About the Artist: Cheri Shelp

I was introduced to weaving at the age of twelve after a friend of my mother felt a ‘get away’ from being a wife and mother was needed. A two day spinning and weaving workshop was being held at the high school and she was persuaded to attend. Within half an hour the hook was set and sewing, embroidery as well as knitting became secondary to this new world. Once the looms arrived I became her assistant. We would turn two chairs upside down in the hallway to measure the warp and then spend hours threading and winding the warp onto the loom. After her project was complete I would weave off the leftover warp. 

Weaving has been ever present in my life even after leaving for college I would come home on break and have some project in mind to decorate my dorm room. After graduating from the University of Wyoming I took a break from weaving until I returned to Worland to join the family business. My mom was worried that I wasn’t serious about weaving. So to make sure I was serious I had to purchase one of her spare looms. For a twenty something at that time $700.00 was a lot of money. After making several payments the loom was all mine and my weaving journey has continued on to this day. 

I spent several years learning and experimenting with different techniques. Many weavers will focus on one type or weave structure for me I wanted to try it all! So I played with different structures and ways to manipulate the yarn with dying or other techniques. Then things changed when my neighbor talked me into attending the rendezvous at Grey Rocks in 2000. When we drove into our first camp the sea of white canvas and tepees nestled into the Wyoming wilderness was one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen. Then going into camp and talking to people who were re-enacting the history of the mountain man I was even more enthralled. I had just found a focus for my weaving. My looms became a way for me to recreate pieces that could be used by mountain men to recreate history. So my neighbor and I opened a shop on traders row selling breech cloths, straps, sashes, blankets, tea towels and various other accouterments.

After many years of production weaving I am now spending some of my weaving time exploring some of my other weaving passions including tapestry, dying, and complex structure. 

I have contributed to Complex Weavers Greatest Hits, Complex Weavers Journal and have shown in the Western Weavers Guild Booth at ANWG and MAWS. I have taught workshops on Lace Weaving and Surface Design at MAWS.