Mackin-Art

Copper Leafing II

2012-01-29T17:47:00.000-05:00

I decided my Copper Leafing necklace needed a coordinating bracelet, but I was lacking a focal and a clasp. So I had to make do with what I did have available - the beads and copper discs.

I started with the same right angle weave "trellis" and embellished it with yet another trellis design. I used the copper discs to create both a simple focal and clasp.

While the necklace and bracelet certainly don't "match" but they do play well together or apart.

Available for purchase here.

I received a pleasant surprise earlier this week - I was chosen as "Designer of the Week" by the Art Bead Scene editors for my Copper Leafing necklace!

Drum Roll, Please!

2012-01-24T18:47:00.000-05:00

I actually finished my 365 Project!!!

What's a 365 Project?

It can be whatever you want it to be - all you need to do is take a photo everyday and post it - some people do daily self portraits, some concentrate on birds or squirrels, etc. Big surprise, I decided to focus on Mackinac. But not the Mackinac you see in the tourist brochures, I focused on the small, hidden beauties that the casual visitor never notices.

I thought it would be easy, after all, I already take photos everyday - except that while I was already shooting many. many photos, I really didn't come close to shooting every day. You find that out when it's been raining for six days straight and you're desperate to find something, anything that might be interesting for a photo.

If you visit my blog regularly, you've seen some of the shots, if you're interested, you can see them all at the project site.

To celebrate completing my project, I created a photo mosaic using all 365 photos, here's a closeup, showing just the number six:

It was really simple to do, using EasyMoza. I choose the main image, in my case the turtle block print. Then I selected the small images (you need at least 300) and the program did the rest!

I can see using this in so many creative ways - what about a Civil War era dress made up of images of other dresses? Or one of my beaded pieces made from photos of the inspiration? Just too much fun!

I've committed to another year of 365, but I'm changing the focus a bit this time - less emphasis on Mackinac and more emphasis on experimenting. I'm sure the Island will still be a large component - after all, it influences all my work, even if it's a bit obscure sometimes!

Copper Leafing

2012-01-22T18:34:00.000-05:00

"Copper Leafing" is my submission for the January Art Bead Scene monthly challenge. The inspiration for this challenge is a wallpaper, "Trellis" by William Morris.

The design dates to 1862, and is a dramatic departure from the typical designs of that period.

William Morris had trained as an architect and had early unfulfilled ambitions to be a painter. As a student at Oxford he met the artist Edward Burne-Jones, and through this friendship he came into contact with the Pre-Raphaelite painters, such as Rossetti, and others in their circle. In 1859 Morris married Jane Burden, an unconventional beauty and a favourite model for the Pre-Raphaelites. He immediately commissioned his friend, the architect Philip Webb, to build them a new home on land he had bought in Bexleyheath, Kent. Now a suburb of London, Bexleyheath was then a rural area. Morris wanted a modern home which would nevertheless be ‘very medieval in spirit'. This is exactly what Webb gave him.

Trellis was Morris’s first attempt at designing a wallpaper. Its pattern is said to have been inspired by the gardens at Red House, which were organised on a medieval plan with square flowerbeds enclosed by wattle trellises for roses. The birds were drawn by Philip Webb. The design itself certainly has a medieval character – the motifs are drawn in a slightly naïve style reminiscent of the woodcut images in 16th- and 17th-century herbals. Morris collected these early printed books and often took his inspiration from their simple stylised illustrations. Although his later wallpaper designs were more complex and sophisticated, his first efforts – Trellis, Daisy and Fruit – have had an enduring appeal. Trellis remained a personal favourite for Morris and he chose it for his bedroom at Kelmscott House, his London home for the last 18 years of this life.

I love the English Arts & Crafts style, in fact, it has greatly influenced the choices I've made in furnishing my own home - and I've used both orange and green extensively
.

I knew I wanted to incorporate the trellis pattern and right angle weave was the perfect stitch to form my base. Each side is different by yet complementary. One side picks up the browns in the focal pendent and the other side features copper beads that match the copper clasp.

I love the details in the pendent, which I purchased from Etsy artist JulesCeramics. I picked up a couple others at the same time; they're waiting for just the right project.

I think it's a modern, wearable interpretation of the Morris design - just right for the women comfortable with her style.

Available for purchase here.

Bead Journal Project - June 2011

2012-01-20T19:21:00.000-05:00

No, you haven't entered a time warp - it's really is January 2012!

But I'm far behind on last year's BJP, I've just finished June, 2011. This month the technique is bead embroidery. Here's the inspiration photo, yet again:

It's starting to become a bit tedious, working the same image over and over - maybe that's why I'm so far behind.

I added a small snail shaped cabochon, just to break up the background and I do often find snail shells when walking in the woods.

I used all size 11/0's for this piece, in a large variety of colors, some matte, some shiny, some opaque and some not. I'm pleased with the final result and I'm now officially half way done with 2011!

It's Just Wrong!

2012-01-16T09:07:00.000-05:00

Just checking - it is January, isn't it?

I am still on Mackinac Island? And that's still in Northern Michigan, right?

Yes, it is and yes, I am - but it sure doesn't seem like it this winter.

This trail would usually have feet of snow covering it and it would be groomed for skiing; we're all beginning to wonder if it will ever happen this year.

We have had some small amounts of snow intermittently - just enough to make things slippery and hard to get around and then it's gone!

Right this moment, we actually have some real snow - let's hope it lasts!

Ice - January 2012 Bead Journal Project

2012-01-08T14:00:00.000-05:00

Some of you may be wondering "what IS she thinking, starting yet another project when she can't manage to finish 2011?" - well, it's true, I am still working on 2011 and for for me, that's the key: I AM still working on it and I will finish!

I've decided to go in a very different direction with my 2012 Bead Journal Project: I will be creating a series of personal runes. My format is going to be much smaller this year, using beach stones as a base.

I've collected stones from the beach here on Mackinac and each will be adorned with an actual object or representation that has personal significance to me. I plan to create a beaded bag to hold my runes at the end. I hope to also write an interpretation for each rune and create an accompanying hand bound book, but I bead better than I write, so that may not end up happening!

I started with a piece of lake glass, collected at British Landing here on the Island and created a beaded bezel using peyote stitch. I attached this to the stone using freeform netting, which allowed peeks of the underlying stone to be visible.

I chose to represent ice for many reasons, some personal and some universal.

Living on a small island in northern Michigan, the formation of ice transforms life for all of us living here,primarily by preventing the ferry from running to the mainland. If weather prevents the planes from flying, we are completely cut off, completely self reliant. Some years, there is another transformation - if the lake freezes over completely, an "ice bridge" forms and we are no longer an island; we have the ability to come and go at will, without being held to the schedule of ferry or plane.

Thus far this year, there is no ice at all. If the weather continues as it has, we may have ferries running all winter, which has only happened once before.

Ice in the form of snow transforms the landscape and ice can do this in more powerful ways - I live in a area of the world formed by the power of ice in the form of glaciers.

Ice is cold and hard - great when it's in your glass cooling your beverage, not so great when you've just tumbled down upon it's slippery surface.

So here's the first for 2012, I'm looking forward to creating eleven more!

Turtle Drop

2012-01-04T19:31:00.000-05:00

Take one very large fiberglass turtle, recycled from the "Turtles Around Town" project from several years back:

Tidy him up a bit and outfit him with a custom made felt shell studded with LED lights. Suspend him from the ladder of the new firetruck on Main St. on New Year's Eve:

What do you end up with? The Great Turtle Drop, of course!

Who needs the ball at Times Square!

When Simple Isn't

2012-01-01T13:30:00.000-05:00

Living on Mackinac is so rewarding, but at times frustrating - and no more so then when what would be very simple in the "real world", is so very complicated to accomplish here on Island.

For example, we really wanted to see the movie "Warhorse" in the theatre:

It just seemed to be one of those films that would not be quite the same viewed at home on the TV (and that turned out to be true). I'd highly recommend the film, while there are some scenes that are bit cliche and heavy handed, we really enjoyed it immensely - just be sure to bring your hanky, you'll need it.

So step one: Find out if it's playing anywhere in the area. Petoskey, not quite an hour away, was the closest showing AND they had a matinee - so no need to stay overnight.

Step two: Find a couple people to cover my on-call time at the Med Center - I'm on-call 24/7 in the winter, for both lab and radiology - it took a little arm twisting, but managed.

Step three: Consider the ferry schedule - the movie is at 11:45 am, that means leaving on the 8:15 am ferry, which means getting up at 6:30 am on my day off - YUCK! We walked down the hill, while there was a little snow on the roads, based on the forecast there might not be when we returned.

But I must admit, being up for sunrise wasn't all bad:

And we discovered that a bit of scim ice is starting to form on the St. Ignace side:

So we arrive in St. Ignace around 9:00 am; we scrape off the car and head for Petoskey. Fog had started to move in and the towers of the Mackinac Bridge were hidden as we crossed - very eerie looking!

We arrive in Petoskey just before 10:00 am (remember the movie isn't until 11:45am), so we went out to brunch at the Twisted Olive - great food and an incredible view of the harbor. Picked up a few minor things not available on Island and them off to the show!

The movie ended about 2:15 pm and last ferry home is at 4:15pm, so we took the "scenic route" home - just wandering the back roads, heading north.

Arrived back in St. Ignace, noticed most of the ice had disappeared, boarded for our 40 minute trip back to the Island and hiked back up the hill, arriving back home about 5:15 pm.

All this just to see a movie!

Deco Skyline

2011-12-28T20:16:00.001-05:00

"Deco Skyline" is my submission for the December "Art Bead Scene" monthly challenge. I've been experimenting with mixed media jewelry and this months inspiration image seemed a perfect subject.

The Art Bead Scene editors choose a building for this months inspiration - the Chrysler Building in New York.

What started as a small speculative office building has became one of New York's most admired landmarks. Chrysler took over the lease of the office building when it was in construction, hired William Van Alen to create a monument to his growing company and, allegedly, asked the architect to build the highest building constructed to date. To beat out his competitors who were also trying to build the world's tallest building, Van Alen erected a 185-foot spire on the top of the tower which was secretly delivered to the site in sections and raised to the top in a mere 90 minutes. Only a few months later, the Empire State Building surpassed the building in height, but the Art Deco skyscraper remains an unparalleled monument to industry.

A particularly beautiful example of the Art Deco style, it was one of the first large buildings to use metal extensively on the exterior, the building's ornament makes reference to the automobile, the quintessential symbol of the machine age. Metal hubcaps, gargoyles in the form of radiator caps, car fenders and hood ornaments decorate shaft and setbacks of the white and black brick building. This aluminum trim culminates in a beautiful, tapered stainless steel crown that supports the famous spire.

For my oversized mixed media pendent or neck piece, I found a frontal view of the spire and transferred the image to silk:

I removed one of the crescent shapes:

I used a "found object" as my central accent - a vintage hatpin topper that was unfortunately broken from it's stem. I created a beaded bezel to attach it to the silk. I picked out details of the architecture with hand embroidery and beads.

The chain portion is chandelier beaded chain and the closure is a simple toggle clasp. It's backed with heavy wool felt.

It's easy to wear, very light weight and a great accessory for jeans or a cocktail dress - I think the experiment was successful!

Available for purchase here.

Merry Christmas From Mackinac

2011-12-25T12:47:00.000-05:00

The Huron at sunrise, the first trip of the day, all decked out for the season:

The taxi waiting for arrivals:

Santa?

St. Anne's, decorated for Christmas Eve service:

Oh Christmas tree:

Lights at the mayor's house:

Chamber's corner:

We had a brief moment of "snow globe" snow this morning, big, fat flakes slowly falling - so technically a white Christmas too!

Turtle Cards - An Explanation

2011-12-21T20:14:00.000-05:00

It's become our personal tradition to make cards each holiday season; we currently have four designs in our turtle "series".

The cards are hand-pulled linoleum prints. In the most basic, think of hand-pulled prints like a set of twins (or triplets or quadruplets, etc). All are originals, no two prints are ever exactly the same, even if pulled from the same plate. Each print, regardless of technique, is an entirely individual piece of art.

Hand-pulled prints involve a certain amount of physical labor not found in digital prints. For us, that means carving our chosen design into a block of linoleum:

We have a variety of carving tools, each allowing us to remove just the right amount of the linoleum block - these are relief prints, so we need to remove anything we don't want to appear in the final piece and it becomes important to consider both positive and negative space.

