lt was beautiful carpet, but in very small pieces. One among us saw the situation as a way to make pretty pictures with the material by sticking the pretty carpet pieces to a durable, common back, like the large , thick sheets of paper that most new carpets are shipped in. lnstant , Modern Art. lf the art would be for hanging on a wall, it would be carpet pieces stuck to carpet packaging paper. lf it were to be a throw-rug, it would be carpet pieces glued to 5/8" carpet padding. So simple, yet so beautiful. We began to realize that there would be no end to the availability of the kind and quality of remnants.
we've been using. lt is very affordable, (free) so it can be provided next to, or totally free. lt was then, what we now call a" no brainer".. To put together a 5'x
9' movable, artist quality "throw rug", using the beautiful material that we used to carpet our first flat, upstairs. Before we knew it, we had produced and provided a few dozen rugs, ranging from as small as 3'x4' (maybe for bed-side) up to 4'x24' (a long hall cover). Visitors to our place,(which was initially called
Muf'n, were offered free materials (remnants), heavy paper to unite the pieces, and glue. (Henry's) to hold it together and 5/8" foam rubber pad. We encouraged them to make rugs as described above. They were free to donate their work to Muf'n, in which case we would sell it to someone for next to nothing. (Our prices really were unbelievable). Or "makers" as we called them,
(actually "us", almost all of us at Muf'n did make at least one or two rugs. l
personally installed the carpet throughout our flat and l helped to design the plan for throw-rug construction, but l never actually made one myself.
So, just a few months into our place on Divisadero (AKA D-street) we had abandoned our furniture designs and taken up with turning carpet remnants
into outstanding throw rugs. The finished pieces (a few arm-chairs and end tables) were placed in rooms in our flat. l didn't keep a journal while we were
at D-St. lt was just moving too fast.So much of the details of those years was not preserved. Another way to look at it is that we were so into what we were doing that there was no time or inclination to memorialize it.
Within a few months of our beginning work at the street level, we had moved many smaller throw rugs as well as a good bunch of smaller, wall-hung
picture rugs and a good number of large area rugs in stock, as well as a large
number of wall-hung picture rugs. l never counted the number of visitors that graced our place with their presence, but l'm guessing it was somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple of hundreds per week.
My three daughters staked out their positions on the first flight of stairs leading
to our flat, from which position they had clear views of the sidewalks along D-st
and a good view of the front entry to our workshop at street level. They loved to sit and watch the "parade" and often found themselves in conversation with those who were passing by. Before long, we had a couple of dozen folks working
on their ideas for the best wall-hangings, hall runners, and area rugs. For work tables, we used 4'X8' plywood sheets, framed with 2"x2" Douglas Fir. Six braced
legs placed each work table 18" above the floor. That made them easy to be used for bed-frames at night. A six inch pile of large remnants served as mat-
tress. Pretty crude, but dry, warm and indoors. Nobody ever complained; For one thing, most of the folks who crashed there were working on one or more projects at Muf'n. And. at that time,(when some of our people crashed in the shop) our single flat was fully occupied. We decided then, that we would need to rent an additional flat, perhaps more in future.
Not everyone with a project at Muf'n was working with carpet remnants; my new friend, Gino Hernandez worked with leather. He made sandles, belts, slippers, vests, hats, & briefcases. He was also an accomplished conga drummer
and had built a few sets of drums for himself and for drummer friends of his. ln the time that l had the good fortune to witness Gino at work, l never saw or heard him involved in any work that was short of what l considered perfection.
l don't know didlee, technically, about any of it, but it looked and sounded damn good to me, just like all of his work. Having him working with us almost every work day was a boon to us and our work.
By this time, our plan to design and build furniture was forgotten. We had collected such a mountain of remnants, in so many colors and textures piled all over yhe place and so many of our friends and neighbors were involved in the
making and giving of the rugs. Yes, most of the rugs were given free of charge,
though occationally someone would insist on paying and receiving a receipt.The
piles of waiting remnants were used as beds for our friends who needed a place to crash. That might not seem to make a comfortable bed, but l tried it myself
before offering it to others and found it quite satisfactory, as did those who used it every nite.
Speaking of those who used a pile of remnants for a bed every night, brings me to my buddy Mike Warner. The guy that volunteered to marry Ryon's sister. And, in whose debt l will always be, for introducing me to cannabis. The reader will perhaps remember. The reader will perhaps remember that ,soon after his marraige to Maree, he told me that he was afraid, that if he stayed in the bay area much longer, he would turn on to LSD, and he was afraid it would ruin his life. So he went back to his parent's house, near Chicago, to avoid his ruination.
When he returned, some months later, he had a different attitude.
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