vfav
Julia Springer replied:
Kathy, thanks so much for the vote and fav. You are obviously right regarding the wrist watch, but I love the incongruity of its presence!
First Star Art
CONGRATULATIONS!! This wonderful artwork is a Top Vote-getter THIRD PLACE for the Contest FABRIC and CLOTHING March 2013!! :^D--- jrr (contest admin)
Julia Springer replied:
A huge vote of gratitude to all who voted for this image, and also to First Star Art for administrating the contest!
Laneea Tolley
Julia this photograph brings back such memories of when I learned to weave in the 6th grade....Congratulations and thanks for the memory...
Julia Springer
Thank you Karo, for featuring Hands of the Weaver in the group, "Remnant of the Past" today!
Madalena Lobao-Tello
CONGRATULATIONS!! Featured on Female Artists!! Love how you have done this!!!Excellent work, really very well done!!
Julia Springer replied:
Madalena, thanks so much for the feature, and also for your generous comment!
Julia Springer
Many thanks to Jose Lopez for featuring Hands of the Weaver in the group "Stop Time With Art" today.
Ellen Levinson
Beautifully expressive hands - exquisite processing and composition. fav/v
Julia Springer replied:
You are too kind, Ellen! Thanks so much for the v/f and for taking the time to comment. Glad you enjoy it.
Julia Springer
Thanks are due to Susan for featuring this image in "Women Photographers" and to Edward for the feature in "Photography Showcase Newspaper" today. I really appreciate it!
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