The block needs to be inked before each print is pulled - it's a tricky step to get just right, as too much or too little ink results in a poor image.

The inked block is placed in the press and paper placed on the block:

We give it a good press and then use a barren to force the ink onto the paper - the paper is then "pulled" by hand off the block and with any luck, the image is good.

It's quite a time consuming procedure, but so worthwhile and one we plan to continue each year - our personal gift to friends and family at such a special time of the year.

Why turtles?

Turtles and Mackinac are closely entwined, as the Great Turtle of legend is a large part of the creation story of the island. If you visit Mackinac, you'll see turtles referenced and displayed all over the Island.

Our Christmas Card to You - "Turtle Tree"

2011-12-20T19:31:00.000-05:00

There is always music amongst the trees,

but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it.

Merry Christmas from Mackinac!

Roadtrip 2011 - Lowell National Historic Park

2011-12-13T09:10:00.012-05:00

Water.

Most people don't consider water when discussing the Industrial Revolution in America, but all the early industrial areas depended on water to power the machines that made industry possible.

Lowell was, in fact, an impressive accomplishment. In 1820 there had been no city at all--only a dozen family farms along the Merrimack River in East Chelmsford.

In 1821, however, a group of Boston capitalists purchased land and water rights along the river and a nearby canal, and began to build a major textile manufacturing center.

Opening two years later, the first factory employed Yankee women recruited from the nearby countryside. Additional mills were constructed until, by 1840, ten textile corporations with thirty-two mills valued at more then ten million dollars lined the banks of the river and nearby canals. Adjacent to the mills were rows of company boarding houses and tenements which accommodated most of the 8,000 factory operatives.

The Lowell National Historic Park does a wonderful job of presenting a complicated mixture of culture, environment and history in a very accessible manner.

The Park is quite literally "woven" into the modern city of Lowell and offers several locations and opportunities for experiencing the realities of cloth manufacture, we were only able to take advantage of two on this trip: The Boott Cotton Mills and the Mill Girls & Immigrants Exhibit at the Morgan Cultural Center.

Our first stop was the Visitor Center, to orient ourselves, all the other venues were withing easy walking distance.

We started at the Boott Cotton Mill.

I loved the weaving shuttle on the weather vane atop this bell tower. This tower was not meant to be solely ornamental, it had a function - to keep the workers on schedule. Workers were said to "live by the bells", as this schedule shows:

A couple items of interest, just inside the entry - early anti-smoking legislation:

And this incredible stairwell:

A sign shared the sad story of a young mill girl, who broke the rules by sliding down the banister of this staircase, fell and later died.

It's often the little details that people remember most and I suspect a good example is your entry ticket to the mill - a time card! You can even "punch in" on the original time clock.

The highlight of the mill is touring the 1920's era weaving room:

While only a fraction of the looms were in operation, the noise was overwhelming, I really can't imagine spending 10 hours a day with all the looms working, the poor light and ventilation.

In the years before 1850 the textile mills of Lowell, Massachusetts were a celebrated economic and cultural institution. Foreign visitors invariably included them on their American tours. Interest was prompted by the massive scale of these mills, the astonishing productivity of the power-driven machinery, and the fact that women comprised most of the workforce. Visitors were struck by the newness of both mills and city as well as by the culture of the female operatives. The scene stood in sharp contrast to the gloomy mill towns of the English industrial revolution.

Lowell was at the forefront of the American Industrial Revolution and its heyday leading up to the middle of the 19th century. At one time Lowell operated 10 mill complexes with more than 300,000 spindles and 10,000 looms producing a million yards of cloth each week. Cotton was transported from the southern fields to Lowell and turned into cloth.

Lowell cloth was a term for cheap, coarse cotton cloth, produced originally in the textile mills of Waltham, later Lowell, and eventually on plantations and textile mills in the South.

"In my young days all we wore was homespun and lowel. We lived in a log house with a dirt floor and the cracks was chinked with mud and our bed was some poles nailed against the wall with two legs out on the dirt floor, and we pulled grass and put in a lowel bed tick. My aunty would get old dresses, old coats, and old pants and make quilts."

From the Ex-Slave Narratives conducted by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s.

Watching the looms was hypnotic, the shuttle moving back and forth, the harnesses moving up and down, cloth methodically being created.

As the Industrial Revolution intensified in America in the first half of the 1800s, our nation’s social and economic fabric changed dramatically.

The mill owner's needed workers and they turned to the young women in the rural countryside to fill that need - but how to convince them to come?

The company boardinghouse was the answer; chaperoned, communal living. One of the original boardinghouses is open for tours, outfitted as it would have been circa 1850.

The social position of the factory girls had been degraded considerably in France and England. In her autobiography, Harriet Robinson (who worked in the Lowell mills from 1834–1848) suggests that "It was to overcome this prejudice that such high wages had been offered to women that they might be induced to become mill girls, in spite of the opprobrium that still clung to this degrading occupation.…"

The Lowell System combined large-scale mechanization with an attempt to improve the stature of its female workforce and workers. A few girls who came with their mothers or older sisters were as young as ten years old, some were middle-aged, but the average age was about 24. Usually hired for contracts of one year (the average stay was about four years), new employees were given assorted tasks as sparehands and paid a fixed daily wage while more experienced loom operators would be paid by the piece. They were paired with more experienced women, who trained them in the ways of the factory.

The investors or factory owners built hundreds of boarding houses near the mills, where textile workers lived year-round. A curfew of 10:00 pm was common, and men were generally not allowed inside. About 25 women lived in each boarding house, with up to six sharing a bedroom. One worker described her quarters as "a small, comfortless, half-ventilated apartment containing some half a dozen occupants". Trips away from the boarding house were uncommon; the Lowell girls worked and ate together. However, half-days and short paid vacations were possible due to the nature of the piece-work; one girl would work the machines of another in addition to her own such that no wages would be lost.

Newcomers were mentored by older women in areas such as dress, speech, behavior, and the general ways of the community. Workers often recruited their friends or relatives to the factories, creating a familial atmosphere among themselves. The Lowell girls were expected to attend church and demonstrate morals befitting proper society. The 1848 Handbook to Lowell proclaimed that "The company will not employ anyone who is habitually absent from public worship on the Sabbath, or known to be guilty of immorality."

Meals were heavy, servings huge!

Breakfast: Fried cod fish, fried hash, fried potatoes, pumpkin mash with cream, bread and butter, apple pie, coffee or milk.

Dinner: Pease soup, Boiled dinner of corned beef with potatoes, carrots, turnips and parsnips, pickles, bread and butter, bread pudding, coffee.

Supper: Baked beans with pork, brown bread with cheese, fried potatoes, flap jacks with applesauce, Indian pudding, plum cake, tea.

The Park also offers boat tours of the canals, something I would have loved to have done, but unfortunately not available the day we visited.

I'm never interested in the typical souvenirs, but I was thrilled to find toweling yardage, actually woven on site available for sale - I just need to cut and hem for new towels!

Visiting Lowell was a wonderful experience and I would love to visit again when we had more time to explore and I would urge you to visit also.

Seasons Glow

2011-12-11T18:20:00.004-05:00

Bead Journal Project - May 2011

2011-12-04T19:05:00.004-05:00

Well, here's the inspiration photo yet again:

This time the technique is 3-drop peyote stitch. 3-drop peyote stitch is a variation of basic even count peyote stitch that involves adding three beads at a time rather than just one bead. 3-drop peyote stitch thus works up faster than basic even count peyote stitch.

Peyote stitch, also known as Gourd stitch, is an off-loom bead weaving technique. Peyote stitch may be worked with either an even or an odd number of beads per row. Both even and odd count peyote pieces can be woven as flat strips, in a flat round shape, or as a tube.

Many cultures around the world have used peyote stitch in their beadwork. Examples of peyote stitch have been found in artifacts from Ancient Egypt, and the stitch has also been used in historic and contemporary Native American beadwork. The name "peyote stitch" derives from the use of this stitch to decorate objects used in peyote ceremonies by members of the Native American Church. The name "gourd stitch" similarly derives from the use of the stitch in decorating gourd containers.

I've not used the 3-drop technique before; I was surprised at the stiffness of the finished work.

I did rather like texture that resulted, both aspects are something to take into consideration for future projects.

I'm disappointed that it's now December and I have only managed to complete May's piece, but I am committed to completing this series. But it won't be by the end of the year!

Late November

2011-11-28T18:10:00.008-05:00

"Late November" really is late - it was intended to be my submission for the October monthly challenge - but better late than never!

Here's the inspiration piece:

A Hedgehog in a Landscape, 1643-51, by Giovanna Garzoni.

One of the first women artists to practice the art of still life painting, Giovanna Garzoni pursued her career with intensity. Garzoni's paintings were so well liked that, according to one writer, she could sell her work "for whatever price she wished."

Garzoni's paintings depict plants with their roots and flowers, in the scientific tradition of Ligozzi, but she animates her compositions by adding insects, reptiles, and small fruits and nuts, each casting a faint shadow on the page. These vibrant paintings display a conscious yet subtle balance between scientific realism and decorative effect.

I drew my color palette for this piece from the painting: taupe, bronze, rust, copper - the colors of late fall.

The twisting beadwoven necklace base emulates the coils of the snail shell. The copper clasp shares the shape of the horse chestnuts.

I made the pendent in a winter pottery class a couple years ago, the seed pod shape seemed the perfect focal point for this piece.

Typically, we associate the blazing colors of autumn leaves with fall beauty, but when that showy season passes, the more subtle beauties of late fall remain - a beauty that relies upon texture and form. That's what I feel I've achieved with "Late November" - do you agree?

Available for purchase here.

What "Eye" Can See

2011-11-17T19:23:00.005-05:00

It's "shoulder" season - the brilliant colors of autumn have passed, but the white snow of winter has not yet arrived - but that doesn't mean there isn't beauty all around us in the seeming drab surroundings of late November.

It takes a different approach, allow your inner "eye" some freedom to roam - you might just be surprised by what might be revealed when all the foliage is stripped away.

First frost:

Brambles, with leaves ready to drop:

Wet pavement, adorned with fallen leaves:

Picked clean:

Forest hieroglyphics:

The snow will be arriving soon, but for now I'm enjoying the spare, pared down appeal of a fairly monochromatic landscape - I hope you do too.

The Green Lady

2011-11-13T12:56:00.007-05:00

"The Green Lady" is my submission for the November Art Bead Scene monthly challenge; here's the inspiration painting:

Madonna Pietra degli Scrovigni

by Marie Spartali Stillman (1844-1927)

Watercolour, gouache and gum arabic, 30.9in × 24.1 in.

The woman is a character from the Italian poet Dante. She was described as a heartless lady dressed in green. In her hand she holds a crystal bowl reflecting the figures of Love and Dante.

The artist, Marie Euphrosyne Spartali, later Stillman , was a British Pre-Raphaelite painter of Greek descent, arguably the greatest female artist of the movement. During a sixty-year career she produced over one hundred works, contributing regularly to galleries in Great Britain and the United States.

The artist, herself:

She and her two cousins, were known collectively among friends as "the Three Graces", after the Charities of Greek mythology, as all three were noted beauties of Greek heritage.

It was in the house of a Greek businessman, in south London, that Marie and her sister Christine met Whistler and Swinburne for the first time. They were dressed in white with blue ribbon sashes. Swinburne was so overcome that he said of Spartali: "She is so beautiful that I want to sit down and cry". Marie was a tall, imposing figure, and, in her later years, dressed in long flowing black garments with a lace hood, attracting much attention throughout her life.

The subjects of her paintings were typical of the Pre-Raphaelites: female figures; scenes from Shakespeare, Petrarch, Dante and Boccaccio; also Italian landscapes. She exhibited in England and at various galleries in the eastern USA, including the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. A retrospective show of her work took place in the United States in 1982.

My goal was to create a piece that looked as if it might have been worn by the lady in the painting. I started by creating a base grid using right angle weave, which I filled with olivine fire polished glass beads. I transitioned into square stitch to form the clasp, which also incorporates an antique button.

The star of the piece is the amazing pendant, formed of bronze metal clay and a real peridot from Etsy artist Wanda Cardenas at Epiphany of a Dragonfly.

I think the result is worthy of wear by a lovely Pre-Raphaelite lady!

Bead Journal Project - April 2011

2011-11-03T18:01:00.004-04:00

Playing "catch-up" yet again this year - it's just so hard to accomplish much during the busy season on the Island.

Here's the inspiration image; each month will feature this trillium using a different beading technique.

