Hilary Heyl began serious hand weaving of contemporary tapestries in 1999, when she enrolled in the El Rito Fiber Arts Program in northern New Mexico. She learned Rio Grande techniques taught by Karen Martinez of Chimayo and design, color and natural dyes by Leslie King of El Rito. Hilary returned to Albuquerque with a loom she and her husband built as part of her course work. She continued to refine her weaving through a three year apprenticeship with Donna Loraine Contractor in …
Hilary Heyl began serious hand weaving of contemporary tapestries in 1999, when she enrolled in the El Rito Fiber Arts Program in northern New Mexico. She learned Rio Grande techniques taught by Karen Martinez of Chimayo and design, color and natural dyes by Leslie King of El Rito. Hilary returned to Albuquerque with a loom she and her husband built as part of her course work. She continued to refine her weaving through a three year apprenticeship with Donna Loraine Contractor in Albuquerque. It was from Donna she learned to apply ancient Greek mathematical principles such as the golden mean, the Fibonacci sequence and the root two rectangles, to aesthetically pleasing designs.
Technically informed by Rio Grande methods and the mathematics inherent in the beauty of mother nature, Hilary is also inspired by the love of color and landscapes of New Mexico. She weaves to celebrate color, texture, form and patterns and how they can mirror essential hues of being alive as a woman.
