about steve

Barbara Ann Downs-vanCalsem has been weaving since 2006. She wove rag rugs until about 5 years ago, when she learned to weave on a Rio Grande walking loom in Las Trampas with the late Jody Ford. Since moving to Taos, Barbara Ann has been interested in wool weaving with a focus on Navajo-Churro sheep because "I want the breed to continue." 

Over the years she's continued her learning and taken many classes, including at the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center. She focuses on plain weave, though also creates rag rugs and jerga. She weaves her tapestries on a LeClerc 2-harness loom, and also uses a portable tabletop loom. She uses her warping beam to warp for 12 pieces at a time.

She's excited to be part of the weaving cohort "to have other comrades — loving and doing the same thing I'm doing." She hopes to keep the tradition going, "just like I feel with the churro." And now, she says, "I've learned that you don't have to have intricate styles to be Rio Grande. "

Barbara Ann exhibits and sells weavings at Taos Wools in Arroyo Seco and at Gaucho Blue Gallery in Peñasco.