Travis Meinolf owner of Meinolf Weaving School sits at a loom. Photo by Vita Hewitt.
On July 17, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey will hit theaters. All the key parts of this epic are in attendance, including costumes, monsters, wars, and of course, weaving. The star-studded cast includes Anne Hathaway as Penelope, Queen of Ithaca and wife to Odysseus. While he fights in the Trojan War, Penelope waits for his return for twenty long years. Suitors take over her house, demanding that she choose one of them for a new husband. Cunningly, she states that she will only remarry when she is done weaving a death shroud for Odysseus’ father, Laertes. Every night, she secretly unravels the shroud to delay remarriage.
The woven work is featured heavily on the film’s Instagram page. The artist whose weavings appear in the movie, and who taught Hathaway the craft, is based right here in the Bay Area. Travis Meinolf, a California College of the Arts graduate and owner of Meinolf Weaving School in San Anselmo, invited me into his studio to talk looms, thread, and community.
A past Weave Party at BAMPFA hosted by weaver Travis Meinolf.
Maybe you have come across one of Meinolf’s weave parties hosted by the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, or taken a class with him at the Richmond Art Center or his school. Running into the self-proclaimed “Action Weaver” is always memorable. Portable looms hang from one wall of the studio, inviting guests to strap them around their waist and weave whenever inspiration strikes. Looms fill both floors, occupied by colorful student projects and Meinolf’s own works in various stages of completion. Yarns of every color spill from baskets and line the walls. Hand-printed T-shirts reading “You are Brilliant and Beautiful”, and “I Love You.” sit folded for sale.
The phrase reflects the atmosphere Meinolf has built. His students, seated at separate looms, respond warmly to his calm and unhurried teaching style.
“What I really like about weaving is that it gives me the time to sit and contemplate my world while also feeling productive and like I’m building toward something that is going to do something for me afterwards,” Meinolf said. “So the fabric that I’m making is an outcome, and the time for cognition and processing the things that are going on in my life is also an important part.”
Of his time working on the film, Meinolf said the production focused less on historical precision and more on visual storytelling.
“Working on the movie was a lot of fun because a lot of people are talking about a lot of elements in the movie,” he said. “It wasn’t about historical accuracy of the period. It was about expressing the story in a way that would be sensuous and involved and get people’s eye. Those are the aspects of the weaving process that are important to me too.”
The textures, patterns, and colors throughout Meinolf’s body of work speak to that philosophy.
For those looking to learn a new craft, Meinolf Weaving School offers classes and workshops in San Anselmo.
