(glimpses) - a trip to the museum

hope you had a wonderful long weekend! we just managed to make to the museum this weekend before a Impressionist exhibit at the Museum of Fine Art in Boston closed ... (I promise to share a few pictures a little later this week when there's a bit more time to post)






























but for now some pictures of a quilt exhibit that is still going on just now... it was very striking and beautifully arranged to convey different principles of color theory and design. if you haven't had the chance to see it, it's definitely worth a visit...

(glimpses) - postcard days

 

 these days are full of postcard views and many busy hours... we'll see if somehow time can be found to take really take part of this life framed within the postcard. wishing you a very happy weekend!

(glimpses) - side view mirror

out the side view mirror, we spot a young family that we have never seen before. I can completely understand why they have stopped in this quiet, pretty place. it seems the perfect place to raise the little ones. what a perfect end to a busy day to catch their quiet moment eating dinner pond side.

(process) - all the lovely horses

There are many folk arts I love. From the earliest of times, every day hands have found a way to share the beauty that is found in their natural world .... the plants that bloomed became the colors of the cloth, the petals of the flower the embroidered stitch. In these Saturday process features, I hope to share this fascination with the tools and hands that have brought the love for beauty to life.





Aren't they lovely little horses  ... have a wonderful weekend!!

(process) - overshot

From the earliest of times, everyday hands have found a way to share the beauty that is found in their natural world .... the plants that bloomed became the colors of the cloth, the petals of the flower the embroidered stitch.


In these Saturday process features, I hope to share this fascination with the tools and hands that have brought the love for beauty to life.




 My good friend Marie is a wonderful writer of modern fairy tales and equally wonderful weaver. When I last had the chance to visit her studio, I was given an overview of the weaving technique called overshot. For me as non-weaver and even to the weaver, the process of overshot brings much excitement. Somehow out of the plain background of the overall weave,  patterns and motifs emerge as if by magic.

This week Marie shared a link for the Thistle Hill Weavers  that caught my eye. I admit that I am both amazed and awed by the weaving process. The work of the Thistle Hill Weavers certainly has me feeling this way.

For more than 20 years, Thistle Hill Weavers, the Studio of Rabbit Goody, has been weaving luxurious custom fabrics, carpet, and trim for designers, home owners, museums, and the film industry specializing in creating accurate historic reproductions, working from surviving examples, documented patterns, and period weavers' drafts. And how wonderful to find while visiting the Thistle Hill Weavers website, there where a few historical process videos to see while touring their studios and looms. I don't think I could have ever imagined a loom of these proportions.

Thank you so much for visiting and hope you enjoy this weeks glimpse into the past and present!

etsy's "This Handmade Life: UK Edition - Welsh Lovespooning"

I am thrilled to have been featured in a wonderful article by Etsy's AmityUK about the love stories spoken through the art of Welsh love spoons in this week's Etsy blog post  of "This Handmade Life".


If you have never heard about this lovely tradition, make sure you take a visit to read more.

My Love Spoons and Other Stories (No1 ) / Hand Carved Wooden Spoon  is heading out today to continue it's own story ... I can't wait to get started on the next carved wooden spoon  and hear what it might have to say.

(process)- lttle wooden man

Today's process shares a traditional wooden toy from Japan called a Daruma-Otoshi ; it is an ancient game still played today. I had fun looking through several short clips to find these. The first is in much slowed down motion, while the second clip is in normal time (though hard to believe).

Come visit again during the week, I 'll share a tutorial on making a variation.
Have a great weekend!

(process) - with branch and treadle

Sometimes we grow use to something in its modern form, but all things have a humbler and simpler beginning...



The tool being used here is called a "pole lathe" . It is made of simple parts ... a branch, a long string or strap, simple wooden foot treadle and a stand. It  is used to turn any number of wooden things ... from bowls and spindles to certainly toys...

The video I included was the shortest of this process. For a look at the more complete process of turning a wooden bowl on foot-powered pole lathe take a peek here.  And if you are wondering how a pole lathe might compare to a modern machine lathe, here is a comparison.