1989 | My Mother’s Workroom, Marin County
For me, this one has become an example of photographic history; now, only the walls, door, and window are the same. My father built this space out of thin air — the little hillside shed-roofed cabin was originally cantilevered on twelve four-inch steel-pipe columns and four steel H-beams like a Case Study House. So Dad set a real foundation and then built a nice basement-with-view workroom to finish out a more livable house.
My father was intrigued by maps early in life, and later on, he pored over aerial and satellite views. He arranged almost all of his trips to experience the “ground truth” of special places. My parents were able to make a voyage to Scammon’s Lagoon during the gray whale breeding season, enjoying marine life from sea level along that part of the Baja California peninsula.
The spreading bay laurel seen through the window was blown over in a big storm a few years after this picture was made.
The watercolor at right was made by my grandfather Rene Weaver in the red-rock country near Sedona, while grandmother Claire sunbathed rather immodestly for her era. My mother learned to weave from her mother, and this picture shows a smaller model from Grandmother’s many looms; my mother had this four-harness rig warped up for an “easy” project.
I remember that Claire had three bedrooms full of yarn upstairs in the old house in Oakland, and that Rene regularly threatened to put a large sign out on the front lawn the moment she passed away — "GIANT YARN SALE!” But she outlived him by a few years, so that task fell to my mother and sister, who supplied lovely vintage yarns to serious weavers and knitters all up and down the coast.
While Rene was engaged in his fine watercolor work, Claire wove stair-tread runners for the house, upholstery for the living-room chairs, yardage for clothing, and hanging works for exhibition. I recently found a color photo of her from the ‘70s showing her wearing a remarkable full-length wool coat — the same material as my favorite reading chair near their old library nook!
Both of these grandparents were generous with their skills, as were the other two, and my own parents. Rene patiently taught many watercolor classes, and Claire was a special resource — when San Francisco-born Kay Sekimachi was released after her childhood incarceration as a Japanese American, she asked Claire to teach her how to weave.
▷ You could look Kay up; her name and her works are everywhere.