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Show o yr - with o girdin Guatemalan her festivl . Atwater Mrs. tato so blueprints the re- create the any weaver pat- can ancient design. - 4,. Jr,: 1 N, t VereS . years ago, the- of wife a mine engineer working in Basin, 1. :, Mont., found the surroundings of a cabin too limiting. Anxious to do something, constructive with her spare time, she began frillMY-FIV- well-educat- 0 three-room- . . weaving. Miners' wives in the area visited her to learn the art and soon became prize-winnicraftsmen Today, Mrs. Mary Atwater, that - bored housewife, is - a leading - authority.---p- n weaving techniques, and has proteges all over the world. At 70, Mrs. Atwater, living in a new log cabin in Holladay; still is deep in experimental her home work conducted on the looms , workshop. There, surrounded by examples of ,g-- -- - ....... A bored Montana housewife takes up weaving and becomes On international authority on weaving techniques and the restoration of no tive patterns and rare textiles the world over. ' - world's textile craftsmen, the best work of the she works out the- intricate weaver's instruction lo that throughout the world may recreate the designs of native tribes' ., everywhere. ' 1 . I By GEORGE GILBERT . and energetic, she gives her work a freshness and beauty that speak elo quently of her constantly exploring spirit, Quiet-spoke- 4t ttlet kpfcter frequent, meetings and - demonstrations, and coining to summer meetings in different parts in the country.- -- These- - gatherings have come to- be called class of the "Weavers' Institute!' , I role WASN'T weaving very long before tiound in the craft. Remaking traditional patmy terns was never' enough for me. I found my real interest after, I became angry. "I started by ,buying a Swedish loom, the best available at that time, from a Swedish woman in Kentucky. I wrote her and requested . the ,, 'recipes' for new patterns. She flatly refused 'to 'teach me a thing. I made up my mind then that, whatever I learned could be had by anyone interested enough ' ; "Later on, this' woman, ashamed to ask me the 'how' of things 'I had worked out,', hired , one of my stqdents to teach her my technklues.'", , Atwater students are leaders in the craft in . . the, same way today, sharing their work at n ert . , EACHING THESE classes, numbering from a few up to a hundred every year, and biding usually for two weeks, was a logical develop, ment of Mrs. Atwater's 'life work. She has taught each summer at the University of British Columbia, still managing before orwards to fly to at least lour or' five cities for stays with groups that request her talents. Her husband's engineering work and her Om studies in decorative design have taken the couple Into many foreign lands. One spch , trip was through western Europe. - - , k ' ' $ I 1 a , ' 11'11 2 5'1'1X-- 1 p 1 - ::121),Pt :1)11: ; THE DESERET NEWS MAGAZINE': A.ii-1:1- - ,71.' .17; 'crl,, ;.izAril ,iUt.,1$:',.o.;:l L:-1- ',.1. '.' .41).r4:1 :;:l - |