Aron Shelf knew that he wanted to hang his weaving over his bed after it was done. So, when artist Jan Detter had students choose one of the wooden picture frames she brought in to use as looms, he chose one of the bigger ones.
After Detter showed Aron and the other students how to nail finishing nails into the tops and bottoms of the frames and to string their warp yarn, it came time to pick out yarns for weaving. Aron decided to include blue and gold yarns because those are the colors of Mount Tabor, the high school he plans to attend after he finishes at Kennedy Learning Center. For a little extra snap, he added black yarn as well.
"I like making patterns," Aron said as he worked on his wall-hanging-to-be on the third day of Detter's visit to Jamie Allred's art class.
Because Detter wanted the students to have the best-possible experience, she brought high-quality yarns made from such materials as cotton, wool, linen and mohair.
"I went through my best yarn box," Detter said.
Retired art teacher Cary Driver donated yarn as well, so students had plenty of choices when it came to materials and colors. Frederick Craft had chosen yellow, light blue, and purple yarns.
"I like yellow. My dad likes blue. My momma likes purple," Frederick said.
He thought the colors worked well together.
"They're very extravagant," he said.
Some of the students were weaving by hand. Others were using rulers as shuttles as they worked on frames of various sizes. Weaving takes concentration, said James Miranda. "You can easily mess up."
Although weaving was a new experience for many of the students, others were already well-acquainted with it, which is why Allred thought it would make a wonderful art project. A substantial number of Allred's students come from Karenni (sometimes spelled Kareni), a state in the eastern part of Burma, or Myanmar. Karenni has a long tradition of weavers.
"I wanted to have a project where they could be the leaders of the class," Allred said. "You can see that they jumped right into it."
Such Burmese students as Oo Reh are at Kennedy because it offers an ESL (English as a Second Language) program, which also includes Hispanic students whose first language is Spanish. Allred has been teaching himself both Spanish and Burmese.
Heidi Wicker, the lead art teacher for the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school system, had dropped by the class, and she noted that having to deal with three languages didn't stop Allred and Detter and the students.
"They somehow all seem to work together and get it done," she said.
Allred met Detter last spring when she came to the school as an artist-in-residence. Her artistic skills include weaving, so he asked her back to help with this project as a volunteer.
"She has done a lot for us," he said. "She enjoys the diversity of the group. She has a lot of knowledge and she loves to share it."
She readily agreed to come, and she's glad that she did.
"It's been a very enriching experience for me," she said.
kunderwood@wsjournal.com
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