Her water-soft blue eyes sparkle while she shares her life experiences. And you can sense her creative energy when you enter her weaving studio. The studio holds a wealth of weaving treasures. One of her two cats, a sleek tiger-striped gray cat called Minsky, accompanied us as we toured through the high ceiling, sunny room. And it was there that you also learn that Cyrena's interests are not limited to weaving - she paints and creates stained glass windows as well. Right now she is taking a class in Pathology and Diagnostics with psychology graduate students.
In the studio you experience how Cyrena intersects art and skill. She also paints, as demonstrated by a set of paintings of a view from the San Francisco docks. These depict different perspectives of the same scene, one painted by Cyrena, the other by Jill Light Strohn, a local painter.
One entire studio wall is filled with custom bins that hold wool and cotton yarns of all colors. Silks are stored in boxes. As explained by her husband Jeff, who had joined us in the studio, "to air is human" - most fibers store better that way.
Another wall displays a medley of framed weaving samples that were made in a class with Ted Hallman, when he taught at the Pacific Basin of Textile Arts. Ted insisted on creating a gallery atmosphere, so all the student work was matted or framed.
One of Cyrena's favorite personal projects was when she combined mono-print on rice paper, cut in strips and used as weft with beading techniques for a short kimono. She had just retired after 25 years of teaching Kindergarten and First grade, and needed a project to get out of her doldrums. The kimono is a mono-printed design with a light turquoise blue silk organza lining. It has gradient shades of turquoise, browns and blues. At center back is a girl (which is Cyrena) who is soaring through the air, meeting crane-like birds that are flying up to her. It is a continuous design front to back on a pale blur-gray background. And there is beading on the shoulder and collar. The beads were imbedded on the warp ends so Cyrena could bring them forward as needed.
Seven years ago she sustained a spinal cord injury that left her paralyzed from the waist down, but that has not deterred Cyrena from pursuing her passions for weaving and learning! Fortunately Jeff is also interested in weaving and makes dobby looms. He has converted one loom so that she can operate the treadle with her arms. Now Cyrena enjoys designing 16-shaft weave structures that she can weave with ease.
One aspect of Blacksheep that Cyrena particularly enjoys is working with other people on joint projects. One of her favorite group projects was last year, when about 18 people worked on a commemorative communion table piece for Glory Koehler in Cyrena's studio. They used the 16-shaft dobby loom. Although the loom could have been converted back to the original foot-powered version, all the project members opted to use the arm method instead of their feet. Although it made a slower weave, it gave everyone a chance to experience the moment. Usually when more than one weaver works on a piece, you can distinguish the different sections because each weaver has an individual beating technique. The amazing thing about this project is that it was almost impossible to tell the difference in the sections that were completed by the different weavers. Maybe this can be attributed to using the new "arm" method, or maybe it was a convergence of wanting to give back to Glory - we'll never know. The table piece had Glory's name, her birth and death dates, a message woven into, and a dogwood blossom design. It is now with the First United Methodist Church, where Glory was an active member. In the past, the guild used the church's facilities for their monthly meetings.
Another group project was a duplication of a Palo Alto Centennial banner Cyrena wove in 1993 for Palo Alto's 100th anniversary. The original mono-printed rice paper and beaded piece was given to Palo Alto's sister city in Sweden.
And then there was the 1990 CNCH conference, when she and Jean Thompson organized the creation of 50 scarves for the conference honchos. They used six different looms which were warped for different guild members to work on.
So much learned, so much more to learn about! Cyrena welcomes visitors to her studio, and don't be shy about suggesting a group project!
By Claudia Cocco, June 2003
Last updated: 8/12/03