This time I started by stitching a fabric background:

I used St. Petersburg chain to form Russian leaves for the petals and leaves.

I filled the petals with a a mixture of beads in various sizes and finishes. The leaves were given more of "vein" affect.

The background seemed a bit plain, so I added some freeform embroidery - a mixture of French knots, feather and chain stitch.

While I cannot guarantee to finish by the end of the year, I WILL finish...and I even know how I'd like to display the pieces - anyone know a good metalworker willing to work with a beader?

A Winding Journey - The Start of a Long Term Project

2011-10-31T19:45:00.008-04:00

Labyrinths are ancient; labyrinths have been found all over the world dating from the earliest antiquity. Their origins are lost in the mists of time. The labyrinth was a central feature in many of the European Roman Catholic churches in the middle ages and many of these still exist today. The most famous of these remaining labyrinths is at Chartres Cathedral near Paris, France. The labyrinth at Chartres was built around 1200 and is a classic 11-course form. It was walked as a pilgrimage and/or for repentance.

I've had a long term fascination with labyrinths - it's pretty easy to see where the inspiration for

"Palm Up/Palm Down" came from!

Grand Hotel has a beautiful labyrinth tucked away in their gardens; it's a wonderfully peaceful experience to walk it's twisting path.

Awhile back, I purchased this canvas mat, printed with a depiction of the labyrinth at Chartres. It's just been sitting around - one of those "what was I thinking?" kind of things.

Every beader knows that all projects result in unused beads: random bits and bobs, too much to discard, but not really enough to use - except for bead soup and I sure don't need anymore of that!

So here's my thought: at the conclusion of each project, all those "leftovers" will be stitched to the canvas, slowly wending their way to the center in non-planned steps of color.

The end result is unknown, as is the time frame for completion - years, I suspect!

Walk in the Woods

2011-10-26T19:56:00.007-04:00

A combination of many personal commitments and windy/wet weather have kept me out of the woods, but I made it yesterday afternoon - and I was so happy to be there!

Peak color is , of course, past, but bright color can still be seen here and there. The real interest is on the forest floor:

This guy thought they were pretty interesting too:

I saw dozens of squirrel, all scurrying about, fattening up for winter. The birds are equally busy, with chickadees and juncos the most active in late afternoon. I was fortunate enough to spot a pileated woodpecker; they're one of my favorites, looking somewhat prehistoric as they glide from tree to tree:

Late fall beauty is subtle, depending more on texture and form then color:

And if Spring is all about the wildflowers, Fall is all about the fungus - equally beautiful, but frequently overlooked:

To appreciate this time of year, you need to slow down, look a little closer, study the details - like this tiny puddle, held in the cup of a fallen leaf:

Or this lovely little autumnal vignette, arranged by nature itself:

Or this little "forest" of moss and lichen:

Fall is my favorite time of year and yesterday's walk was splendid, the colors, the forms, the light, the scent of the fallen leaves and the sounds those leaves make as you move along the paths - make time to slow down and enjoy the season!

Puddle Jumping

2011-10-20T19:43:00.004-04:00

Temperature: 45 degrees F

Precipitation: Pouring rain (all day)

Wind Gusts: 45 MPH

Fleece Jacket: Check

Rain Pants: Check

Rain Boots: Check

Rain Jacket: Check

Rain Hat: Check

Gloves: Check

Jump on the bike and off to work - gotta love living on Mackinac!

Roadtrip 2011 - ArtPrize

2011-10-16T10:33:00.008-04:00

ArtPrize - what an incredible experience!!!

It's over for 2011, but I can't wait for next year - ArtPrize is about art obviously, but it's also an experiment designed to engage every aspect of society in participating in art - as an artist, as a viewer, as a critic, as a participant.

Grand Rapids, Michigan is the location for venues as diverse as the Grand Rapids Art Museum to a beauty salon, a great location for this painting of Barbie

Some pieces require viewer participation, like this one that can be viewed as is or through hanging prisms:

This one is literally a puzzle:

Here, you are building the exhibit:

Some artists have a statement to share, whether regarding the environment, such as this piece constructed of discarded junk:

The whale leaping from a sea of plastic bottles was quite impressive!

As, was this field of sunflowers, which represents a mere 4.5 seconds of plastic water bottles usage in the US:

These gigantic birds, formed of tires picked up off the highway, were visually stunning - both in their forms and material.

Many artists chose to work with unusual materials - how about Post-it notes?

Or drywall?

Or Lego's?

Some pieces just make you smile!

Some make you think or wonder:

The most unique part of ArtPrize is the method of choosing the winners - we, the public, decide.

And the top prize is $250, 000!!!

We spent two full days and while we saw close to 1,000 pieces, we missed nearly 600. We saw work that made us think, made us smile, made us laugh out loud - and as a result we definitely plan on attending next year. I hope you do too!

Indian Summer on Mackinac

2011-10-10T17:39:00.006-04:00

I would have loved to have spent most every afternoon for the last week or so just lounging in the sun - we've been having some spectacular weather lately!

There's just been so much to see and enjoy - seeds are flying:

and a few butterflies are still flitting about:

The geese flocks definitely like to stop and take a break here as the head south:

We've had some fog, but that's good too:

It just makes the bright colors even more outstanding:

A few road apples are just to be expected:

(Sorry!!!!! Bad Mackinac humor)

The woods are at near peak color:

And the views seem to go one forever:

The seasonal employees are heading off, to winter pastures:

It's fall on Mackinac!

Round the Bend - Part 2

2011-10-03T19:50:00.002-04:00

Just a quick update: I finished the bracelet!

Roadtrip 2011 - Bread and Butter Farm

2011-10-02T14:35:00.006-04:00

Our road trip agenda included some family visits and that meant going to the farm - Bread and Butter Farm.

I was quite jealous of the abundant greens, due to my ongoing war with the rabbits:

The cows are quite content out in the pasture:

and cows mean milk:

But the farm store has much more than milk:

Fresh picked vegetables:

and BREAD!

Eggs, and pastured raised meat, and did I mention the BREAD!!!!

It's probably good we don't live too close, I'd weigh a bazillion pounds due to my love affair with the bread!

We had a great visit, enjoyed incredibly fresh delicious food and hope it won't be too long before we can visit again.

Roadtrip 2011 - Shelburne Museum

2011-09-27T20:50:00.008-04:00

We spent a couple weeks on the road and saw some amazing places - but we didn't carry quite this much luggage!!!

We've wanted to visit the Shelburne Museum, in Vermont for a very long time and it was quite worth the wait.

The Shelburne is renowned for its collection of American folk art and quilts. The Museum is also home to holdings of decorative arts, design, decoys, and carriages. The paintings collection includes French Impressionists as well as over 400 18th - 20th century American works.

There was one very special exhibit that just blew us away: The Ticonderoga.

She's the last walking beam side-wheel passenger steamer in existence and a National Historic landmark. Built in Shelburne in 1906, it operated as a day boat on Lake Champlain serving ports along the New York and Vermont shores until 1953. In 1955, she was moved two miles overland from the lake to the museum.

Nearly the entire ship is open to explore and it's like stepping back to the 1920's.

The purser's office:

The dining room:

and the kitchen:

The main stairway:

A guest stateroom:

and the crews:

I can so visualize this steamer "in the day", full of ladies and gentlemen with the means to travel, the clothes, the food, the music - I truly felt transported in time.

Plan to spend a least a full day at the Shelburne, here's just a handful of what you'll see and experience.

Around the Bend

2011-09-25T20:05:00.005-04:00

"Around the Bend" is my submission for the September Art Bead Scene monthly challenge.

I love this months inspiration piece, a quilt entitled "Housetop", created by Lillie Mae Pettway, a Gee's Bend quilter.

Gee’s Bend is a small rural community nestled into a curve in the Alabama River southwest of Selma, Alabama. Founded in antebellum times, it was the site of cotton plantations, primarily the lands of Joseph Gee and his relative Mark Pettway, who bought the Gee estate in 1850.

After the Civil War, the freed slaves took the name Pettway, became tenant farmers for the Pettway family, and founded an all-black community nearly isolated from the surrounding world. During the Great Depression, the federal government stepped in to purchase land and homes for the community, bringing strange renown — as an "Alabama Africa" — to this sleepy hamlet.

The town’s women developed a distinctive, bold, and sophisticated quilting style based on traditional American (and African American) quilts, but with a geometric simplicity reminiscent of Amish quilts and modern art. The women of Gee’s Bend passed their skills and aesthetic down through at least six generations to the present. In 2002, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, in partnership with the nonprofit Tinwood Alliance, of Atlanta, presented an exhibition of seventy quilt masterpieces from the Bend. The exhibition, entitled "The Quilts of Gee’s Bend," is accompanied by two companion books, The Quilts of Gee’s Bend, and the larger Gee’s Bend: The Women and Their Quilts, both published by Tinwood Media, as well as a documentary video on the Gee’s Bend quilters and a double-CD of Gee’s Bend gospel music from 1941 and 2002.

For my piece, I drafted several rectangles and squares using the colors and proportions from the quilt.

I formed the "banners" using square stitch and size 11/0 seed beads. The spacers are formed of peyote stitch bands and it's all strung together on a freeform base.

I'm especially pleased with my clasp, a art bead created by Etsy artist, blueseraphim. It's design mimics the shape of a log cabin quilt block and in addition, red is the color of the center block of a traditional log cabin block.

I'm currently working on a bracelet to accompany this necklace and have an idea for an additional necklace utilizing the "banners" in a completely different way - more to come!

Medieval Twist

2011-09-20T15:17:00.006-04:00

"Medieval Twist" was intended to be my submission for the July Art Bead Scene monthly challenge - obviously, I'm a bit late!

The inspiration piece was this beautiful painting, Morning in the Garden at Vaucresson, by Edouard Vuillard.

I choose to emphasize the cool blue/grey and the brilliant chartreuse present in the painting.

The pendent bead is from my stash and pulls in the blue sky just barely visible amongst the garden abundance.

I tried a new technique - twisted tubular herringbone - and it was a great choice, the tube is completely self supporting and quite strong.

The bangle bracelet is form I've not tried before, not my favorite style to wear personally, but works nicely as a part of this pair.

Finally finished - yeah!!!

Touring Michigan: The Chippewa County Fair

2011-09-06T21:28:00.007-04:00

I can't remember the last time we went to a county fair, certainly not in the ten years we've been on Mackinac, but this past Saturday we were looking for something fun to do nearby (but definitely OFF Island) - so we went to the Chippewa County Fair.

First on the agenda was looking at all the animals; while we see plenty of horses on a daily basis, there's no longer any other livestock on Mackinac.

I had to laugh at these guys, one of our local poets just published a new anthology entitled "Low Down and Coming On: A Feast of Delicious and Dangerous Poems About Pigs" - I wonder what they would think about being thus immortalized?

The sheep in spandex were pretty funny too!

I loved this sign, it's right to the point!

I really enjoyed walking the midway; it was exactly as I remembered with the rides and games, all the colors and activity.

This was a bit different, I sure don't remember ATM's at the fair before! But I bet it gets a lot of use.

Going to the fair and eating food with no nutritional redeeming value is just a must...

Does the ice cream count as a serving of dairy?

Last we toured all the 4-H exhibits, it's just not a fair without giant vegetables.

As well as intricate needlework projects:

And preserves:

My husband showed at the fair years ago,as we walked about he kept saying "I was sooo tired by Saturday night, but it was sooo much fun!"

We had a great time and it's a great place to remember where all our food really comes from: The Farm - not the grocery store.

Soak Up the Sun, Summer's Almost Done!

2011-09-05T20:32:00.006-04:00

It just occurred to me that I've not been sharing any Island images lately, and that's a shame as it's been just beautiful!

We walked through the Annex and along the West Bluff this afternoon and I couldn't help but stop and enjoy all the blooms:

There was a great concert at Grand a couple weeks ago, all WWII era music and speakers; I took the opportunity to stroll the porch:

Signs that the season is changing are starting to be seen and felt - these guys are off to pasture for the winter:

I'm not sure what this guy's up to, trying to jump the porch maybe?

And this one's just enjoying a day off - it just feels so good!

From Inauspicious Beginnings..

2011-09-01T20:38:00.009-04:00

It doesn't look like much...

but just wait....

you won't believe what you can do with it!

I was especially fortunate this week; I had the pleasure of taking a "Silver Evenings" class with Rosemary Gould.

