About Hetty Friedman
It all started at age 13 when I took a weaving class at summer camp. It was like a miracle to me -- you put gorgeous colored yarns on the loom and pull off a gorgeous piece of fabric. I am continually in awe of the process.
The surprises that emerge from combining different types of fibers and colors into one warp always amaze me. The simplicity of the grid combined with the limitlessness of the textures and hues keep seducing me to design my pieces.
I work mainly with bamboo and rayon. They weave up into fabric that has a wonderful ‘hand’, great drape, and resiliency. I often add unusual novelty yarns as supplemental warps.
Hand painting warps allows me to create unique pieces in a limitless variety of colors. The warp threads are my canvas. While the warp and weft are at right angles, the applied dyes can flow and meld.
Bio
Born in Brooklyn, Hetty fell in love with weaving at a Connecticut arts camp (Buck’s Rock that is still in existence!) in 1966 and has never looked back. It has taken her through a degree in Visual Design (MFA), study and work in inventory control management (MBA), and a successful 30-year management career in the garment industry. Her project, Crafts for a Cause allows her to use her artistic skills and industry experience to contribute to communities near and far.
Crafts for a Cause combines Hetty’s love for hand-woven textiles and the Guatemalan Highlands. Utilizing her business savvy in a partnership with a Fair Trade weaver’s cooperative, she travels to Guatemala to teach Mayan back-strap weavers new techniques and to design product. In the past, she led tours for interested travelers exploring women’s enterprise after the Civil War in Guatemala and experiencing contemporary Mayan life and culture
Hetty Friedman Designs was founded in 2009. Hetty’s designs are sold in museums shops, women's boutiques, art events and from her Newton, MA studio.
Hetty’s main inspirations are Joseph and Annie Albers- the Bauhaus artists, Guatemalan indigenous weavers, Matisse and Picasso. She often hand paints her yarn, combining strong and unusual colors. Hetty weaves on a 36” 4 harness Le Clerc loom, a Schacht Baby Wolf 8 harness and an 8 harness Macomber loom in her Newton, Massachusetts home..
