'Playful' Embroidery Workshop Brings Together Women From Three Cultures in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán

Recently I had the great pleasure of attending a Two-Day Embroidery Workshop led by artist Debra Breckeen, who introduced techniques of crewel embroidery to about twenty women in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán.

The workshop was sponsored by ALAS, Wings, a group formed a year ago by twelve women artists living in and around Pátzcuaro. A majority of the founding members are expats, but they also include Mexican women artists. ALAS Mission Statement is clear:

ALAS is a multi-cultural, bilingual, woman-run organization whose mission is to enrich the quality of life in the Lake Pátzcuaro region, especially that of women and girls, by providing an art center where regional and international creative activities illuminate, educate and entertain.

ALAS, a Women´s Co-op, accomplishes its mission through Workshops and Classes, Exhibitions, Arts Programs for Youth, Opportunities for Local Artists, Dance, Music, Film and Other Arts Programming.

The Workshop was held in ALAS' spacious gallery, located in one of Pátzcuaro's many Colonial era buildings. The gallery's pristine white stucco walls vibrated with the colors, textures and variety of artisan embroideries.

Debby (orange jacket) welcoming participants to the workshop in ALAS Gallery;
Terry (at Debby's side) translates Debby's introductory remarks into Spanish.
Photo: Dara Stillman

Attendees were roughly one-third expats, one-third middle-class Mexicans, and one-third traditional artisan embroiderers who traveled from nearby villages to attend. Later, I mentioned this to a Mexican friend; he actually did a double-take before exclaiming in admiring tones,

"Do you know how rare that is? Social groups here usually stick to themselves; they don't often get together like that."

ALAS events are bilingual, which may be a partial explanation. But another essential component is a genuine shared interest in the arts, in traditional folk art and in community outreach. Not only are ALAS members committed to reaching out via the arts, but members' backgrounds include ties in the Mexican community that predate their arrival in Pátzcuaro. One member, for example, is a retired social worker who ran a clinic for the Hispanic community in California. Another's background is in community organizing. ALAS is one talented group of women!

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In another post, I wrote about life on the verge, the region where two ecosystems meet; in this case, between Mexico and the United States. Legally, the international boundary separating us is quite literally a 'line in the sand' drawn at the end of what the U.S. calls the Mexican-American War, but that Mexico labels "The U.S. Intervention in Mexico."

Culturally, however, the word verge is much more descriptive of the frontier region. Here's a tidy tidbit: Program 2012 is an agreement between the United States and Mexico authorizing their respective environmental agencies to cooperate in protecting the environment and the public's health in a U.S.-Mexico border region 100 kilometers [62.5 miles] wide along the legal line.

USA Environmental Protection Agency: U.S.-Mexico Border 2012 Map
The U.S.-Mexico border region is shared by two nations,
ten states (four in the U.S. and six in Mexico)

Thanks to today's communications and travel technologies, the frontier region is being extended even farther afield. A hundred years ago, the frontier was probably little more than the paired cities (shown on the map—San Diego and Tijuana; Calexico and Mexicali (my favorites because of the word-play); El Paso and Ciudad Juárez; McAllen and Reynosa; Brownsville and Matamoros, etc.)—strung all along the legal line. Is it too much of a stretch to believe that the public's health might well include its cultural and communal well-being?

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Back to the Workshop: My table was fairly representative of the group as a whole. At one end were clustered a group of traditional artisan embroiderers from the nearby pueblo (village) of Santa Cruz. Mary, a fascinating young woman newly retired from the Navy, sat across from me. At my right sat Carlota—born in Mexico City, now retired from her professional work, Carlota is married to a U.S. expat living in Pátzcuaro. Talk about cultural diversity!

Everyone's here: Debby demonstrating for expat Mary,
seated next to two traditional embroiderers from Santa Cruz;
Pátzcuaro resident (light blue sweater) stands working under
watchful eye of Ana (purple sweater) from Zirahuen.
(Photo: Jenny)

Enter ALAS and Debra Breckeen

Day 1: Debby's opening statement set the stage:

"Creating is a process—a journey from the
beginning of an idea to its
physical manifestation. While the finished
work is the focus of attention for the viewer, the artist
hones in on process. Going through the
process, the artist analyses and
solves problems, learning from each work and

carrying that knowledge into the next project.

"Crewel allows the needle-worker more creative
freedom than any other genre of
needlework. Instead of having to wait for someone to
design and chart a work, an embroiderer without any

drawing or painting ability can make designs from a
variety of existing sources, such as porcelain,
wallpaper and carpets, to create stunning
crewel patterns. But I find it exciting to use
one’s own drawings incorporating
personal experiences.

"Crewel is traditionally sewn with wool thread on a white
fabric support, but crewel stitches can be employed using
cotton or silk thread on any material support. Crewel
stitches are like knots that create dimension on the
surface of the cloth. Stitches are not counted. Today and
tomorrow we are talking about surface
embroidery while learning some crewel
embroidery stitches.