Rosemary is an incredible artist and teacher - we had a great time learning to work with PMC or Precious Metal Clay.

PMC looks like clay and is formed of very small particles of silver suspended in an organic binder, it's easily rolled:

Or cut into shapes:

Or formed into shapes or given texture.

On our first night, we made a charm. This taught us a lot about handling the clay, adding textures and "appliqueing" to pieces together. When we had the charm formed, it went on a mug warmer to dry.

Next comes the exciting part - transforming clay to silver - it made me feel like quite the alchemist!

We used a small butane torch, first the binder burns off, with a blue glow:

When it glows bright pink, the countdown begins - two minutes:

Then a quick cold water bath, a bit of work with a wire brush and voila! A charm!

Not perfect, but not bad for a first attempt and I'm really looking forward to night #2.

I even did my homework, rough sketching some possible designs for a pendant. I actually ended up with a couple dozen sketches, but this is the one I decided to attempt to create - very freeform and a definite emphasis on texture.

Anyone who knows me will not be surprised that my final result has little resemblance to my sketch - but there's still a lot of emphasis on texture, here it is before torching:

And after:

I see so many possibilities with this technique, so many ways it can enhance my bead work, giving me the ability to form just the exact focal or accent piece for whatever I'm trying to create - more to come I'm sure - thanks Rosemary!

Ride the Moon

2011-08-28T12:58:00.006-04:00

"Ride the Moon" is my submission for the August Art Bead Scene monthly challenge.

The inspiration for this month's challenge was an 1899 advertising poster for America Crescent Bicycles by Frederick Ramsdell - who was from my part of the world, Manistee, Michigan.

I really struggled with this challenge, bikes are such a large part of my everyday life on Mackinac and I was so focused on a very literal interpretation - it wasn't until I decided to skip this month that the concept of a crescent neckpiece occurred to me - after that, it all flowed together.

This necklace is a good example of mixed media jewelry. I started with a silk taffeta crescent, hand embroidered with black silk "wheels", those wheels have been embellished with beads in a variety of sizes and finishes. The crescent is finished with a binding of black beads and the center features a subtle lampworked focal bead.

The crescent is suspended by brass chain and chandelier crystal chain and closes with a simple brass toggle clasp.

I'm pleased with the results - elegant, but a bit edgy, with just a touch of steampunk.

Available for purchase here.

Touring Michigan: Lavender Hill Farm

2011-08-19T19:08:00.006-04:00

Lavender Hill Farm is near Horton Bay, Michigan, in the heart of Hemingway Country and nearly on the 45th parallel - lavender thrives on the 45th parallel in both the northern and southern hemispheres.

The limestone soil provides an ideal pH for growing lavender and the farm has over 25 different varieties.

So why start a lavender farm? To feed the bees, of course!

After the bees have had their fill of nectar and pollen, the lavender is still gorgeous and fragrant.

The lavender is grown without the use of pesticides or herbicides.

It was so relaxing strolling the fields, the scent was so intoxicating and the hum of the bees so soothing, I think I could have taken a nap in the rows!

We had a great time watching this character:

We could tell that something was moving in the plants and all of a sudden, he would pop his head out, stand up and look around and take off again!

There's a lovely shop, with culinary and body products, as well as artwork.

You can even pick your own bouquet of lavender:

All in all, a wonderful place to visit and relax!

Touring Michigan - Boyne City Farmers Market

2011-08-09T20:23:00.006-04:00

I love living on Mackinac, but there are a few things available in the "real world" that I do miss - and one of those things is visiting the farmer's market on a regular basis.

I recently discovered a great farmer's market in Boyne City; it's been in operation since 1982 and currently has over 70 vendors, all located within a 30 mile radius.

There was a very long line waiting to purchase raspberries - they were HUGE, and ours didn't make it back to the car, we ate them all as we strolled.

There were lots of flowers available, especially sunflowers.

I would have loved a bouquet, but it just isn't practical when camping in a tent.

Actually, I think I would have come home with bushels of produce if we hadn't been camping, it all looked so wonderful.

There was so much more than produce and flowers on display, we sampled some wonderful cheeses from Farm Country Cheese House (a pound or so came home with us), discovered Cook Family Farms meats, tasted (and purchased) artichoke pesto, and tried our best to be strong and resist all the incredible baked goods.

Farm markets offer so much to a community, providing positive financial opportunities for the farmer, making a variety of locally grown and made farm products directly available for purchase, as well as encouraging direct communication between local farmers and their customers.

Eat local!

I Won!

2011-08-02T20:50:00.005-04:00

Alison at Handprinted by A. Deegan recently hosted a giveaway - and I won!!!

Alison creates beautiful hand pulled prints and I won two: a great red squirrel and a framed "Winged Seeds".

Not only is her work beautiful, but so is her packaging; it was so much fun to open.

Thank you Alison - I love both of them.

Everyone else: please do check out both Alison's blog and Etsy shop, adeegan.

History is Served

2011-07-31T20:05:00.005-04:00

When you're exploring an unfamiliar land, intrepid travelers will tell you that to experience the food of a country is essential to truly experiencing a country.

The same is true when exploring history - food helps to put you in a time and place.

Food and eating in the mid-19th century is both the same and different than it is today. In the present, we can go to the store and purchase an item like fresh strawberries year round; in 1860's fresh strawberries would have been available for just a brief time - and they would have been both enjoyed as is and also preserved for future use.

I have a group of very good friends in the living history community, this year we've chosen to focus on food - to make it as accurate to the mid-19th century as possible - and it has been fabulous!

At a recent event, I made three different recipes from "The Lady's Receipt Book, A Useful Companion for Large or Small Families" written by Eliza Leslie in 1847.

The first was "Turkey or Chicken Patties":

Take the white part of some cold turkey or chicken, and mince it very fine. Mince also some cold boiled ham or smoked tongue, and then mix the turkey and ham together.

Add the yolks of some hard-boiled eggs, grated or minced; a very little

cayenne; and some powdered mace and nutmeg. Moisten the whole with

cream or fresh butter.

Have ready some puff-paste shells, that have been baked empty in patty-pans. Place them on a large dish, and fill them with the mixture.

Cold fillet of veal minced, and mixed with chopped ham, and grated yolk of egg, and seasoned as above, will make very good patties.

The name must come from the puff-paste shells being bakes in patty-pans, as there's nothing "pattyish" about them - but they sure did taste good and quickly disappeared!

Next was "Lettuce Chicken Salad":

Having skinned a pair of cold fowls, remove the fat, and carve them as if for eating, cut all the flesh entirely from the bones, and either mince it or divide it into small shreds.

Mix with it a little smoked tongue or cold ham, grated rather than chopped.

Have ready one or two fine fresh lettuces, picked, washed, drained, and cut small. Put the cut lettuce on a dish, (spreading it evenly,) or into a large bowl, and place upon it the minced chicken in a close heap in the centre.

For the dressing, mix together the following ingredients, in the proportion of the yolks of four eggs well beaten; a tea-spoonful of powdered white sugar; a salt-spoon of cayenne; (no salt if you have ham or tongue with the chicken;) two tea-spoonfuls of made mustard; two table-spoonfuls of vinegar, and four tablespoonfuls of salad oil. Stir this mixture well: put it into a small sauce-pan, set it over the fire, and set it boil three minutes, (not more,) stirring it all the time. Then set it to cool.

When quite cold, cover with it thickly the heap of chicken in the centre of the salad. To ornament it, have ready half a dozen or more hard-boiled eggs, which after the shell is peeled off, must be thrown directly into a pan of cold water to prevent their turning blue. Cut each egg (white and yolk together) lengthways into four long pieces of equal size and shape; lay the pieces upon the salad all round the heap of chicken, and close to it; placing them so as to follow each other round in a slanting direction, something in the form of a circular wreath of leaves. Have ready, also, some very red cold beet, cut into small cones or points all of equal size; arrange them in a circle upon the lettuce, outside of the circle of cut egg. To be decorated in this manner, the salad should be placed in a dish rather than a bowl. In helping it, give each person a portion of every thing, and they will mix them together on their plates.

This salad should be prepared immediately before dinner or supper, as standing long will injure it. The colder it is the better.

Again, a winner! And pretty too.

Finally, "Columbus Eggs":

Take twelve hard-boiled eggs. Peel off the shells, and cut the eggs into equal halves; cutting off also a little piece from each of the ends to enable them to stand alone, in the form of cups.

Chop the yolks, and with them mix cold ham or smoked tongue, minced as finely as possible. Moisten the mixture with cream, (or a little fresh butter,) and season it with powdered mace or nutmeg.

Fill with it the cups or empty whites of the eggs, (being careful not to break them;) pressing the mixture down, and smoothing it nicely.

Arrange them on a dish; putting two halves close together, and standing them upright, so as to look like whole eggs.

No pictures of these, as they were a visual disaster! I'm told they tasted good (I don't care for deviled eggs) and they certainly all were eaten, but I don't plan on trying these again - too much work and way too messy.

You may have picked up on a trend: lots and lots of eggs! In the middle of summer, hens would be laying well and all those eggs need to be used.

Preserving all matters of produce was an important task for the lady of the house and pickling was a very popular method; the Victorians pickled everything, vegetables, eggs, fruit, even walnuts.

I've wanted to try some pickle receipts, but following the methods published during the period wasn't going to work for me - the quantities are just too large and the techniques not terribly viable in the current world of food production. I was really pleased to find Food in Jars, modern canning methods combined with small batches, just what I needed. I've found that many use the same flavorings as the period recipes, so by choosing carefully I feel comfortable using them for historic meals.

I tried two, pickled cherries and green tomato chutney. I loved the cherries, but not everyone else did; they're just a very different flavor for the modern palate. The chutney (which would be called chow chow in the period) was a definite success; it tasted great with meats and breads.

Choosing foods for an event mindfully, taking seasonality and commonality into consideration has really helped put us in the mindset of the past, truly "History is Served"!

Orange Sherbet

2011-07-29T20:10:00.005-04:00

Do you remember orange push up pops?

They were my favorite purchase as a kid when the ice cream truck made it's way through the neighborhood - are ice cream trucks still around? Certainly not on Mackinac!

The cool sweetness or orange push ups was what I kept in mind as I worked on my latest beading project, "Orange Sherbet" a coordinating necklace and bracelet.

They were a bit of an experiment: I used just a single beading technique, tubular herringbone, and a single type of bead, seed beads only.

The visual interest comes in the interplay between the differing sizes, colors and finishes of the seed beads themselves - no flashy focal bead needed!

I worked with tight tension, resulting in a tube that will support itself.

I think they're a success - simple but visually interesting.

What do you think?

Letting the Clothing Speak - An 1860's Fashion Show

2011-07-23T15:28:00.006-04:00

Clothing is about function - protecting our bodies from the elements. But fashion, that's something entirely different.

Fashion involves following the standards of your particular society and time, and perhaps expressing your individuality - if that's appropriate to the societal norms.

During the mid-19th century, the clothing worn by an given individual spoke volumes about the person wearing it; I decided to let the clothing speak to the attendees of the fashion show held during Charlton Park's Civil War event, held July 16th-17th, 2011.

It was an exceedingly hot weekend and spectators for the fashion show had to stand in the direct sun, so this years show was fairly short, but we packed in a huge amount of information. It was also interactive with the audience - they were asked to identify the type of person who might be wearing an outfit, lower, middle or upper class, rural or urban, North or South, what type of activity the outfit might be used for , etc.

The "sister dresses" made another appearance - they're a perfect style for sweltering weather.

We discussed why a family might buy an entire bolt of fabric and how that fabric might be used for girl's dresses, father and son's shirts (okay, probably not if it's pink like this fabric), and mama's apron or slat bonnet. We also mentioned the practice of reusing the fabric from the skirt of a dress in any number of items - all the little thrifty tricks of a middle class lady using her resources to best effect.

While these dresses are practical, everyday clothing, they do have some fashionable touches - the wavy braid trim and fancy buttons, pretty touches for lovely girls.

This lovely lady has had a long night, caring for a sick infant and has not yet dressed for the day.

She is wearing a wrapper, somewhat equivalent to a modern housecoat, and it would be strictly at home wear.

The baby is all in white, which may seem impractical, but is actually a very reasonable choice, as white clothing can easily be boiled clean. Underclothing for all ages is usually white for the same reason.

This particular wrapper was remade from an old, worn out dress - hence it's slightly dated style of fabric, a pattern that would have been popular during the 1850's. This is another example of thrift, one that is often seen in original garments.

