Weaver Klaus Anselm finds his bliss in a loom
When: Through April 20
Where: Sangre de Cristo Arts Center, 210 N. Santa Fe Ave., Pueblo
Tickets: $4/$3 kids and military; 1-719-295-7200, sdc-arts.org
It was love at first weave.
Klaus Anselm practiced medicine in Pueblo for decades. In 1998, when he was 63 and one year away from retirement, he followed a whim and signed up for a weaving workshop with Marianne Cardinal at the Sangre de Cristo Arts Center.
Anselm, now 77, never looked back. He quickly bought a loom and began to sketch and weave his textiles with eye-catching, geometrically-shaped landscapes in bright shades of blue, orange, purple and green. His work is inspired by the panaoramas of the Southwest with its blue skies, golden orange rocks and adobe architecture. Long rafting trips down the Colorado River, through the Grand Canyon, and modern art by abstract painters like Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso also make their way into his work.
They are on display at the Sangre de Cristo Arts Center through April 20.
"I've always enjoyed art from a spectator point of view, but I never had time for that," he said.
The German-born doctor was too busy working as a gastroenterologist at both Parkview and St. Mary Corwin hospitals in Pueblo. However, he'd long admired the textiles and weavings he'd seen in New Mexico, and in a bit of divine timing, stumbled upon his soon-to-be second career just as the first one ended.
"Having been a professional, I was always a Type-A personality," he said. "I was very driven and impatient to get things done. This process has relaxed me, I've become more quiet and tolerant of people and events. My wife finds I’m not as impatient, not as rushed."
After his initial workshop with Cardinal, Anselm continued to study his new craft at weaving and tapestry workshops and courses in Taos, including one with James Koehler, who was one of the country's foremost contemporary tapestry artists. Anselm also took a course on color and design with Koehler at the Penland School of Crafts in Asheville, N.C.
His work has appeared in multiple shows throughout Colorado and Virginia, where he now resides. Anselm is also a long-time dog show judge who can judge 80 breeds.
"You have to have passions in life," he said. "It keeps me young."
