We have met many of you "on the road" either through the galleries that represent our work or at shows. For those of you who have heard our spiel you may sit back and do something else. But for those of you who only know us in a virtual world let us introduce Pamela today..... since she is the person who started the whole sosumi thing.
First of all, the name/word sosumi. It means absolutely nothing. As a matter of fact, Richard came up with that name in 1988. Pamela was weaving designs that had a distinctly Japanese look. Richard wanted something that was also a bit humorous. Sosumi was born..... as in "You don't like it? So sue me!" That's all it is.
OK, now about Pamela. Born in Pittsburgh,PA in the early '50's. Moved to White Plains, NY, for elementary school, Greenwich, CT, for junior high and high school. Graduated in 1970 and went to Antioch College where she thought she wanted to be an architect, and worked on inflatable buildings with a group by the name of Ant Farm. Such hippies!
But to back up a bit: Pamela took her one and only weaving class in 1969 in Ludlow,VT, at a place called Fletcher Farm Craft School. She had a real love of textiles stemming from her mom being an extraordinary knitter, and from having gone to the D+D building in NYC with her mom to go through swatch books by the dozens. Her home had furniture upholstered in fabric by The Textile Designer giant, Jack Lenor Larsen. Those swatches+knitting yarn+the late 60's/early 70's formed the beginning of her path of weaving.
She went to school in New Zealand as well (think more sheep than people), and traveled overland through Asia for a year to further pique her interest in weaving. She had probably woven in just about every fiber available, in every color fad, in most weaving techniques, before she settled on shadow weave as her Technique of Choice. She is able to get a wonderful 3-D effect with it using a black thread that contrasts nicely with just about any color out there. (Richard weaves the color-weave effect scarves that we will get to in another blog.)
What else to know about Pamela? She LOVES to cook and was part owner of a restaurant started in 1977 in Yellow Springs, OH, that is still operating. Check out The Winds Cafe. She did all of the baking there.
What else? She is very short. She LOVES her kids and four grandchildren. She loves her Bear. And of course she loves Richard. She lives a very content life at about 6200' high in a beautiful wide valley in western Wyoming surrounded by 10,000' mountains, and is just a stone's throw from The Grand Tetons and Yellowstone.
Hey! She even knows how to weave a palm frond basket! (1983-ish in Fiji.)