It has some lovely sleeve details:

I'm so fortunate in my friends - when I ask for help, they always come through - even when I ask them to show off their nightclothes!

This nightgown was copied from an original and features beautiful white soutash braidwork and buttonhole stitched scallops - I do wish it showed up better in this photo, as the workmanship is stunning.

This gentleman is wearing his brand new, finished the night before the event, paletot.

Paletot's are considered an informal garment, being made with a loose fit, flap pockets and no lining. They're really going out of style by the 1860's, but this man is old enough to have worn this in his younger years and there's no reason to discard a perfectly serviceable garment, unless you're a spendthrift.

It's a good fit for his persona, that of a cooperage shop owner, who used to actively labor in the trade, but now leaves the physical labor to his employees, while he tends to the financial side of the business.

His success at business has allowed the expense of some hired help at home, an Irish girl who serves as a "maid-of-all-work".

Her clothing is completely practical: dark colors, with a pattern to hide stains, sleeves that can be rolled up out of the way, a kerchief round her neck, apron, and no hoop to get in the way when scrubbing the floors.

Our businessman's wife will often work right alongside her help, but she now has some leisure time on her hands and she has decided to support the war effort.

She's sending some mixed signals regarding which side she supports in the war, her patriotic apron favors the North, as does her combination of red shoes, white stockings and blue dress. But that bonnet, trimmed in red, white, red - is it actually a secession bonnet?

Patriotic clothing and accessories, such as cockades, aprons and even bonnets were favored by both sides in the conflict, especially early in the war years. But as the casualties mounted and the war dragged on, such items are less common.

The dress is not extravagant, the slight v-neckline is helpful in warm weather, as is her straw bonnet. The hoop is of modest size and the skirt slightly raised, both indications she intends to be actively engaged in activity.

Fashion always has a story to tell - this year the story involved a pair playful girls, a sick child being cared for be a weary grandmother, a prosperous business man and his household - common people of the 1860's, living their lives by the standards of the times.

Those same type of people exist today... but they sure don't dress the same!

Open House

2011-07-10T14:54:00.012-04:00

Since 2007, an annual Open House has been hosted at the lighthouse each summer. This year Round Island Lighthouse Preservation Society and Boy Scout Troop 323 of Freeland, Michigan hosted visitors this past Saturday.

Just getting there is part of the adventure; leaving from the Coal Dock on Mackinac Island, several people at a time board a small charter boat and step two involves transferring to small rubber dinghies (you will get wet!) that are able to land on the rocky shore.

Round Island Lighthouse was constructed in 1895 at a cost of $15,000 by Frank Rounds, a carpenter from Detroit. Rounds had previously worked on Mackinac Island's Grand Hotel, which was completed in 1887. The lighthouse was first lit on May 15th, 1896. It was commissioned under the U.S. Lighthouse Board, which became the United States Lighthouse Service in 1910. When it was first completed, the lighthouse was brick red. This would remain so until it was painted red and white in 1924.

The beacon was automated in 1924 and became the responsibility of the United States Coast Guard in 1939, when the Coast Guard took over all of the nation's lighthouses. To support World War II efforts, most of the original machinery on the first floor was removed for scrap.

The long years it has been unoccupied have taken their toll, and the former living quarters now show a certain faded beauty.

At one time, the woodwork must have been beautiful.

This "modern" shower is barely 6" tall and a couple feet wide, but I'm sure it was a most appreciated addition at the time.

Many of the windows now have metal shutters, protection from the weather and vandals, but imagine the view this bedroom once featured!

More woodwork:

The ladder up to the tower:

The views are certainly worth the climb!

Getting home meant reversing the loading - dinghy to boat to dock - and by then the wind had come up and it was clouding over, making for a chilly ride.

Many thanks to Boy Scout Troop 323 and all the other volunteers who work so hard, both in running this open house and all their efforts to preserve this gorgeous light.

Bead Journal Project - March 2011

2011-07-04T16:57:00.008-04:00

This month, I decided to attempt something new, a piece in the style of the Northeastern Woodland Indians, a technique I've not used before.

Here's the inspiration image (are you tired of seeing it yet?):

Native American “whimsies” are beadwork items attributed to Woodland Indian women during the Victorian era, which they made for sale as souvenirs in areas such as Niagara Falls and Mackinac. These non-utilitarian “whimsies” became an important source of income for these women, helping to support their families.

The whimsies show a definite European influence, after 1800 among Northeastern Woodland Indian women, appliqué beading follows a distinctly different style from the mostly geometric Plains styles. Curvy flowers connected by spiraling vine tendrils are beaded onto black velvet or velveteen show the use of traditional themes adapted to the Victorian tastes of their buyers.

Usually the beadwork is sewn over a pattern cut out of paper, as can be seen in this antique example:

I did the same, cutting a paper template to bead over. It actually serves two functions - providing a pattern and masking the dark background which would dull the colors of white or clear beads.

Designs are usually quite stylized and this did cause me some problems, as my design is naturalistic. This shows up especially in the flower petals, as some unfortunate bead placement.

Overall, I'm pleased - I was able to achieve a lot of texture and depth - but next time I'll stick with simpler forms!

Touring Michigan - Whitefish Point

2011-06-25T12:19:00.006-04:00

Whitefish Point is located at the extreme southeastern end of Lake Superior. The Whitefish Point Light Station was established by Congress in 1849; today, the Whitefish Point Light is the oldest operating lighthouse on Lake Superior. The present light tower was constructed in 1861 during the Civil War.

Whitefish Point marks the eastern end of a notorious 80-mile stretch of shoreline from here west to Munising, Michigan, known ominously as Lake Superior’s Shipwreck Coast. Of the 550 known major shipwrecks lying on the bottom of the lake, at least 200 of them are in the vicinity of Whitefish Point. The primary causes of shipwreck here are stress of weather and collision; the 1975 loss of the steamer Edmund Fitzgerald with her entire crew of 29 has become a world-wide legend. The wreck of the Fitzgerald lies just 15 miles northwest of Whitefish Point.

The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum is well worth a visit, but today, we just wanted to walk the beach.

We could feel the temperature dropping as we made the drive from Paradise out to the Point and found ourselves enveloped in fog when we arrived.

We love walking this particular beach, with it's mix of soft sand and rocks and the water and waves as far as you can see.

At least a few "interesting" rocks always seem to find their way home with us.

Whitefish Point provides a phenomenal concentration spot for migrant birds with land and water features creating a natural migration corridor. Tens of thousands of birds are funneled to the Point every Spring and Fall while migrating through the Great Lakes region. For over 30 years, Whitefish Point Bird Observatory has been monitoring and documenting these annual migrations.

I'm not sure what this little shorebird is, but there were a number of them monitoring us as we walked.

The tracks left by the gulls have a wonderful graphic design to them, a mixture of random and directed.

This winged creature was willing to pose for me too - isn't he gorgeous?

By the time we turned to return to the parking lot, the fog was clearing and we had a clear few of the lighthouse.

Fog and sunshine, wind and waves - there's not much better than a walk on the beach in northern Michigan!

Everyone Loves a Parade

2011-06-21T17:34:00.016-04:00

Really - who doesn't love a parade?

Mackinac Island's annual Lilac Festival always ends with a grand parade and that parade is always led by Don "Duck" Andress, a direct descendant of Chief Mackinac.

Interpreters from Fort Mackinac also participate, fife and drums playing all the way.

Several service organizations are represented, including future service dogs (the puppies are so cute!) and Greythounds of Eastern Michigan , a greyhound rescue group. Greyhounds are typically such elegant dogs, but they're willing to play dress up to be in the parade:

The theme of this year's parade was "Board Games" and many old favorites made an appearance.

Scrabble:

Jeopardy:

Turtlopoly (AKA Monopoly):

And Battleship:

Anyone who's been following Island politics will see the irony of that entry!

No parade is complete without marching bands:

Parades always seem to attract queens too and we had a Cherry Queen, a Trout Queen, an Alpine Queen, out own Lilac Queen and also the "Northern Michigan Beach Queens":

And the King too!

It seems like most parades have a t least a few clowns:

This is "Dynamite the Clown" and I remember seeing him in parades when I was a kid (a long time ago - how old is he?)

This is Mackinac after all, so there has to be bikes:

And more importantly, horses!

See what you missed!

Teal Drift

2011-06-19T12:36:00.004-04:00

"Teal Drift" is my entry in the June Art Bead Scene monthly challenge.

We were challenged to create a piece inspired by Ophelia by Odilon Redon.

Odilon Redon was born in Bordeaux, Aquitaine, to a prosperous family. The young Bertrand-Jean Redon acquired the nickname "Odilon" from his mother, Odile. Redon started drawing as a child, and at the age of ten he was awarded a drawing prize at school. Aged fifteen, he began the formal study of drawing, but on the insistence of his father he changed to architecture. His failure to pass the entrance exams at Paris’ École des Beaux-Arts ended any plans for a career as an architect, although he briefly studied painting there under Jean-Léon Gérôme in 1864.

Back home in his native Bordeaux, he took up sculpture, and Rodolphe Bresdin instructed him in etching and lithography. His artistic career was interrupted in 1870 when he joined the army to serve in the Franco-Prussian War.

In the 1890s, pastel and oils became his favored media, and he produced no more noirs after 1900. In 1899, he exhibited with the Nabis at Durand-Ruel's. In 1903 he was awarded the Legion of Honor. His popularity increased when a catalogue of etchings and lithographs was published by André Mellerio in 1913 and that same year, he was given the largest single representation at the New York Armory Show.

The colors in are very saturated and rich - just my style!

I choose a lampwork boro focal bead from Etsy artist, uvanomos. It had the color profile I was looking for and a sense of "drifting" water in the pattern.

The clasp is beaten metal disc anchored with an antique show button.

I used deep blue beads with a matte finish for the base, accented with teal beads; I like the contrast and depth created by surrounding the shiny focal with the matte beads. There are just a few scattered glossy accent beads in the ruffle that pick up the minor colors of the focal bead.

Available for purchase here.

Lilac Time on Mackinac

2011-06-14T18:16:00.004-04:00

Mackinac is always special, but during lilac time, it's simply glorious!

The microclimate of the Island is just perfect for lilacs - here they live longer and grow larger than anywhere else.
There are over 100 species of lilacs on Mackinac, a huge variety of colors.

The fragrance is unbelievable, almost intoxicating!

Come visit if you can, you won't regret the experience!

Touring Michigan (And Making Art) - Brimley State Park

2011-06-11T14:31:00.008-04:00

Even when you live in a great place, sometimes you just need to get away and do some things you can't do at home. In our case, that means a campfire in the evening followed by sleeping in a tent near the water. Brimley State Park is a great fit for us: not to far away, quiet and beautiful.

The park is on the shore of Lake Superior and has a great sandy beach - a beach that is a great place to collect drift wood.

I love to use driftwood in my art, it's so light weight and has such interesting markings and patina after it's time in the lake.

It's been so cold that I suspect there haven't been many visitors and there's a lot of reeds, driftwood and other objects on the shore.

This piece really caught my eye:

And I was inspired to create an ephemeral "environmental sculpture" ala Andy Goldsworthy:

The Viking marauders landed at sunset and alas, were never seen again, their ship destroyed by the waves of Lake Superior in the night.

When the creative muse speaks, the wise artist listens - my sculpture may have only survived a few hours, but the memories will last much longer!

Just Dandy

2011-06-08T21:57:00.005-04:00

Everyone eats.

Which makes food a very good subject in the living history setting; it provides a great ice breaker for interacting with the public.

At a recent event, we made food a focus - each of us researched and prepared receipts accurate to the mid-19th century, making sure each item was typical, not exotic and in season.

We enjoyed pork pie, ham, a variety of pickles, applesauce, chess pie, grape catchup, tomato jam, canned peaches and dandelion salad.

Tradition has it that the first foods to appear in spring are tonics – medicinal plants that cleanse the body of a winter’s worth of toxins accrued from eating fatty foods and few, if any, fresh fruits and vegetables. Certainly the early greens of spring are packed with nutrition, perhaps none more so than dandelions, which are loaded with vitamins A, K and C and E, as well as calcium, iron and heart-healthy omega acids.

The idea of spring tonic runs deep in the folk wisdom of many cold weather cultures, reputed to get the blood coursing, like sap in trees, to clear out winter’s stodge.

Dandelions are thought to have evolved about thirty million years ago in Eurasia. They have been used by humans for food and as a herb for much of recorded history. They were introduced to North America by early European immigrants. Dandelions are found on all continents and have been gathered since prehistory.

