Above the Fray and Morrison Creek Alpacas

The 2013 ANWG NW Weavers Conference Marketplace Mall will be June 20-22, Carver Gym, Western Washington Univeristy, Bellingham, WA.  During the next few weeks we will be featuring some of our outstanding merchants on our blog.

This week we are featuring two of our Marketplace Mall merchants:  Above the Fray and Morrison Creek Alpacas.

Above the Fray: Traditional Hilltribe Art

Art ventures to the hill-tribe region of Laos and Vietnam and personally selects hand-woven silk, cotton, and hemp textiles and other authentic tribal arts directly from local artisans in the region’s villages. Our diverse selection of fine-quality shawls, scarves and wall-art, new and older, is woven of locally-raised materials using traditional looms. 

 Over our years of exploring the region, we have had the pleasure of developing wonderful friendships and business relationships with the hilltribe seri-culturalists, dyers and weavers and their families who live in the mountainous jungles of Laos and northern Vietnam.   Above the Fray passionately supports the artisans and the diverse skills and cultures of this remote region, and we are eager to share with our audience not only their world-class woven art, but also our pictures, stories, and knowledge of these traditional peoples. 

During our travels, we also collect authentic traditional hand-made baskets, tools, jewelry, shamans’ masks and other ritual art.  Many of our items carry the rich patina of years of actual village wear and use.

Above the Fray is a family business owned by couple Maren Beck and Josh Hirschstein, with “home-base” in Eugene, OR.  They have two sons: Ari, currently at Earlham College, and Zall, our photographer and teen-sherpa.

 15% of Above the Fray’s profits are donated to Mines Advisory Group, a Nobel-prize winning organization which, in this region, helps eradicate the unexploded ordnance left from the Vietnam War that kills hundreds every year and restricts local economic growth.

Morrison Creek Alpacas

While visiting from Washington State, we were looking for a “retirement” property on Vancouver Island and found exactly what we were looking for in Courtenay on acreage with Morrison Creek running through it.  Morrison Creek Alpacas was born when we visited an alpaca ranch and Sophia looked up with her big brown eyes and nuzzled my husband’s nose with hers. We then built a farm business with lots of sweat equity and an award winning alpaca herd.  Chinook, our herdsire has produced progeny that has it all – crimp, staple length, fineness and density.

Spring 2013 is the debut of our own carding company powered by a John Heigh and Sons 24inch sample carder capable of producing 6 to 10 lbs per hour. We offer superior alpaca fiber backed by ten years of selective breeding, strong genetics, and solid fleece/fiber education.  Our aim is to demonstrate how versatile alpaca and alpaca blend fiber can be when processed and correctly milled by matching form to function.

Our success is a testament to the vitality of the fiber artisan community on Vancouver Island and the guild members of Vancouver Island have all played and will continue to play an irreplaceable role. So, at this time Morrison Creek Alpacas gives special thanks the Victoria and Qualicum guilds for actively supporting local fleece/fiber of all species.

The public is invited to shop during all Marketplace Mall open hours.  Marketplace Mall open hours will be:

• Thursday, June 20 - 12 noon—6 p.m.
• Friday, June 21 - 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Saturday, June 22 - 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.