We're making Community Lemonade in Long Beach. Come and make lemonade with us!
! I'm on a 100-day odyssey for community and creativity in Long Beach. We've got such an amazing city, and I'm a huge fan. I'm seeking out the creatives and the facilitators of creativity, the art and the locations that inspire art.
I call it .
Today was Day 17 of Making Lemonade.
Convergence Begins.
HGA's Convergence is at the Long Beach Convention Center this week. If you'd like to attend, admission to the showroom floor is $10.00, but there are several ways to attend for free!
I spent today on the showroom floor, looking at the looms, the yarn and art cloth for sale. Exhibits on the showroom floor range from a selection of fibers from around the world to the California farmers who carry small herds of sheep, alpaca, more.
In this time of supporting local economies by buying local, we seek out the American made, the California farmers, the Southern California crafters, the Long Beach artisans. With fiber arts, there is much opportunity for growing, designing, making locally in the US.
Here I list a few US groups that I enountered.
Braider's Hand - A San Diego group representing looms made for Japanese style weaving. Looms are made in Washington state U.S.A.
Clemes & Clemes - A Pinole, CA company specializing in American made fiber combs and drum carders (to make the wool spinnable by aligning the fibers in the same direction) Roy has promised to comb some of my hand-washed wool that I will use later Thursday at the Long Beach Depot for CreativeReuse. Yay! Be sure to look at the video!
Walk the Walk- An Arizona company that makes orthotic shoes out of American leather (US and Canada) in their factory in South Gate, CA. Includes some very interesting facts about leather processing in the US.
AVL Looms - A loom making company based in Chico, CA.
A Simpler Time Alpacas & Mill - A San Diego based alpaca farm, with new cria (babies).They are having a free open house on July 21st!
Generations - A Tustin based family-run company, Grandmother, Mother, Daughter and soon her son teamed up for some family art cloth making.
Long Beach Sew Vac - Pat and Linda of our local neighborhood Sew Vac were there! Pat showed me the Janome felting machine.
Want more lemonade?
Things and Tidbits
I left with a few tidbits
- All leather manufacturing in the US is in upstate New York, where they know how to cure leather that meets EPA standards.
- You can see a photo of the charka, invented by Mathma Gandhi to enable everyone to spin cotton. It is an inexpensive cotton thread spinner and enabled the Indian people to become competitive in the manufacture of cotton.
- A promise from Roy to help me align the wool in my batts.
And Next
If there are any fiber artists listening that would like to help demonstrate using the spindle, I will be at the Long Beach Depot for Creative Reuse on Thursday, from 4-6 PM (time may be extended). This is a very different kind of store, and if you get a chance, please consider a visit!
Need to contact me? info@handmadepenguin.com
Trish Tsoiasue writes as herself about creative and maker topics for the Belmont Shore Patch and as Handmade Penguin for the Handmade Penguin Blog.