What these early edibles have in common is an acidic, sour flavor that awakens us from winter’s slumber.

I used a recipe from The National Cookbook published in 1856, the author a "Lady of Philadelphia".

"Pick and wash your dandelion and cut off the roots. Drain it and make a dressing of an egg, well beaten, a half a gill of vinegar, a tea spoonful of butter, and salt to the taste. Mix the egg, vinegar, butter and salt together, put the mixture over the fire, and as soon as it is thick, take it off, and stand it away to get cold. Drain your dandelion, pour the dressing over it and send it to the table."

The dressing definitely mellows when cooled - it was quite tart when first off the heat. The group really enjoyed the salad and it provided the start for many conversations with the visiting public.

I wish I could share a photo of the salad, but I wasn't able to discretely shoot one without the public noticing, and digital cameras did not exist in the mid-19th century.

Some hints if you'd like to try dandelion greens:

1.) Pick the leaves before the flowers form; the leaves become quite bitter after blooming.

2.) Be mindful of where you pick your greens, keep possible chemical application or pet usage in mind.

3.) Wash them well, and then wash again - they seem to pick up a lot of grit.

4.) A gill equals approximately four fluid ounces or half a cup.

We will be repeating this experience at future events, as summer continues we will be able to add a great many additional dishes. By fall, we hope to assemble a cookbook of all the "winning" recipes, but we'll actually be the winners - this is a project that will deepen our knowledge and appreciation of life in past.

2nd Annual Academy of Mid-19th Century Life - Meet the Presenter: Sheri Giffin

2011-06-06T18:34:00.012-04:00

Meet the Presenter: Sheri Giffin - Scribbling Spencerian

I have been reenacting for over 15 years, serving many of the years with the 24th Michigan Volunteer Infantry. I have enjoyed traveling to events, collecting friends along the way, and even finding a husband through the obsession, I mean hobby. Now my traveling buddy is my seven year old daughter and we enjoy teaching the public and continuing to learn from period sources and research. With the anniversary years looming, I feel that we, as living historians, have an even more captive audience. I find that The Academy of Mid-19th Century Life is a great way to gain knowledge and challenge my impression.

I have been interested in history most of my life and have been able to get close through living history in the 1860s. I enjoy many topics within the mid 19th century especially the ones that add the little touches to first person impression. Spencerian handwriting is such a topic.

The handwriting style created and taught by Platt Rogers Spencer was popular during the late 19th century and characteristics can still be seen in the handwriting of the older generations. In the class, the rules and guidelines will be outlined in the Academy class as well as some practice of letters and connectors to form words

A bit of background:

The predominant handwriting style seen in the nineteenth century is known today as Spencerian Handwriting, named after the originator of this style, Platt Rogers Spencer. This particular style replaced the style that dated back to the 18th century which we now call Copperplate style. Spencerian style is characterized by sweeping and ornate upper case letters, with lower case letters that look strikingly similar to the modern style. This style of handwriting will dominate American correspondence until the advent of the Palmer method of handwriting in the 1920s.

This is not to say that everyone wrote with a particularly elegant hand. Quite the opposite. Existing samples such as letters and military forms show us that, just like today, there is quite a variety of handwriting within the basic Spencerian style.

Please consider joining us for the 2nd Annual Academy of Mid-19th Century Life and increasing your knowledge of the penmanship of the period, plus more!

Cost for all four presentations: $25.00.

Final registration date: July 1, 2011

Complete details available here.

Sister Dresses - Update

2011-06-02T21:54:00.001-04:00

The "sister" dresses made their debut at the Greenfield Village Civil War Remembrance event this past weekend - and they were definitely a hit!

The fit was acceptable, a little large, but that's okay - it leaves some room for the inevitable growth of little ones. The loose princess cut was also great considering the very hot weather, a bit more comfortable than a dress with a waist band. These dresses were intended as casual, play wear, not high style and the girls really seemed to enjoy wearing them.

The girls were asked to participate in the fashion show:

They had a great time and were a favorite of the audience, receiving a resounding round of applause.

Distractions

2011-05-25T18:10:00.003-04:00

I've been distracted lately - too many projects (which I will be sharing, hopefully in the near future) but even more so by spring having finally arrived, making it just too tempting to be outside.

There's new growth bursting out everywhere you look and there's just something so enticing about those new greens:

We've had a bumper crop of trout lilies, the flowers are so cheerful, but it's the namesake leaves that I find very interesting:

The trillium have come into bloom in just the past couple days, dappling the forest floor with bright white:

The beauty of the blossoms draws us to them, but the real purpose is to entice the proper pollinator, thus allowing the plant to reproduce itself. This is potentially a future wild strawberry .

This last one isn't a wildling, but a carefully cultivated magnolia, tucked away in a sheltered corner. The blossoms look as if they could take flight and float away if they weren't tethered to the tree.

Surrounded by such delightful distractions, is it any wonder I'm having trouble keeping myself on task?

How to Wallow in Your Food: A Tutorial

2011-05-17T08:36:00.004-04:00

Step 1: Locate an abundant food source.

Step 2: The Approach

Step 3: Evaluate the Possibilities

Step 4: If it Looks Good, Go On In!

Bonus Points for Checking Out All Angles!

Step 5: Move On to the Next One

Disclaimer: No photographers were injured in the making of this tutorial, despite having irritated the bumblebee!

(However, several tourists probably have questions regarding the photographer's mental well being)

Sister Dresses (Sort of)

2011-05-11T20:16:00.003-04:00

Some projects just seem to go on and on - one problem/solution leading to another and this pair of dresses is a good example.

I didn't intend to make two dresses, but that's what happened.

Here's my inspiration:

This is a portion of project "Dressing Diamantina", that I discovered on the fantastic V and E Historic Costuming blog. There are over a dozen patterns for a variety of children's outfits including underpinnings and they are all free!

While I loved the style, I was not making this dress in white - the young lady it's intended for is a bit too rough and tumble, she needed something a bit more utilitarian. I was gifted with a length of pink/black/green plaid and I have yards and yards of green cotton wavy braid in my stash - perfect for this project.

So I printed the pattern, cut my fabric and sewed it up (it went together beautifully), but...

It was way to small for the seven year old in question.

Time to size up the pattern, and now I'm running short of fabric. The bottom ruffle and the bias binding have many, many places where it's been pieced.

In the meantime, my husband makes the observation that the first dress would probably fit another little one in our group - so now I'm finishing two dresses.

The wavy braid took a fair amount of time too; I intentionally trimmed each dress a bit differently and neither is done as the inspiration dress.

But I'm left without enough fabric to bind the edges or to add a ruffle to the little dress:

Thus the contrasting binding and the fake "ruffle".

The "stash" yielded some really cute glass buttons made to look like thread buttons.

I had a set of black glass buttons I has intended to use on the larger dress, but I did not like the way they looked at all. So now I had to make buttons - the full button story is here.

I'm pleased to finally be done and pleased with the final result(s). I'll be seeing the recipients (who aren't sisters) in a couple weeks and I hope they'll be pleased too!

Spring!

2011-05-10T17:13:00.002-04:00

The wildflowers are finally starting to bloom...

As well as the not so wild:

The geraniums are arriving by the drayload...

And the wild life is waking up - this guy was not pleased with me raking out the garden!

Even the birds like the blue skies and the blue water... and so do I!

Bead Journal Project - February 2011

2011-05-04T09:10:00.005-04:00

Finally!!! February is finished.

Here's the inspiration image:

I'm using the same image but varying the beading technique each month - this time I used square stitch. Superficially, it looks the same as January's loom work but the techniques are quite different. With loom work, an entire row of beads is added all together, with square stitch each and every bead is added individually - one by one by one by one....

Square stitch is great for small projects and there are no warp threads to finish, but I will never do a piece this large in square stitch again - it just takes too long and it's difficult to maintain proper tension and spacing.

Some additional changes from January's project are the size of the beads, this month I used size 11/o, which results in less detail. I also used a deeper toned color palette.

2nd Annual Academy of Mid-19th Century Life -Meet The Presenter: Robin Dorman

2011-04-30T14:37:00.013-04:00

Meet the Presenter: Robin Dorman - The Magic of Music

I live and work on Mackinac Island, MI. I have been involved with reenacting for 15 years. My primary interests lie with the material culture of the mid 1800’s. Eventually I want to portray a white cooper who makes buckets, washtubs and other watertight items in use during the period.
Music has been a part of my life since I was little. Beginning at home, moving to the church environment, the school system and then adulthood, I have loved music and the emotions it can elicit from an audience. As an adult, I have performed vocally in many venues. While I have never had the discipline to learn how to play and instrument, I have great admiration for those who do.

To properly perform a piece, I try to imagine the desired emotions the writer wanted to express. Whether performing in front of hundreds or my soon to be wife at our wedding, I look into the faces of my audience to see if I have done justice to the music. I look forward to sharing with you the music of our period of interest to broaden our understanding of its influence.

The goals of the class are to strengthen your impression, introduce you to the prominent writers of the war years and to help you to know which songs are appropriate for the time. We will discuss three types of music, religious, contemporary and military/patriotic.
You will be given handouts and a CD of some of the songs we discuss to take away from the class. Make a list of the music you are familiar with through the hobby and bring it with you. We will put as many as we can into a proper timeline. Throughout the weekend at Hastings there are several opportunities to listen to and participate in performances of period music.

A bit of background:
The nineteenth century brought great upheaval to Western societies. Democratic ideals and the Industrial Revolution swept through Europe and changed the daily lives of citizens at all levels. One result of the Industrial Revolution was the creation of the middle class; this new economic strata consisted of a larger number of people with more expendable income and more leisure time than had ever existed before.

Struggles between the old world order and the new were the root causes of conflicts from the Napoleonic Wars to the Civil War. From New York, to London, to Vienna, the world was changing and the consequences can still be felt to this day. The lives of musicians, composers, and makers of musical instruments were greatly altered by these social changes. In earlier times, musicians were usually employed by either the church or the court and were merely servants to aristocratic circles. Composers wrote music for performances in these venues, and musical instrument makers produced instruments to be played by wealthy patrons or their servant musicians. With the rise of the middle class, more people wanted access to music performances and music education.

Music gained popularity in the intimate nineteenth-century parlor. At the time, home life was centered in the parlor, where children played and learned with adult supervision, and where the family entertained company. Musical performances for small groups of people became popular events, Music in the parlor was of a very different sort than in the concert hall. Solo performances and chamber music were popular, and included everything from operatic and orchestral transcriptions to sentimental love songs and ballads. In the United States, hymns and folk songs by composers like Stephen Foster supplemented the European repertoire. With the rise of the parlor as the center of family life, music education became increasingly important.

Please consider joining us for the 2nd Annual Academy of Mid-19th Century Life and increasing your knowledge of music of the period, plus more - special early bird registration is still available:

Cost for all four presentations: $25.00
Early Bird Special: $20.00 before June 4, 2011
Final registration date: July 1, 2011

Complete details available

Music gained popularity in the intimate nineteenth-century parlor. At the time, home life was centered in the parlor, where children played and learned with adult supervision, and where the family entertained company. Musical performances for small groups of people became popular events, Music in the parlor was of a very different sort than in the concert hall. Solo performances and chamber music were popular, and included everything from operatic and orchestral transcriptions to sentimental love songs and ballads. In the United States, hymns and folk songs by composers like Stephen Foster supplemented the European repertoire. With the rise of the parlor as the center of family life, music education became increasingly important.
Please consider joining us for the 2nd Annual Academy of Mid-19th Century Life and increasing your knowledge of music of the period, plus more - special early bird registration is still available:
Cost for all four presentations: $25.00Early Bird Special: $20.00 before June 4, 2011Final registration date: July 1, 2011

Mackinac Easter

2011-04-24T18:39:00.003-04:00

A beautiful sunny day; it was even almost warm!

Grand Hotel opened on Friday and they hosted an egg hunt for the Island kids, 1200 eggs were hidden in the Tea Garden. Most contained candy but the special "golden eggs" had prizes like dessert at the Gatehouse or a day of swimming at the Esther Williams pool - it didn't take long for them all to be collected!

For those familiar with the Island and Grand, the man in the bunny suit is Bob the hotel historian.

The flowers are just starting to bloom, maybe spring will finally arrive!

Grindle Buttons

2011-04-22T16:37:00.010-04:00

I seem to frequently end up with projects within projects within projects....

