Fringetastic

I can't think of a better way to jump back into blogging than with a super hot pic of a young John Wayne ...

pic courtesy of retronaut

lots of pics of the new studio construction project and new silver pieces coming up!

history lesson: the cloud painter

So I teased awhile back about another history lesson - this time inspired by the wonderful folky dutchiness of Berks County. I'm going through a funny phase of being obsessed with American History. I can see now why my parents dragged me to places like Williamsburg and Gettysburg. If I ever have kids I forcing them to appreciate it too!



So Eric Sloane is one of the few things that my husband and I agreed on unequivocally. I'm into Eric Sloane for his illustrations and historical wit, and Ben is into him because of his collection of early American tools and historical wit. He's got that Little House on the prairie thing down.



Born Everard Jean Hinrichs, Eric Sloane changed his name early on so he didn't have to be associated later in his life with his early inferior works (genius!) He went to work for the sign painter Goudy (yep that Goudy, inventor of the typeface) and thus began his prolific career. He started off as a cloud painter ...



He was fascinated by weather and the early American farmer's ability to interpret "weather signs". You can see that Goudy influence ...



From there he became the foremost authority on Early American rural architecture and Early American tools.





This is where my visual literacy issues really come into play - Ben can explain to me over and over how some tool works or some wood warpage concept and I can never get it. Finally we have to break out Sloane's "Reverance for Wood" and everything becomes crystal clear!



and Eric Sloane really loved Pennsylvania too!



What is most striking about Eric Sloane is his exploration into his philosophy of awareness. The basic concept centered on his belief that the men and women of yesterday were more aware than his or her modern day counterpart. They were more aware of illnesses, the weather, man's effect on the earth - they worked a lifetime to build barns and homes to last generations. They practiced responsible husbandry and forestation. Most everything was done with an eye toward permanence and most everything was made by hand. AMEN TO THAT.



As the early American families looked around them, their sense of awareness was reinforced - the giant barns, the stone walls, the bountiful gardens, the healthy animals, the handmade blankets - all made by family and friends in a community effort of love and support.



How far we've come from this concept really wants to make me cry - oils spills, Walmart, Mcmansions, bioengineered meat, etc. I really hope the handmade movement can spark some change.



and a guy who was known to wear bow ties and denim jackets on a regular basis just deserves the respect don't you think?

new loves ...

not much progress in my jewelry world, still digesting all the advice I got last weekend. But just wanted to share some cool things I'm loving today:

Loving these photos from Grand Ole Bestiary:



I have some super big ornate frames that these would look great in, just enough irony. and I can't get enough of animals in people's clothing:



also seriously digging the album art for Elvis Costello's new album Secret, Profane, & Sugarcane.



illustrations are by Tony Millionare, he's kinda wacky. but in a good way obviously.



Elvis is really my only rock star crush, so much so that he got his own ornate frame in my living room:



I switch him out with pics of Walt Whitman, Joe Strummer, and Hunter Thompson depending on the season. Elvis is definitely for the summer time!!

Current obsession - 18th Century Dutch interiors!

it will be the new big design resurgence I promise ... I guess it never really went out of style actually. it's a classic stylin' which has stood the test of time, these always amaze me. How do some things stay so beautiful forever and some things are so "out" in just a few years?

granted it could use few modern tweaks here and there but come on, the red is always classic:


anyway, it all came back to me thanks to HBO, I swear I learn everything about history through TV, it's pathetic. my dyslexia and a.d.h.d made me a really horrible student, trust. A few posts ago I mused about Paul Revere and not knowing about him because there weren't any good movies that fully explained the American Revolution. Enter the John Adams miniseries I just discovered from last year ... and it's amazing set designers:






I'm especially loving the use of the rug as a table cloth, so odd, but awesome:



oh those flowers! I love the whole symbolism thing that was going on with fruit and flowers during this time period ... certain fruits representing specific religious characters ... somehow the lobster represented Christ's resurrection. huh?

(Abraham van Beyeren, Still Life with Lobster,1690)

then things got really good - all about wealth, indulgence, corruption:

(Jan Davidsz de Heem, Festoon of Flowers, 1660)

and the close up:



oh yeah. all buggy, sticky and nasty. reminds me of my garden right now. ugh.

let's bring all those festooning flowers back to modern times with this guy/company I'm OBSESSED with right now, Masterpiece Silhouette Theater:


ah, man they're all so good! just a few more:






(gotta end the post on a bike theme!) check out his store here.

oh the cuteness

I'm not good at doing super cute things but I somehow pulled out the stickin' cuteness with this project. I made it for my friend Kimberley (from Chez Sucre Chez). I found the little frame at the infamous Cave, apparently it's a coin holder, but it had been in a dusty case for probably 20 years so I'm not sure where to find them these days ...

(thanks for the photo kj!)

I didn't do that cross stitch heart (are you crazy? me? needlepoint?!) I had it hanging around the house for years. Here's another one I made stretching a cool fabric swatch. I thought maybe a necklace, a key chain, a zipper pull ... the options are endless! go nuts kimberely!



