TAFA Members Talk: Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo

"Nomad Girls", by Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo

As part of a series I am running on Fiber Focus about TAFA members, Leslie responded by sharing a bit about the places she has lived and how that has affected her work.  As fiber artists, we are all part of a larger community, an international one that has thousands of years of history where we can add our particular vision and voice.  But, as individuals, we help shape our immediate communities whether we work alone or participate in a larger group.  Leslie has immersed herself into Tibetan textile traditions and apprenticed herself to T. G. Dorjee Wangdu where she participated in embroidering thangkas for His Holiness The Dalai Lama and other notables.  She is one of the few Westerners who has had such an honor. 

Now, hear from Leslie:

Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo

For the past 20 years, I've been living primarily out of the country and traveling back and forth for events and to visit family. I LOVED living in Dharamsala, India, where I met and learned the precious tradition of Tibetan appliqué. There, I was immersed in communities of Tibetans, of dharma students, of artists, of adventurers. I felt very supported and very much at home. But nothing lasts forever, and life shifted in unexpected ways. 

"I once lived here... My beloved mountains in Dharamsala, India"  

I spent my 40s living in Milan, Italy. Milan was "closer" to California, more accessible to the airport, and less pleasant to hang out in. So, I traveled back and forth to California more frequently.

"and then I lived here... You pick!" (Milan, Italy)

Living on two continents and traveling back and forth frequently may sound exciting. And it's true -- life doesn't get boring. But it doesn't get connected either. Milan was a hard place to connect anyway, and connection was made even harder by taking off every few months. I met some wonderful fiber artists in Lugano, Switzerland, and participated with QuiltItalia a little. But I found that I couldn't be continuous in my activities, couldn't establish routines to make my work flow more smoothly, and couldn't take on an organizational role in any groups because I'd always be leaving too soon to take responsibility for follow-through.

A glimpse of my studio (now, back in California).

I love where I'm living now and am so fortunate to have a light and spacious area in which to work. The weather is cool and the ocean is near. It's a good place. And I'm on a path to connect with community here. I don't know whether there are relevant fiber arts groups, but I've found a wonderful Buddhist study group, some amazing entrepreneurial networkers, and will soon start an internship at an ethnographic art museum in LA. It's good to feel that I'm here for the long haul and can count on deepening my involvement in these (and other) activities.

"And this is just a block away!"

A word about physically near community:

In recent years, it has become easier and easier to connect with people and with like-minded groups online. My life has been bountifully enriched by such connections. I love email and Facebook and Twitter. I love that I can teach online through my Stitching Buddhas Virtual Apprentice Program. I love that I can stay connected in an inspiring way with people through my Threads of Awakening Weekly Wake-Ups.

Lotus, by Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo

But maybe because I'm a tactile person... Silk isn't silk unless you touch it. The light only shines off it in a certain way if you're standing near it. And the energy of physical presence with people is different than what travels through cyberspace... So community in my physical vicinity is important to me, whether that be through an arts group or a book group or a hiking group or a volunteer group. I'd love eventually to live in an artists' live-work community. One of the things I miss from my days in Dharamsala is the simple pleasure of having someone stop by for tea during the day. I'd stitch while we talked. It was wonderful! I'd love to live in a small arts community where that's possible again. But for now, I'm really happy where I am and am enjoying the process of connecting day by day.

Visit Leslie's Member Profile on TAFA for more samples of her work  and to find her places where she is on the web.  Leslie has a website, blog, and is on facebook and other places.  So, come and show her your support and leave a comment if you like her work!

Visit other articles about TAFA and its members on this blog.

TAFA Members Talk: Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo

A Shoe Fetish, Anyone?

Why is it that shoes capture our attention so completely? Hats, gloves, and other accessories also have their fan clubs, but shoes seem to beat the others in terms of a collective and historical obsession. Sure, they serve function in how we connect with earth: protecting from the elements, providing warmth, keeping our selves clean and enabling or preventing mobility. But, I think there is also something about the form itself that offers the maker and the wearer a challenging canvas to go beyond function into adornment. Shoes make or break an outfit. They define social status. They change how a person stands, walks or sits. Look at the shoes and a judgment is formed about the person. Adornment speaks of historical, cultural and personal statements of society.

Sioux quilled and beaded moccasins, circa 1900. (Cowan's Auctions Inc.)

My all-time favorite museum, The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, has a huge exhibit along one wall with hundreds of shoe samples from around the world, old and new. Their web description states:

"People everywhere face the common concern of how to cover and protect their feet. As you look around, you’ll notice that people have responded to this concern in countless (and often amazing) ways.

The kind of shoes a person might use depends on a combination of factors: what the environment is like, what kind of shoes his or her group traditionally wears, and what the shoemaker can create.

Imagine shedding your own shoes and standing in one of these pairs instead. Which ones would you choose? And what would it be like to look at life from that different point of view --even for just a moment?"

I carry mukluks from Afghanistan, one of my best sellers in my eBay store. I have several pairs and love wearing them during the cold, winter months.