I'm stuck within one right now; just when I thought the end was in sight, I discovered the buttons I planned to use were just not "right" and neither were any others in my stash. So I'm currently creating a variant of grindle buttons, a needle lace technique.

I had made them previously for a silk vest and I've seen them used on original garments. They are formed over a mold of bone, wood or rag paper.

From a technique standpoint, they are related to Dorset buttons, which have a long history; button making was a cottage industry in the Dorset area of England dating back to at least 1650.

Initially the buttons were made from a disc of the horn of Dorset Sheep. The disk was covered with a piece of cloth and then overworked with a fine tracery of linen thread. The diameter of the buttons ranging from half an inch down to an unbelievable eighth of an inch.

During the early 1700's, the introduction of metal rings, which were cheaper and easier to use, transformed the industry.

In 1731, Blandford draper Robert Fisher opened a button “depot” at his shop, providing the cottagers with a central place to market their buttons, and other businessmen who needed buttons for their products could buy them in bulk. The buttons were sold at between eight-pence and three shillings a dozen, while the women workers averaged about two shillings a day for making six or seven dozen buttons.

While the pay was low, there were advantages: The women could work at home while tending to the needs of their families and weather was not the factor as with farm work, the only alternative. Wear and tear on clothing and shoes, and less physical fatigue, were other factors.

At the Great Exhibition in 1851, a Mr. John Ashton demonstrated a button making machine. It was a disaster for the cottage industry of Dorset, buttons could now be made at a fraction of the cost and at a far more rapid and reliable rate, all identical.

So here's the steps in making my grindle buttons:

1.) I found some domed wooden button molds in my workroom - that hole in the center is important - more later. The mold needs to covered with cloth, I picked some scraps that matched the thread I'd be using for the weaving.

I just did a running stitch around the edge of the fabric circle and snugged it up; it's important that the front be tight and smooth.

Then using perle cotton, I added the "spokes" that are used as the warp when weaving; I choose to have eight spokes. They need to be carefully spaced and stitched in place in the center - that's where the hole in mold is used. Once the molds are in place, the weaving starts; I used a backstitch. It's exciting to see the pattern begin to emerge!

It takes a long piece of thread, there's no way to invisibly add thread, so you need to start with all you need. These buttons have about 2 1/2 yards each, the black one up top has 9 yards of very fine silk thread.

The buttons can be sewn on using the fabric stub as a shank or a small buttonhole stitched loop can be added.

Here's a sneak peek at my project, I'll show more when/if it's ever finished!

April Showers...of Snow?

2011-04-20T17:52:00.004-04:00

Help!!!
We've been attacked by rabid snow bunnies!

Okay, not really.
April snow is not really that unusual on Mackinac, but this storm was quite late; and we've been snow free for the most part for quite some time.

First snowmobile past the house: 7:30am.

"I TOLD you it was too early to migrate!"

Parked!

Very relaxing...

I really shouldn't complain, some places in the state ended up with over 9" overnight; we actually got of fairly lightly.

But here's the question: if April showers bring May flowers, what does April snow bring?

Bird Song

2011-04-17T19:37:00.005-04:00

"Bird Song" is my entry in the April Art Bead Scene monthly challenge, and I decided to add an additional twist to the challenge: no seed beads!

Here's the inspiration piece:

Finches and Bamboo, is ink and color on silk and dates to the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127). It illustrates the suprarealistic style of flower-and-bird painting preferred by Huizong's Painting Academy. In such works, the artist displayed his intimate knowledge of the appearance and growth of plants and his ability to render accurately the movements of birds as they hop about or stand poised ready for flight.

The artist, Emperor Huizong (November 2, 1082 – June 4, 1135) was the eighth and one of the most famous emperors of the Song Dynasty of China, with a personal life spent amidst luxury, sophistication and art but ending in tragedy. Born Zhao Ji, he was the 11th son of Emperor Shenzong. In February 1100 his older half-brother Emperor Zhezong died without a surviving son, and Huizong succeeded him the next day as emperor. He reigned from 1100 to 1126. Huizong was famed for his promotion of Taoism. He was also a skilled poet, painter, calligrapher, and musician. He sponsored numerous artists at his court, and the catalogue of his imperial painting collection lists over 6,000 known paintings.

"Bird Song" is a mixed media piece, starting with a base I hand knit using two colors of silk thread. Using two threads resulted in a lovely random coloration effect and gave extra "heft" to the base. Leaves formed of triple layers of silk taffeta; they are intentionally random and frayed. Driftwood forms the branches for my birds to perch; the bird beads are hand cast pewter from mamacitabeadworks on Etsy.

The clasp is also formed of driftwood and highlights one of the lampwork glass beads from mattskiss99 also on Etsy.

This is a really different piece for me; working without my seed beads was very difficult - and no, the small red beads are not seed beads, being perfectly round, they're just small.

Available for purchase here.

Springtime on Mackinac

2011-04-14T09:14:00.004-04:00

Look closely - you can still see just a bit of ice along the shore, but the signs of spring are starting to appear. The water near the main docks is crystal clear and just look at the brilliant colors:
This is the type of image I've been experimenting with on my 365 Project - realistic abstraction - giving the appearance of abstraction by how I choose to shoot, atypical angles, close up, etc. Taking things out of their normal context gives a whole new perspective.

The woods are starting to green up, just the mosses so far, but buds are beginning to appear on the trees.

No wildflowers just yet, but I spotted the first crocus this week:

The tulips have sprouted in front of Grand Hotel and these daffodils are reaching skyward:

The migrating wildlife is returning, this female merganser is being avidly courted by a bevy of males:

And the resident wildlife is becoming far more active too:

Everyday more seasonal employees arrive:

(Human ones too!)

There's "projects" going on everywhere - repairing, renewing, renovating. It's possible to bring over heavy equipment by special permit, but only for a very brief window of time; this time of year it's not so unusual to encounter a truck or front end loader, but they'll be gone again in just a few days.

One of the "big barns" is getting a new roof: it's greening up too!

Happy Spring!

2nd Annual Academy of Mid-19th Century Life

2011-04-10T14:11:00.008-04:00

I'm very pleased to announce the Academy of Mid-19th Century Life's 2011 presentations:

July 15, 2011

12-5pm

Charlton Park, Hastings, MI

********************************

Cost for all four presentations: $25.00

Early Bird Special: $20.00 before June 4, 2011

Final registration date: July 1, 2011

Clothing Makes the Man: Dressing the Male Civilian 101

Wearing a uniform limits the wardrobe decisions a soldier needs to make, while dressing as a civilian is all about the choices. But where to begin? We will discuss the basic garments that should be present in every man's wardrobe, good sources of patterns and fabrics, what to look for in an appropriately constructed ready-made garment, as well as what to avoid. Not every man was a soldier, but every soldier lived a portion of his life as a civilian - learn how to start dressing the part of a mid-19th century man.

Presented by Kelly Dorman

The Magic of Music

From shape note singing to minstrel shows, form parlors to church pews to patriotic pleas, the melodies and lyrics of music have inspired the hearts of Americans for generations. Bring an appreciative ear or a passionate voice and join us as we explore the songs and songwriters of the 1840's - 1860's.

Presented by Brenda Plakmeyer & Robin Dorman

You Weren't Born Yesterday

What are your earliest memories of your present life? who is the first president you remember, or first significant national event? Can you name some of these things for your Civil War era persona? Do you have one that needs "re-aged", or do you not know where to start? This session will explore the years prior to the Civil War and look at how those events may have affected the outlook of people in the mid-19th century, and thus give some depth to your first person character. Bring your ideas, for this is also a first person development workshop.

Presented by Tonya Woodbridge

Scribbling Spencerian

Sure you know how to write in cursive, but no one can read it. Take a lesson from the man who created his own form of writing, Platt Rogers Spencer. Begin to learn how to form letters using the Spencerian method and add another detail to your impression.

Presented by Sheri Giffin

Workshop sizes are limited, so send your registration soon!

Register by sending a check ($25.00 or $20.00 early bird special prior to June 4, 2011) made out to Sally VanderArk to 807 B Court Ave. Benton Harbor, MI 49085. Please include your name, address and email for confirmation notification.

Questions? Contact me via the "Contact Kelly HERE" button on the top left hand side of this blog.

Please consider joining us - you need not be attending the Charlton Park event to attend the Academy - this is a great opportunity to add to your knowledge of the civilian side of the Civil War era.

Perfectly Complementary - Presentations and Artifacts

2011-04-06T12:40:00.012-04:00

The Ladies & Gentlemen of the 1860's conference has many highlights, but the displays of original garments and other artifacts rank very high in any list of those highlights.

The displays change each day of the conference and photos are most definitely allowed; I typically come home with between 800-1000 images each year. The owners of these treasures are very generous people, it's a lot of work to pack, haul, unload and display these items in such a manner so as to allow close examination - and most are quite willing to move an item to show whatever additional detail you may be interested seeing closer.

In the last couple years, many items have placards sharing specific details of each piece and any unusual elements of construction.

Here's a few things I've learned from these wonderful displays:

1.) Every year I encounter at least one garment made up in a fabric that I would never have chosen as appropriate for a mid-19th century garment.

For instance:

But look at this lovely dress for a young girl:

2.) While there are certainly many "standards" of style, there's almost always an exception and the creativity in remaking garments is endless, here's an 1860's "wrap" dress:

The owner believes it may have been reworked from an earlier fan front style.

3.) Extreme caution is needed when making assumptions about textiles from photographs, for instance, look at this very sheer dress with dots in the pattern:

But wait - those "dots" are actually part of a patterned stripe. I am always amazed at how different the fabric can look in a photograph of an overall garment versus a close up of the fabric itself. Add in the peculiar effects of period photography on various colors and it makes me think twice about any conclusions I might assume about a CDV.

Another example:

It would be easy to assume that this is an example of braidwork...

but it's actually printed.

In recent years, effort has been made to coordinate the displays with the presentations. Brian Koenig gave a wonderful presentation, A New Lease on Life: Second Hand, Remade and Altered Men's Clothing and a number of real life examples were available to scrutinize.

One of the most common reasons that clothing was altered was due to increased "girth", this vest has been sliced up the back and a large gusset inserted: From the front, no one would ever know!

This is an amazing example:

This was once a double breasted vest, the careful removal and repair of the old buttonholes is nearly invisible. The gorgeous floral design is also an alteration.

Sometimes originals aren't available for display, but high quality, well documented reproductions can educate also. This was the case for Colleen Formby's talk, Oh! How Full are the Hearts of All: Expressions of Patriotism. Colleen wore her patriotic apron, diadem and cockade.

On display was a large assortment of reproduction patriotic items, representing both sides of the conflict - these are the type of details that truly complete an impression.

I have a weakness for period children's clothing and was quite charmed by the many items displayed to complement Janine Whiteman's discussion, As Pleasingly as Your Means Will Permit: The Dress of Children.

I loved the bows on this dress:

And I couldn't help but laugh when Janine told us that she had found bits of the trim in the pocket - I can just picture the little girl - bored and picking at her dress. And imagine mama's face when she discovered the damage!

The pre-conference workshops are considered too, as shown by these period penwipers.

I never miss an opportunity to view originals - they all have something to teach us, even if it's only to reinforce knowledge we already hold, but I'm endless surprised at how often I learn something new and different.

First Ferry!!!!

2011-03-30T18:46:00.002-04:00

FINALLY!!! It's the "slow boat" and they're taking the long route around the north side of the Island, but we have ferries again. It's been just about the only topic of conversation for the past couple weeks, and people had been getting very antsy, but life just got so much easier!

The geese are not impressed.

And not everything is running yet, the rudder of the barge is still under ice (but not much)

There will be lots of freight moving in the next few weeks, prepping for the beginning of the season and soon the horses will start to return also - I'll be watching for them.

Mackinac Spring

2011-03-30T15:30:00.004-04:00

"Mackinac Spring" is my entry in the Art Bead Scene monthly challenge. March's challenge piece is by Paul Gaugin, entitled Nave Nave Moe (Sacred Spring, Sweet Dreams). Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin, 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903, was a leading French Post- Impressionist artist. He was an important figure in the Symbolist movement as a painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and writer. His bold experimentation with colouring led directly to the Synthetist style of modern art while his expression of the inherent meaning of the subjects in his paintings, under the influence of the cloisonnist style, paved the way to Primitivism and the return to the pastoral. He was also an influential proponent of wood engraving and woodcuts as art forms.

