Paul was in love with the Navajo and hopi culture of northern New Mexico and Arizona that influenced his life and sculpture. He and his wife, Anne, travelled often to those regions, and they loved to attend native trading post rug auctions like Crown point, standing rock, and white horse. Not only did they enjoy befriending the artists, they would sometimes head home to Woodland park with a rug that they purchased. They both felt it was important to support native cultures with their own hard earned dollars, and they took great pleasure from having the Navajo weavings in their daily lives at home. True to his nature, Paul decided at some point that he might like to 'give that a try', as he had done successfully with so many things before. He taught himself the art of Navajo weaving, largely with the help of books by Noël Bennett, and by closely studying the real articles.
a Close friend of the Hathaways, Poet Jim Ciletti, studied Navajo weaving under Paul and experienced firsthand his mastery and devotion to the medium. Jim says, "Paul was like that... he was a master, and he would pass on the gift of his knowledge to someone who earned his respect and demonstrated an honest devotion to the art. You had to honor the work." Paul insisted on staying true to the Navajo methods during the very delicate process. Jim recalls that Paul was "quite finicky" about the thickness of the wool yarn he used in his rugs. "He wove a tight rug," and for this reason he sometimes used wool yarn that Anne had carded, spun and dyed.
Barry Hathaway photo, 1989
Roger Hathaway rug photos
Barry Hathaway photo c. 1989
Paul made this portable loom of pipe and fittings so he could easily transport it to Taos, New Mexico and do some weaving there.
Anne would card, spin and dye her own wool before heading to her loom. She would sometimes collect lichens from granite rocks in the Colorado mountains with which she would dye the wool as the Natives used to do. Here, she enjoys the summer sun on the front porch of Paul's shop. His disc sander can be seen in the background.
Anne spinning wool that she had carded, surrounded by a selection of her weavings.