Inspired by weft and warp of the past

A rug which carried a fleeing family's belongings from Poland to West Germany inspired a Dunedin woman's artistic pursuit, as Ellie Constantine discovered.

Gisela Andrew learnt the art of rug weaving in the early 1980s and a rug she recreated from memory lies in her lounge, a reminder of how far she has come.

Gisela was born in Budapest and spent the first 10 years of her life there before her family moved to Silesia (now in Poland).

After World War 2, the family left as refugees for Mönchen-Gladbach, near Cologne.

They carried all they were allowed to take - their bedding - in her mother's Persian rug.

Sadly, the rug was later stolen, but its pattern remained with Gisela and she recreated it years later on the other side of the world.

She met a New Zealander, the Rev Prof Maurice Andrew, in Heidelberg while he studied theology at the University of Heidelberg, and they married in 1959.

A six-week sea journey brought them to New Zealand.

Over the years, they moved from Wellington, back to Germany, to Nigeria and Palmerston North before finally settling in Dunedin when Maurice was appointed professor of Old Testament studies at the Theological Hall, Knox College.

Having overcome the difficulties of learning English, as Maurice is fluent in German, Gisela loves the country and Dunedin and has no desire to return to Germany.

"I'd be 50 years out of fashion," she says.

After the couple's four children left school, she began weaving by taking a three-month Otago Polytechnic course in the early '80s.

There, she met two German women with whom she is still friends.

Ever since, she has committed three hours a day to the hobby, with one rug taking six months to finish.

However, she is yet to sell a single one.

"You have to love it to do it," she says.

Instead, they are all given to family and friends.

Sometimes a friend will come into her house and see a rug they like and she remembers their comments until she has time to recreate it for them.

"My brain is geared for such a person for half a year and then I give it to them."

Even when she has given one away, her care for it does not cease.

The "tails" prove troublesome, as they often come undone, so if she visits someone who has one of her rugs, she often replaits them.

One such rug is on the commonroom floor of Knox College.

"And when I go there, I kneel on the floor and plait it," she says.

Her work also decorates her Opoho home.

One can track her progress through different weaving styles and patterns, from her first rug which warms her husband's feet when he brushes his teeth, to Maori designs in the hallway and German designs which hold her heart.

One of her daughters' old bedrooms was turned into a studio which now houses her pattern books and looms.

After starting out on a "window frame" loom, she had a much larger one specially made.

She sits in front of it, on a purpose-built sliding chair, creating her pieces with traditional Persian knots.

Wool remnants from Feltex fill book shelves, either freshly dyed or awaiting treatment.

Red is her favourite colour, and varying shades of it sit in baskets.

Wool is her favourite medium since she worked for 10 years in a woollen mill in Mönchen-Gladbach as a textile technician.

"I'm only interested in wool."

Photographs of her 30 years of creations have left her "brag book" stuffed to breaking point.

After originally sticking to traditional Persian patterns, her husband encouraged her to try Maori designs.

She struggled to create two before finding a book of German cross-stitch from which she adapted patterns.

Weaving patterns from her culture comes naturally to her.

"That stuff was very interesting for me because it's me, German, being German."

While she thinks of herself as a New Zealander, it has been important to Gisela to maintain a connection with her culture.

Growing up, the family only spoke German around the dinner table.

She and Maurice believe it is a strength for their children to be bilingual, and the couple always speak German with each other.

In Dunedin, she has a strong group of German friends who enjoy getting together and sharing coffee and sweet treats.

She also studied German literature at the University of Otago, where she was introduced to "serious German literature".

Inspiration for her rugs also comes from sources such as the Christchurch Cathedral and the changing colours the weather brought in Wanaka.

"It's a story which goes on in patterns," she says.

Now, whenever she sees a rug, she does not see it as a whole, but focuses on the pattern and colour.

"People need to open their eyes.

"You're geared for it," she says.

Gisela spends a lot of time thinking about new patterns. However, the tried and true patterns are mostly known "by heart".

Maurice believes he is "very fortunate to have them" as they cover the cold concrete floor of his study and have "considerable variety in them".

His favourite rug takes pride of place on the wall beside his desk.

He enjoys gazing at the various rugs, which reveal more of themselves the longer he looks.

"It continues to fascinate me.

"The more you look, the more differences you see," he says.

Gisela has also turned her hand to tapestry, cross-stitch and sewing.

Gisela is not the only one in the family with a creative streak.

Many of her relatives do cross-stitch and her daughter Teresa is an accomplished installation and performance artist.

However, the two friends Gisela did the course with no longer weave, as their hands are not as nimble as they once were.

She had given two talks to the Dunedin Spinners and Weavers Guild, but as one of only a handful of people interested in weaving rugs in Dunedin, she describes herself as "a bit of a loner".

The generation gap may contribute to the lack of interest in weaving, she says.

With women going to work now, they do not have a lot of time to dedicate to such a time-consuming hobby.

"It's a different generation now."

She would like a weaving companion to share ideas with and help solve problems.

"People hesitate because it's such a labour and you have to have free time."

But Gisela, the Hungarian-born, German-New Zealander, is determined to weave rugs for as long as her body allows.

- ellie.constantine@odt.co.nz