I choose three colors from the painting, red, yellow ochre and pewter grey to use in my piece. I decided to reinterpret the idea of "spring" and island" to fit Mackinac In northern Michigan, spring is slow and subtle and on Mackinac, one of the first signs of spring is the gradual exposure of the limestone rock which forms the island.

Our first plants to appear often do so from the protective cover of the previous seasons growth. This is the inspiration for the color palette of this necklace: a base of a neutral pewter grey, with touches of subtle, yet rich wine red and ochre yellow. This base is highlighted with two lampworked floral beads, peeking from a freeform backing."Mackinac Spring" is a beadwoven necklace starting with a herringbone chain in three colors and sizes seed beads. It is enhanced with freeform peyote stitch "leaves" and two lampworked floral beads from Lisa Kan's "Botanical" series.

Available for purchase here.

Touring Michigan - Grand Rapids Public Museum

2011-03-28T19:56:00.006-04:00

We had to catch a 7:30am train to Chicago last week out of Grand Rapids, so we arrived the previous afternoon and took in a couple of museums, including the Grand Rapids Public Museum. The entry hall is visually exciting, with a gigantic working steam engine, a biplane, an entire suspended whale skeleton and a huge clock tower.

There is a huge range of exhibits and items on display; I was especially intrigued by the following displays:

Anishinabek: The People of This Place

This hall shares the stories of the original Ottawa, Potawatomi and Chippewa people of West Michigan; many direct descendants still live in the region today.

Unlike many exhibits of this type, there was no effort to sugarcoat the past; the experiences of the people, both good and bad, is presented, in their own voices.

The artifacts on display are fabulous, such as this quill work basket:

and a photograph of the maker with her beautiful creation:

Many pieces of beadwork too:

Streets of Old Grand Rapids

This display is a 3/4 scale detailed re-creation of Grand Rapids in the 1890s, including eleven shops based on actual businesses and buildings. The storefronts and interiors are stocked with real merchandise from the past. My favorite was the Voigt-Herpolsheimer Department Store, with this interesting advertising piece:

And look at the shoes!

Also parasols, ribbons, lace, and other fancy work - I wish I could go shopping there, at 1890 prices, of course!

Admission includes a ride on the 1928 Spillman carousel - I love carousels!

The current temporary exhibit is "Bodies Revealed"; the exhibit shows 14 full body human specimens and over 200 organs and is rooted in the historical precedent set by anatomists as Vesalius and da Vinci. The body specimens ares dissected to reveal the function of each anatomical system and to show that system’s relationship to the body as a whole.

The key to this exhibit is the polymer preservation process; a technique in which human tissue is permanently preserved using liquid silicone rubber. The end product is a dry, odorless specimen that resists decomposition.

This isn't the type of exhibit that will appeal to everyone, but I found it to be fascinating. It was requested that no photographs be taken, which I respected. However, there are many photographs online if you're interested.

Luckily, this steampunk sculpture was not part of the exhibit - he's fascinating too.

We also visited the Grand Rapids Art Museum; they were between major shows, but it was still an enjoyable visit.

It's still possible to see some of the Art Prize 2010 pieces throughout the city; we saw enough to convince us that we MUST make it to Art Prize 2011.

Shooting the Moon

2011-03-20T16:58:00.005-04:00

I stayed up waaaay too late last night, trying to catch the "Super Moon"; a full moon of rare size, a super "perigee moon"--the biggest in almost 20 years.

"The last full Moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March of 1993," says Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory in Washington DC. "I'd say it's worth a look."

Full moons vary in size because of the oval shape of the Moon's orbit. It is an ellipse with one side (perigee) about 50,000 km closer to Earth than the other (apogee). Nearby perigee moons are about 14% bigger and 30% brighter than lesser moons that occur on the apogee side of the Moon's orbit.

I managed several detailed shots:

And then I started playing, silhouetting various bits of plant life in front of the moonlight:

This one is my favorite, a glowing orb cradled in cedar fronds:

Spring? Maybe...

2011-03-18T17:48:00.006-04:00

It's been tough shooting images for my 365 Project lately, everything just seems so tired, worn out and as abandoned as this nest from last year.

But there are a few encouraging signs, the birds are becoming more active and visible, especially the crows. I'm hearing cardinals calling and courting, it always sounds to me as if the males are saying "I'm so pretty, pretty, pretty" - which, of course, is completely true!

There's no activity in this greenhouse yet, the pots patiently waiting to be put to use.

But I did notice this very pleasant sight today - bright, new, green growth, a preview of blooms to come - soon I hope!

Sheer Delight

2011-03-12T15:38:00.006-05:00

One of the features of the annual Ladies & Gentlemen of the 1860's conference is the "conference fabric"; each member of the faculty is sent the same fabric, a dress length for ladies and a vest length for men, with the instructions "make a dress (or a vest)", 1860's style of course!

Having been a member of the faculty three times now myself, I know that those packages are opened with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation - what if you just don't like it?

This year's fabric was just lovely, a predominantly red and black stripe, with just a bit of purple and yellow and quite sheer - note how you can clearly see the fancy petticoat beneath this example.

Saturday morning begins with the entire faculty up on stage, with each telling us a bit about the choices they made in the construction of their garment. You aren't required to construct your dress or vest yourself, but many people do, again it's your choice.

It's the details that make the difference, here a sleeve detail was replicated from a CDV:

Some replicate an original garment; this dress has no shoulder seam, the fronts and back were cut as one piece, as seen in a dress in the collection of the Shippensburg Fashion Archives.

Some people choose a certain color to emphasize, here the bit of yellow in the stripe was used for trim and accessories:

By careful pleating, black is the predominant color on this bodice:

This was one of my favorites, with the use of the stripe cut on the bias for trim, alas, I'm far too old for this style!

Special details of an ensemble are also frequently shared, like this covered cage:

Some people cloth more than just themselves - Emily also has a new conference dress, many of us are quite envious of Emily's extensive wardrobe and jewelry.

Here's one of the gentlemen, with his new vest:

I'm always amazed at how everyone manages to imprint the fabric with their own unique perspective; yes, it's obvious that the same fabric has been used, but it's definitely not "cookie cutter" effect.

A couple years ago, I wore one of my conference dresses to an event... as did two other ladies! We were asked to come up as group at the fashion show; it was amazing how long it took for the spectators to realize we were all wearing the same fabric.

It's all about the details: by making carefully considered choices, it's quite possible to express your own sense of style while staying well within the parameters of true period fashion.

La Petite Fleuriste - Advanced Level

2011-03-10T21:18:00.001-05:00

Last March, I was fortunate to be a student in a faux flower making class based on mid-19th century techniques, offered by Martha McCain. When I heard that an advanced class was available this year, I jumped at the opportunity.

This year, class was an all day event; we would be creating a poppy, a morning glory and a cornflower, expanding on the techniques we had learned previously.

We entered to find our supplies waiting for us:

Martha had prepared the starched silk in advance for us, but we would be creating our own stamens and centers this time.

As many parts needed time to dry between steps, we worked on all three blossoms throughout the day.

The first step was cutting all the various petals, corollas, etc from silk - basic botany knowledge is a definite plus when assembling flowers!

We started by creating stamens; repeatedly dipping waxed linen threads in colored gum arabic and allowing them to dry between dips.

The cornflower needed to goffered - shaped using a hot metal tool. The goffering tools are in a variety of sizes and shapes, each has it's own particular use.

The silk is dampened before goffering; it takes practice and deft hand to obtain the desired shape without scorching the fabric.

After goffering, each flower shape was tightly wrapped around the tip on awl and allowed to dry.

A teaching board, with the various stages of construction:

That little blue twist is what you end up with after twisting on the awl - it sure doesn't look very flower like at this point!

But after wiring the stamens together and carefully adding three "fluffed" little blue twists and binding it all together, here's the result:

We started by painting blue dye onto white silk for our morning glory blossom and bud - I should have left a bit more white showing - and allowing them to dry.

Creating the center was a multi-step process, involving wire, cotton, waxed thread, starch, glue, paint and gum arabic. It's time intensive, but provides great results.

The flower is glued along the center seam, goffered to shape and bound together. The little bud is formed from that square with a blob of blue dye in the center and amazingly enough, when twisted and assembled results in a very realistic bud.

My favorite is the poppy; shaping the petals takes an interesting technique - each petal is folded in half and twisted in a damp bandanna on a bias fold (thank you to all my hand models in the following shots!)

Here's what you end up with:

In the meantime, a poppy center needs to be formed, by creating a stuffed silk "lolly pop", embellished with just a bit of embroidery and 48 stamens:

After the petals have dried, they need to be colored:

The period references call for "china ink", but Martha was unable to find modern black ink that was colorfast, so black fabric markers were substituted.

Just a bit more assembling and voila - a poppy!

I can't say how much I enjoyed this class (okay, there were some frustrating moments when all the flower parts were NOT cooperating).

Martha and her husband invested countless hours in preparing materials, tools and supplies and I'm deeply appreciative of all their efforts.

I'm seriously considering prepping everything needed to present a flower-making sweatshop scenario to the public - but first I need to convince my friends that they really do want to be a wage slave for a weekend...and the wages would consist of flowers!

Flying Home

2011-03-08T19:33:00.002-05:00

Traveling is fun, but it's always great to come home!

Currently, flying is the only way on or off Mackinac; Great Lakes Air runs a six seater plane on a regular schedule between St. Ignace and the Island.

I love this shot, you can see the majority of the Island, with the air strip prominent near the center and the surrounding ice.

The Ladies & Gentlemen of the 1860's Conference was fabulous as always - I will have several postings to share, including my continued adventures in flower making, original clothing shots, my take on the presentations and some treasures that followed me home - so more to come!

Color Palette Blog Walk 2

2011-03-03T20:05:00.004-05:00

I recently discovered a really interesting blog that focuses primarily on color and when Brandi invited people to participate in a color palette blog walk, I jumped at the chance!

We were challenged to consider what inspires us, photograph that inspiration and come up with an accompanying color palette.

So what inspires me?

Truthfully, everything!

But my biggest inspiration is my surroundings as a year round resident of Mackinac Island. It's easy to focus on the big, obvious things: Grand Hotel, Arch Rock, Round Island Lighthouse, etc. But for those who slow down and look a little closer, there's so much more, some man made, some natural. I decided to focus on the natural progression of change throughout the year, starting with winter:

Winter colors are subtle and well worn, like this lingering leave cradling the snow. The sky is our most changeable feature, sometimes a soft blue, sometimes brilliant blue and sometimes a sullen grey.

Spring brings pastels, soft pinks, blues, purples with small touches of bright yellow - all against that same subtle background of greys and beige. Even the greens are subdued, soft and in the background.

Summer comes in a absolute blaze of color - is there anything more stunning the blue of a morning glory? The mauve vines are the unexpected "pop" that really makes this palette work.

One palette is just not enough for summer, summer's colors become even more intense as the season progresses, preparing us for autumn.

Fall is my favorite time of year; I rejoice in being surrounded by the ever changing kaleidoscope colors of autumn in Northern Michigan - fiery bright at first, gradually muting until once again winter has arrived.

From my palettes, you may have figured out what my favorite color is: a bright, poison green. I use it frequently in my work, and wear it often, both in modern and period clothing.

A good example, an inspiration image:

The resulting mixed media piece:

The walk isn't over, stroll on over and visit the other participants for today:

Friday, March 4th

Rachel at Balanced Crafts

Wren at Each Day

Kelly at Mackin Art - You are here!

Kristy at Simply Shiny Blog

Night Garden

2011-02-27T14:50:00.003-05:00

"Night Garden" is my submission for the February challenge at the Art Bead Scene.

I was really pleased with the inspiration piece, "Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose" by John Singer Sargent.

Sargent is one of my favorite artists and this is a phenomenal painting - the ethereal lighting, the beautiful children framed by a garden just slightly running wild.

I knew from the start I wanted to evoke the duality of the garden, the sense of Victorian restraint combined with the wildness of Nature - but I was quite sure how I would manage that look.

My starting point is the bead embroidered lily. I anchored one side of the lily with very freefrom beading in green and white, a bit of excess with a sense of some restraint.

The other side features a band of rosy right angle weave, resembling a brick walkway. It is joined by some large brass filigree beads and moonstone lampwork beads from catalinaglass - my glowing lanterns, especially the one dangle at the clasp.

This piece is carefully weighted and can be worn with either the wild or the controlled side more prominent - two looks for the price of one!

Available for purchase here.