Greenbank’s Raven Rocks Studio co-owner and artist Windwalker Taibi was recently selected as the featured artist on the Mirrix Tapestry and Bead Looms website.

Taibi had e-mailed the company with a question about his weaver’s loom, which is made by Mirrix. Made of copper and aluminum, Mirrix looms are multi-functional looms that are most often used for tapestry and bead weaving, but can be used for all sorts of weaving ranging from free-form to wire weaving. Although many weavers have never tried this type of loom, Taibi said they are considered to be state-of-the-art looms for tapestry weaving.

“The owner Claudia Chase, who is an internationally known tapestry and bead weaver, answered my e-mail,” Taibi said.

“She went on to say that she had visited our website and loved my work — especially the purses that I weave with my own hand-spun yarn. Later that day, she wrote back and asked if I would send her some images of my work.”

The next day, Taibi received an invitation from Chase to be featured on the company’s website; click here to see.

“Of course I said yes,” Taibi said. “She wanted to feature someone who had long-term experience with one of her looms and was an artist demonstrating how they work, which I do in the gallery all the time.”

It was a big deal for Taibi, who owns the Raven Rocks Studio and Gallery with his wife and fellow artist Mary Jo Oxrieder. It was the first time, he said, that he received national attention for his work.

“I thought that that was it for the excitement, which was plenty, until last night,” he said.

“Claudia wrote again and asked if I’d like to be a dealer for their looms.”

The idea was to find an artist and teacher who could both sell the looms and teach people how to use them through advanced-technique classes. Chase was especially impressed with the fact that Taibi’s woven artwork tended to be “outside the box,” while blended with traditional weaving techniques.

“I love to simply dive into a project with no intention other than to create a tapestry, or paint with certain colors,” Taibi said of his artwork. “As to the outcome, I just let my heart and spirit guide my hands and my vision.”

Raven Rocks Studio is now the newest official dealer for Mirrix Looms.

“Needless to say, this has been the most interesting week we’ve had in a long time,” the artist said.

“This gave me pause to see where the abundance in my life truly lies. It’s with people, not ‘stuff.’”

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