Julia R. Gómez

Julia R. Gomez (born 1941, Madrid, New Mexico) was first exposed to colcha embroidery by her mentor, Mónica Sosaya-Halford, in the 1970s. She later learned to weave at El Rancho de las Golondrinas, where master weaver, Beatrice Maestas Sandoval, instructed Julia on working with natural dyes and handspun yarn so as to employ many of the same methods that the Spanish settlers of northern New Mexico used in colonial times. Julia is among the few artists who spins Churro wool and weaves sabanilla backing cloth made during the colonial period in this far northern province of New Spain. Since retiring in 2002, following a 36-year career teaching home economics in the Santa Fe public schools, Julia has devoted herself to colcha embroidery. She has participated in Spanish Market for eighteen years. Among many honors, she won Best of Show in 2010. Her piece, "Tree of Life," was chosen in 2015 for the Spanish Market poster. Julia's "Tree of Life" now resides at the Museum of Spanish Colonial Arts (MOSCA), where she teaches monthly. Julia teaches whenever and wherever she can, including at the Santa Fe Senior Center, through a great from MOSCA, and at El Rancho de las Golondrinas, where Julia loves teaching children about hand-dying, hand-spinning, and hand-weaving. Several of Julia's young students have participated in Youth Spanish Market, one even winning Blue Ribbon for colcha embroidery in 2019. Julia has been instrumental in founding colcha embroidery clubs in Taos and Albuquerque, NM, and reviving a group in San Luis, Colorado. In October 2020, Julia presented her work in the online conference, The Inspired Needle, hosted by Winterthur Museum, Wilmington, Delaware, and at the biannual symposium of the Textile Society of America. Julia has demonstrated colcha embroidery as far away as China, where in 2015 she received an Honorary Credential and Master Artist Recognition. Julia graduated from Santa Fe High School and New Mexico State University and did her graduate work at the University of New Mexico in education. She has one daughter, Sarahmaria, who lives and works in China, a country that Julia has visited five times.

(photo by Rebecca Abrams, September, 2020)