"I would like to introduce Ana Lilia
who will be helping me demonstrate the stitches.
And many thanks to Aida and Terry from ALAS
who will be helping us all with language differences.

"Let’s get started!"

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So we began ... struggling to get our fingers ... and our brains ... around the new stitches. Debby and Ana were kept pretty busy demonstrating, checking stitches, cheering our progress.

Day 2: Debby greeted us with the encouraging reminder that

"We're all teachers; as you learn a new stitch, please help others learn it, too."

Debby pioneered her "Each one ... Teach one" approach while working with women who are members of the Ladies Sewing Circle in nearby Zirahuen.

Although Debby has produced an impressive collection of embroidery art, exhibited last May in the Culture Center in the Former Jesuit College in Pátzcuaro, her personal and workshop style is characterized by a low-key emphasis on peer mentoring and mutual sharing.

My overriding impression of the Workshop is sensual. A rich combination of sight, sound and touch:

... observing the collegial concentration of the women intently focused on learning to execute new stitches ...

Learning from each other ....
Photo: Jenny

... listening to the steady hum of women's chatter as we stitched together. Given my limited skill for embroidery, I found myself listening in on the chatter, carried on in both English and Spanish. Here's my favorite exchange:

Expat embroiderer, surprised: "Oh, this is actually looking like something."  

Debby, preoccupied with demonstrating the stitch, replies matter-of-factly: "Well, it's supposed to."

... feeling the manta, Mexican muslin, beneath my arthritic fingers as I tried with minimal success to execute the stitches the women at my table took to like the proverbial ducks to water.

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Almost unconsciously, I had mildly wondered whether the artisan embroiderers would return for Day 2. But not only did they return—they brought their friends. There were actually more attendees on Day 2 than on Day 1!

I can't help but wonder if Debby's low-key, welcoming approach might have been one important factor, but ALAS is equally low-key in its practical commitment to including the broader Pátzcuaro community.

One artisan embroiderer had used Debby's well-designed guidelines to do her 'homework'—learning new stitches at home. She arrived early on Day 2, eager for Debby to check her stitches.

Focused on the common task of learning a new stitch together
Photo: Dara Stillman

Embroidery is sometimes characterized as a 'domestic art', but when I said something to that effect, the women at my table didn't hesitate to chime in:

"My grandfather embroidered," said Mary, the retired Navy chief. 

"My husband and nephews embroider," one of the artisan embroiderers was eager to inform me.

Then I remembered: Not only had my father-in-law embroidered, but the social movement Bordando por la Paz counts many men among those who embroider for peace. Unconscious sexism dies hard ....

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Reed (retired psychologist and child therapist) is a strong believer in play therapy:

"This embroidery workshop sounds a lot like what (English Psychoanalyst Donald) Winnicott dubbed the transitional space. 'Play' occurs in a transitional space because actions in play have no consequences, so anything can be tried out."

In this sense, Winnicott's transitional space can be viewed as another kind of verge. At the workshop, different cultures came together in a shared space created by their mutual interest in embroidery and their curiosity in learning about and experimenting with the stitches and knots that make up the crewel tradition.

Notably, Winnicott's notion of 'play' isn't restricted to children's activities. All the arts—music, dance, literature, drama, painting and the plastic arts—may be viewed as forms of adult 'play' (sports are another).

Reed added:

"It sounds as if the atmosphere of openness and mutuality, of equality, cultivated in the embroidery workshop created an important transitional space where all three groups felt not just welcome but safe to 'play'."

Reed is on to something. As we women worked together, neither skill level nor social group seemed to matter. Beginner to professional, across the social groups, with Debby periodically reminding us to "Each one ... Teach one" — we gathered together around the mutual endeavor of learning crewel embroidery techniques.

In preparing for the workshop, Debby stitched an embroidery sampler to show how different crewel stitches can be incorporated into a design. Her colorful sampler is delightfully playful.

The horizontal rows demonstrate some of the new crewel stitches; at the bottom Debby put them together to create a leaf, a flower, a fanciful sun.

Crewel Stitches and Knots Incorporated into 'Playful' New Designs
Photo: Dara Stillman

The two-day workshop was a great experience on many levels:

reaching across cultures, women connecting with women around the common joy of learning something new in a space where new ideas could be tried out, along with their intriguing potential for opening new avenues of creative expression.

It just doesn't get much better than that. ALAS and Debby Breckeen are both to be commended for creating a place where so much could happen ... on a quiet summer day in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán.

Still Curious?

• Debra Breckeen's Embroidery Art and the Art of Seeing, a review of the exhibit at the Culture Center in the Former Jesuit College, Pátcuaro, Michoacán;
• Art and Friendship in Zirahuén, Michoacán, a visit with artist Debra Breckeen at home;
• The Art of the Zirahuen Ladies Sewing Circle in Michoacán, México;
• Life at the Verge;
• Jenny's Neighborhood: Making Friends Mexico City-Style includes guidelines for framing embroideries stitched on manta Mexican muslin.