Àshe, Volume 1, Number 2, Summer/Fall 1990 Page: 2 of 6
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: Hidden Selections of Houston’s African American and Jewish Heritage and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Rice University Woodson Research Center.
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Weaving
— The Threads of Our Past
by Lazette Marie Jackson
Positive Word List
powerful whole proud joyful empowered
honest delighted thoughtful flexable
growing mature wise inviolate attractive
intelligent caring harmonious relentless
grand beautiful courageous bold endur-
ing expressive sensational inspiring
sensitive sensual confident challenging
positive supportive energetic articulate
deligent assertive assured astute
audacious daring awesome beckoning
breathtaking intuitive talented skillful
constructive vision powerful whole
proud joyful empowered courageous
bold enduring expressive sensational
inspiring sensitive sensual confident pos-
itive supportive energetic articulate deli-
gent assertive assured astute audacious
daring awesome beckoning breathtaking
intuitive talented skillful constructive
A Repeat the lines often enough with
the natural rhythm of the words and they are
reminiscent of an incantation spoken secretly
over low flickering candlelight. Speed them
up and the rhythm could be the beginning of
a rap song. Syncopate them and the words
could become the source of a scat sung by
Ella Fitzgerald or Al Jarreau. Regardless of
how you choose to use them, the words speak
of rhythm. And rhythm is synonymous with
Theresa Pratt Allen, accomplished weaver,
teacher, puppeteer, painter and designer of
clothes and jewelry.
When I first approached Ms. Allen
about interviewing her for our artist spot-
light, she seemed both surprized and shyly
flattered. She gave directions to her own
“personal museum” and behind her demur
to praise was excited about the prospect.
Upon arrival at Theresa’s home, Marsha
Johnson, the photographer, and I, found her
returning from her daily constitutional, a
practice that she avidly enjoys. She led us
into a living room filled with paintings,
sculpture, musical instruments, samples of
former students’ work and family portraits.
We soon were sprawled between floor and
couch, along with her constant canine com-
panion, Spike, in order to get a better look
at old family photos. Theresa proceeded to
proudly relate her richly creative family
background.
She began with her mother. “My
mother was known as Madame E. M. Pratt
and she was a concert artist who played
piano, trumpet and violin, as well as a host of
other instruments. Hex 32 instrument orches-
tra travelled all over the South, but mostly in
the state of Texas, during the 1930’s. As a
child I played violin and banjo with them and
my only brother, Tommy played bass and
bass violin. “Those were days to remember”,
she reminisced. “There was a very strong
tradition of female artisans throughout my
family. My maternal great-grandmother who
Make the Shed
Shoot the Shuttle
Beat the Weft....
Change the Shed
Shoot die Shuttle
Beat die Weft....
was bom in slavery was sole seamstress for
her mistress and my father’s mother worked
with quilting and the carding of cotton. My
paternal aunts, made pottery and worked with
ceramics up until they were 88 and 89 years
old----until they died. My aunts were Home
Demonstration Agents/Extension Teachers”,
she stated with quiet pride.
Ms. Alien’s pride gathered brilliance
as she pointed out that the men in her family
had also had their share of glory. “My mater-
nal grandfather, Charles Rice, was an educator,
musician, lay minister, carpenter and artist
and there is an elementary school in Dallas
named for him. My father, an educator and my
maternal uncle, once editor of the Dallas
Express were also orators with absolutely won-
derful voices. They often gave public read-
ings. My entire immediate family including
my grandparents on both sides
were college graduates!”
As the conversation centered more
on Ms. Alien’s accomplishments, her de-
meanor became progessively more modest.
She told us that it was her initial aspiration
to be a clothing designer and when she
started sewing as a child, her first garment was
made from discarded curtains. An education in
clothes design was not financially available so
she majored in Home Economics at Jarvis
Christian College with an emphasis on cloth-
ing, finishing her degree at Prairie View A &
M University because Jarvis’ Home
Economics department at that time, was not
accredited.
Although textiles were always a part
of her focus, Theresa also did extensive study
in watercolor and oil painting and
has exhibited several paintings in the past.
Theresa’s interest in clothing design is
evident in her weaving with her use of varying
texture and rich vibrant color against stark
backgrounds. The lines are simple yet precise
and the design “clean”. One of her weavings
----an untitled piece looks like a geometric
depiction of a cross, belying her strong
religious convictions.
When she showed an example of a homespun
rug that was done in the natural earthtone col-
ors of fleece-----brown, tan and ecru the first
sense that was alerted was touch. The rug had
a soft fuzzy knobby texture that was invitingly
caressable. She described the process of mak-
ing that rug as tortuous and yet, when talking
about the process of producing the yam from
the raw fleece, she became animated. “I used
my entire body when I made that rug”, she
stated. “I washed the fleece, dried it and
picked out the burrs, carded it (literally
pulling the fleece into fibers), pulled it into a
roll log using my thighs and spun it into yam.
That was just the beginning”, she laughed.
“Weaving is an art form that
requires not only your entire physical body
----much like dancing, but also your
essence. The piece that you weave becomes
a piece of you because so much of the
weavers’ ‘self’ is woven into the fabric.”
Ms. Allen also spoke of her work
in developing the weaving program at
Texas Southern University. This was during
the pioneer era for the art department in the
time of Leon Grandison, John Biggers and
Carrol Sims. “Before we had the beautiful
floor looms that are there now we did a lot
of impossible things and made them work.
We used looms made from cardboard or pic-
ture frames studded with nails and cardboard
shuttles. We even wove on soda straws! My
students made absolutely beautiful pieces and
they were so excited about seeing material
made by their own efforts.”
Ms. Theresa Pratt Allen ASHE is
excited about your work and life history.
We are grateful to have you in our midst.
Continue to share your vision and power by
weaving the threads of our past into the fabric
of our future.
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Community Artists' Collective. Àshe, Volume 1, Number 2, Summer/Fall 1990, periodical, Summer 1990; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1324905/m1/2/?q=%22%5B1990..%5D%22: accessed August 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.