It's almost as cute as this little guy.



almost. not quite.

good ole Woodrow...

this was first taped to the inside of my tool box, then it moved to my "inspiration board" above my workbench. As I sketched away thinking more and more how I could "increase my profit margin" I often glanced up, read the quote, and then promptly felt like shit.

Megan Auman got me thinking about this with a post she did yesterday, she makes all sorts of awesome stuff (and she's from PA!) here's a sampling:







She's also way into bikes and was on ride when she started contemplating about how to add more value to the world. I think about this a lot - when I was younger I really wanted to be a nun (SO weird I know! mostly because I was obsessed with the Sound of Music) then I really wanted to go into the Peace Corp, now I'm obsessed with the foster care system. I'm not sure what this is all about but I know I don't think I have the "stuff" to be either a nun, a hard core volunteer or a foster mom, but I do feel like I should be doing something! (I blame my father and his obsession with the Rotary Club for this).

My parents spent their honeymoon in the peace corps - converting atomic fall out shelters on the Bikini Atoll into community centers for 2 years. My dad was SO into it! my mom? not so much.


I'm reserved to say that for now, I'm making my own little impact on the world by not driving, making affordable pretty things for guys to give to their ladies for their birthday, giving away veggies from my garden, etc.

(Ben's well composed veggie still life from '06)

While it's not a huge obvious "statement" I really feel like if we could all stay at home with our kids, have a bizness that employs 1 or 2 eager apprentices with an awesome fun job, contribute some profits to charities, grow our own food, and invest in our communities we could make a HUGE impact. can you imagine no commuting? the invention of the car really screwed things up.

wait, so basically I want to be a mennonite. but with internet access. and pretty shoes.

more love ...

more inspiration board/jewelry wall love:

from the sick (in a good way) blog, Loveology -- big hugs from the PA Dutch to the "real" Dutch!

(p.s. no comment on this weekend's craft show. just no comment. wait wait, I must comment, I feel like I'm too old to be shlepping my wares around - there's gotta be a better way, right? but I read about people who do the craft show "circuit" and they appear pretty successful - is it really worth it? thoughts?)

Midnight Rider

As I assess the epic energy it took to get my act together for these craft shows, I think I've decided that if I want to do this "for real" I need to get my own studio going ... I currently rent from the Goggleworks in Reading, PA.

So when chatting with my favorite jewelry store clerk (and cave guide), I got this grand statement: "You know, Paul Revere didn't have a tiny torch". My first reaction was, "huh?" Then, "oh I get it. I guess."  I don't have to have the state of the art set up, blah blah blah...but it sure would be nice, and this is the 21st century so I see no reason to attempt soldering over a pit of hot coals.


here's the coveted Tiny Torch,  and here's Paul, I totally forgot that he had been a silversmith. duh.


Of course he's best known for screaming "The British are coming! The British are coming!" Now, this is all vaguely familiar to me, but now I'm like, "the British are coming where? and why? what's going on?" I have no idea. Apparently there is no Hollywood movie portraying this ride, otherwise I definitely would know more about it.


A brief summary - a la wikipedia of course - ok first of let's start off by mentioning that Paul Revere was named after his father, Apollo, who anglicized his name to Paul. damn. Apollo. The poem was so close to being called "The Midnight Ride of Apollo Revere" that would have been so much cooler. Ok, so Paul was a silversmith, he was alright, but was more involved in the Sons of Liberty and stuff (ooooh, secret society)


They asked him to send a message to John Hancock and Samuel Adams to warn them that the British troops were moving from Boston across the Hudson River to Lexington. So he got on his trusty steed and spread the word along the way, that indeed the British were coming - but he didn't yell it! hello?!  this was all supposed to be a secret, duh! So much for that Longfellow poem ...


anyway, he almost made it, got captured, escaped to the house where Hancock and Adams were staying, helped them escape, the British were eventually defeated, we win. yea America, we are free to ride motorcycles without helmets and burn our trash - glad our forefathers fought for those rights.

But let's talk serious business here. Can we talk about Paul Revere's house color?


I think I'm loving it.  It has all these cool details like shutters, doors, window trim, big wood carved knobs, but they said screw it, we're painting it all this mushroom color.  no detail enhancement for us!

I can't help but think the Revere's were ahead of their time ... case and point this super rad skater's house in San Fran:

and this house that was featured in Martha Stewart's halloween edition last year - creepy, but nice:


I could get on a whole tangent on dark painted houses ... like this ...

but I'm not going there now, (fabulous Door Sixteen already did it) instead I'm going to leave you with this amazing Willie Nelson cover of Midnight Rider ... I don't think it's about Paul Revere but I like to pretend it is.

let's hope this works

here's a snippet of some of the display fabrics I'll be bringing to the upcoming craft fairs ...


I'm hoping they all mesh together geisha style. the way these work together - checkered, floral, wavy, oy.



this is unbelievably beautiful, fireflies, ahhhhh.  but look at the patterns: plaid, starry, floral. wow.


I'll leave you with the cutest owl in the history of owls: