All about Us,
Sort of
Back in the '70's, Mary set out to learn everything she could about weaving, spinning and natural dyeing--and she has been doing all three ever since. She tells herself she is not at all obsessed with the properties of natural dyes, but it's not true. She is.
Also in the 70's, Roger studied silversmithing in San Miguel de Allende. At that time he chose never to learn to paint out of fear he'd get lost forever in the colors. But now he's doing just that, what with the many colored fibers he uses to card his sumptuous batts.
Dreamy Goat Design Studio is the home of Mary Finley and Roger Salter. It's filled with spinning wheels, dyeing equipment, floor looms, jewelry benches, a whole lot of fiber, and their faithful electric carder. Somewhere among all their toys are Mary, who does all the natural dyeing and some of the carding, and Roger, who, when he isn't carving amber or shaping surfboards, shares the carding and plays with fabric.
They admit to being their own worst enablers, never doing today what they can put off until tomorrow--unless today includes making art or hitting the beach or jumping onto the next plane bound for some far-flung country, preferably one rich in fiber traditions.
The two try to live by the lame and dreamy goat's kind of knowing--the kind that "traces back to the roots of presence." If asked, neither Mary nor Roger is exactly sure what that means, but it certainly suggests to both of them to live squarely in the now.
They do their best.....
Back in 1983. We were younger then.
In Kathmandu, Nepal, in 1986. Still young...