ABBY BARD HANDWOVEN

My name is Abby Bard and I've been weaving and sewing most of my life. I grew up in Washington, D.C, and as a kid I wove potholders and rafts out of Popsicle sticks. My grandparents taught me to sew by hand and when I was 12 years old I took a summer class in machine sewing and began making my clothes. I moved to San Francisco in 1969, and earned money designing and sewing clothing, some of it embellished with embroidery and patchwork. In the winter of 1973-1974 I spent several months in Central America, and learned to weave on a backstrap loom in Panajachel, Guatemala. My first weaving teacher was Lucia DeLeon Queche, a Guatemalan woman of Mayan descent. On my return to San Francisco, I studied weaving on a 4-harness floor loom at the DeYoung Museum school with Anne Wilson, and met my dear friend and mentor Rebecca Lyon.

In 1977, the year my son Joey was born, our family moved to Sebastopol, California. Two years later, I began weaving for Margaret Fisher and her handwoven clothing company Greentree Weaving. I spent four years at Greentree, ultimately supervising production and designing color schemes. I left Greentree to pursue my own business, Abby Bard Designs, designing and weaving fabrics for home and office interiors, and selling them through interior design showrooms around the country. In 1988 I scaled back production and returned to weaving clothing, particularly wool capes, hats and throws, and the rayon chenille scarves and hats which are the foundation of my current line.

I'm very grateful that my work has connected me to other weavers around the world, particularly through my travels to Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, and Thailand, and I am honored to be part of this beautiful tradition. When I'm not weaving, I'm most likely in my garden, a constant source of inspiration for my work. I write a quarterly column for Discoveries Magazine, a publication of Sonoma West Times and News, about my garden. I'm also a massage therapist, practicing at Osmosis Enzyme Bath and Spa in Freestone, CA, and facilitate massage workshops in Traditional Thai Massage for the East West Massage School.