Made by Afghan refugees out of recycled sweaters, the mukluks are more of a sock than a shoe or boot, but they come from a boot tradition, much like the felted boots of Tibet:

Tradtional Tibetan Felt Boots

These are examples of function needed for a cold climate offering comfort and protection. But, shoes have also been a source of pain and even death. Foot binding in China lasted over 1,000 years. Women bound their feet tightly, curling the toes under the feet and raising the arch of the foot. The smaller foot, the better. Lotus shoes, now highly collectible, encased these crippled foot remains. This pair is available on eBay for $345:

Chinese Lotus Shoes

I actually had a customer in my Chicago store who came looking for a pair of lotus shoes for her 90 year old mother who had bound feet. Shirley Two Feathers has an interesting article on her blog about foot binding. She doesn't know where she got this photo:

We may think of these customs as barbaric, but stiletto heels also cause severe tendon and back damage. The High Heel Shoe Museum has a bunch of sexy photos of women in stiletto shoes.

Most of the gorgeous, young models are sitting, kneeling, or laying down. Hmmm.... Wonder why? Could it be that they are NOT comfortable?!! One of my best friends when I was growing up in Brazil was Japanese. She and her sisters all tried to compensate for their height wearing these stilettos. Even back then, when we were young and flexible, they could not wear tennis shoes. They could run in those spikes, but not without.

Contemporary artists and designers continue to draw on traditional fabrics and needle work, as well as form, for inspiration for cool-looking shoes. Feltoman from Turkey sells beautiful suzani on felt boots on eBay. (There are flat soles available, too!)

Suzani boots, $115, Feltoman

The Natural Store uses vintage kimono fabric in their smart-looking pumps, $320 pounds.

Kimono covered shoes from The Natural Store, a fair trade outlet.

Diverso Studio on Etsy has a nice selection of mola shoes for $45.

Mola shoes from Diverso Studio on Etsy.

Shoe images are everywhere in art. They are painted, cast, quilted, silk screened, and framed. Travelers photograph them. Radical Sabbatical captured this happy photo in Morocco:

Moroccan slippers by Radical Sabbatical

Have a shoe fetish, anyone? Whether you do or not, walk gently on this good earth!

A Shoe Fetish, Anyone?

HeART of Healing Gallery, A Place of Peace in Paducah

This past weekend I had the privilege of working at HeART of Healing Gallery, located in Paducah's art district, Lowertown. The gallery is the creative healing extension of Integrative Medicine of Kentucky, Dr. Christi Bond's clinic of alternative health.

Mission Statement

Our primary goal is for each patient to enjoy optimal health through a combination of safe, innovative, and natural treatments. Integrative Medicine of Kentucky combines natural therapies with appropriate conventional medical treatments in a safe manner. We treat the person as a whole being, addressing imbalances on physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels. Our treatment plans require time, patience and the commitment to change formerly harmful, destructive habits.

Dr. Bonds and I both belong to Paducah Fiber Artists, an informal group that meets monthly to share progress on our projects and critique each other's work. We both love ethnic textiles and carry some similar inventory (molas, kimono, and hilltribe textiles), but that doesn't stop us from trading or collaborating.

The gallery showcases those textiles plus work by local artists.

Although the space is not huge, it is well divided into themes that change as new inventory arrives and focus needs arise. Dr. Bonds is well-stocked with vintage kimono. Quilters buy these to cut them up and incorporate them into their own work, but they are so beautiful that many people just buy them to wear or display as a textile.


A current exhibit of photos supports an orphanage in Vietnam. The photographer is dating one of Paducah's native sons and both have spent time volunteering at the orphanage.

Another exhibit showcases local artist Nikki Mae's pen and ink drawings, framed in black below the large scripted piece:

Gorgeous Tibetan singing bowls fill a cabinet, the beginning of a collection of instruments which will be used in sound therapy.


Quan Yin and other female imagery are found throughout the gallery and clinic, both in paintings and carvings.


But, my new favorite are the mola blouses! I had never seen them before, except in photos and am amazed at how beautiful they are.


I have my eye on this one, so DON'T buy it! It's Jesus on a cross, but he is smiling, boogey-eyed, and looks really friendly and sweet.

Dr. Bonds has a huge mola collection and just took down an exhibit that focused on Christian imagery in mola art. I had not been exposed to those before either. I had always seen the birds, abstracts, and animals and have many of those for sale in my Etsy store. I bought one from Dr. Bonds that shows the story of Jesus and the woman at the well, a sermon my Dad had preached on many times over the years and used again in his retirement sermon, just recently.

I had some henna clients at the gallery. One of the wonderful things about being at HeART of Healing is that all the people I have met there are SO nice! This is Eleanor from Nashville, who visits Paducah and Lowertown frequently. She was a futon maker until just recently.


The clinic and gallery are housed in the same building, on the corner of 7th and Monroe. The clinic is as interesting as the gallery with each room decorated in gorgeous hand-crafted furniture, textiles, and objects from around the world. There are three themed acupuncture rooms: Native American, Quan Yin and Egypt. Soothing music is everywhere.

I am not just a friend, a co-textile lover, a trader, or an occasional worker. I am also a patient. I've gained 20 pounds since I tore my meniscus in my knee almost two years ago, have felt lethargic and must stop smoking. So, Dr. Bonds is helping me get my old self in order through herbs, acupuncture, chocolate (!!!), and support. She considers her East/West approach as her tool bag, and will pull out whichever tools she needs from either tradition to address the problem. I am so happy to have her expertise here and hope that both the gallery and clinic grow into a thriving practice for Dr. Bonds who recently relocated here from Nevada.

HeART of Healing Gallery is in the process of having an online presence where items will be available for purchase. Check the Integrative Medicine of Kentucky site for updates. And, if you visit Paducah, make sure to stop by for a visit! Currently, the gallery is only open on Saturdays, but those hours will expand in the near future.

HeART of Healing Gallery, A Place of Peace in Paducah