Today we’d like to introduce you to Meadow Coldon.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Meadow. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I have been working with fiber for over a decade, and have built my skillset to include each part of the process, from sheep shearing, combing and spinning the wool, to dyeing by hand, and creating knitted garments. I was raised an artist, so each part of this long process calls to me in different and beautiful ways. With my wool processing and spinning, I get to play with texture. With dyeing wool, I get to explore and journey with color. With knitting, I get to create functional art that is useful in these long Colorado winters.
In 2016, I was living in Reykjavik, Iceland, and had just dropped out of my graduate program. The winters are wet and dark, and I was having a lot of trouble adjusting to my life there. I was in terrible need of direction and joy. I found yarn dyeing at just this point, and it felt like a shining beacon that I began to recenter my life around. I had spent nearly a decade before this working as an archaeologist, and that history naturally informed my art. Through it, I began to form meaningful relationships with the women around me. I sold my yarn at a local boutique and felt charged by my time meeting with other fiber artists there. I had a new avenue with which to pursue linguistic challenges, peppered with long days at the dyepots with my Icelandic language books in one hand, and a cup of dye in the other. Sinew and Stone Fiberworks was born that year, daughter of an archaeologist-immigrant-artist.
Later in 2017, I discovered that I would need to leave Iceland. Quite suddenly, and without a plan, I found myself in southwestern Colorado. I had no idea what I was doing, but it seemed like a rash move to a new place was something that all of the divorcees in popular culture did. As I adjusted and began creating my new life, my yarn dyeing business anchored me. It reminded me that all of this knowledge came from somewhere, some memories of a past that no longer existed, except in the many lessons it bestowed.
My career and journey as an artist have completely blossomed in the years since I moved to Ouray, and I have been fortunate to discover a community of fiber artists here. My creative mediums have expanded to clay, and the functional compliments of fiber and ceramic is proving to be an endless delight. The interest in my human history-inspired colorways has grown as well, and I now find myself in the wonderful position of navigating the world as both an artist and a businesswoman. These worlds are not always easy to walk between, but I am delighted at the opportunity to don my shades and walk into the light asking, “where are we headed next?”
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Being a self-taught dyer, the learning process has not always been an easy one. From accidentally dyeing the floor to scalding myself with steam, felting yarn into a solid brick, catching things on fire, and making yarn that looks like it may or may not have come from an actual diaper, the mistakes have been too many to enumerate.
One of my greatest challenges has been coming to terms with the old adage that “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”. I will often create colorways that I find rather displeasing, but when I bring them to a market, they are sold instantly. Other times, colorways will sit on a shelf for months. This aspect of the learning process has asked me to play with colors that I am not necessarily called to, because experimentation breeds discovery, and because my community has lessons to teach me about seeing beauty where I have not noticed it before.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Sinew & Stone Fiberworks – what should we know?
Sinew and Stone Fiberworks celebrates an unhinged passion for fiber and color and a grounding appreciation of the deep roots of our collective ancestry. My hand-dyed yarn brings the essence of history to life and offers a new kind of visual and tactile experience of our human journey. Fiber art has incredibly deep roots in our social evolution as humans, and I believe that when we engage with fiber art, we are honoring an undeniable connection to our historic traditions and our ancestors. All fiber art is a hat tip to those cave-dwelling string makers of 30,000 years ago, but Sinew and Stone bring this connection to the forefront of our inspiration.
I offer a variety of fiber types and blends, including merino, silk, cashmere, nylon, and more, all serving different purposes in the garments they can create. Most of these blends will be machine washable, which makes their lives as garments easy to care for. I am also introducing a new line of spinning fiber and a 100% cotton line that will be exclusively dyed with natural plants.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My partner, Lucas Carrion, has been dubbed “the great enabler”. Not a fiber artist himself, I often find him rattling on about my art to strangers, using jargon I had no idea he had any awareness of. He is a relentless supporter of my work, and my ability to learn to navigate these dueling identities of artist and businesswoman.
My very dear friend Kayla Pratt has also been an endless well of motivation, enthusiastically listening to me recount my less-than-thrilling tales of playing with color that day, and sending me countless sparks of inspiration to inform the next day’s experimenting. I can be rather shy when it comes to talking about my work, and these two can often be seen corralling potentially interested folks to my market booth as I try to form sentences that are anything other than “I really love it.”
Pricing:
- 100% Merino skein in fingering, DK, and bulky weights – $26
- Merino/Cashmere/Silk blend in fingering weight – $32
- Merino/silk blend in fingering weight – $27
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sinewandstone.com
- Email: sinewandstoneyarns@gmail.com
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