the fence post
(editor's letter)
dear friends:
have you noticed that there are alot of new pincushions labeled as a "make-do"? for those of you who have not seen them they are normally a glass stem (a candlestick or a broken off piece of stemware) with a pincushion mounted to the top.
by definition a "make-do" is something made from things at hand out of necessity. for example the make-do "apple picker" my neighbors used to have was a tin can with a notch cut out of it attached to a long broom handle. no one would have dreamt of cutting off the sweeping end of the broom to make the apple picker. indeed the broom first had to wear out and the pole,being too good to throw away, was given a second life.
true to definition old make dos may have been made from the saved bottom of an oil lamp, be it tin or glass. perhaps wooden bases might have been carved from scrap wood. i doubt women were running out to the country store to buy a lantern just so they could snap off the top and plop a pin cushion on top.
i have a make do cabinet. i found an old wooden nail box in some ones trash with half the lid still in tack. the lid was cut to act as a shelf inside of the box and a door was made from some salvaged scrap barn wood. the feet are a scraps of dowel. i confess the hinges were needed to pull the thing together but i pretty much made-do with items at hand to get myself a little cabinet.
some day ill make a glorified pin cushion or a pedestal pin cushion but ill be sure not to call it a make do-unless it really is one.
primitively yours,
maria pahls
"magpie" © 2001 Maria Pahls
primitive ponderings
questions asked by readers, then replied upon in later issues.
annie moon had a few lines on creative process/ideas (#70)
...IDEAS... my theory is the more you do/create the more ideas you have. i often get ideas from songs. i used to go to the library and get inspiration from children's section, various magazines and old books... nowadays i have so many more ideas than i can keep up with! plan ahead?!~ heavens to betsy~ i don't! never make a sketch or pattern ahead of time.
more on creative process (#70)
I am a morning person and wake up fresh and full of ideas...so this is my best time to work. (sometimes I wake up at 2:00am with an idea and run to the sewing room to work). My partner is very patient with my strange sleep cycles. I am known for taking afternoon naps to catch up on sleep after an early morning session.
We live alone and have no children (just three cats, which can be just as detrimental to a work session) so my obligations are not as many as some of the readers that have children and family.
I have a separate room which is off limits to my more organized and neat partner. Sometimes my room looks like the victim of some natural disaster but it is "all mine" and is brimming with "recycled" treasures. We live up on a mesa and I have really nice light and two windows to look out upon the bright blue New Mexican sky.
Currently I am working on creating the fabric panels for an outdoor booth. I decided to incorporate all the bits, pieces and yardage of castoff fabrics...you know the ones you have had for years...unable to discard...thinking to yourself you WILL find a use for it SOME DAY. Anyways, some of these are REALLY ugly, but I am cutting them up and sewing them together in an interesting (some will think weird) mosaic. I told myself I would NOT buy any new fabrics...everything at hand would have to find its own place and pattern. But I confess I found some wonderful cottons for 1.75 a yard and will use these as the panels to join it all together...(good justification don't you think) ~cheri
on trash or treasure (#71)
As you may have already guessed from the above discussion, I am a collector of unfound potential...so I have no qualms about rescuing someone else's discarded things. In Eugene Oregon, where I lived for 8 years, the end of the University session is referred to as HIPPY HEAVEN, cause students fill dumpsters and trash cans with things they do not need or want...it is a wonderful experience to walk along to find an old desk or chair...just the perfect thing for a little nook or cranny that dares stand empty! ~cheri
I want to tell about the citywide trash pickup the town nearest our "village" had a few years ago it was for all kinds of items you wanted to get rid of the city would pick it up and take it somewhere. What happened was everyone in town began to drive around at night to look at everyone else's trash. My friends and I got old windows, doors, suitcases and old typewriter and an old sewing machine (antique type)and a big old cabinet type radio. My husband told me not to take our car but ride with my friends so no one would see our car. I have gotten great things out of others trash piles I will ask if I see someone I'd offer to pay if I thought I had to...Just my ideas on trash ~ann
tips & techniques
tea time for tots... purchase mismatched china tea cups for using at fancy sit down dinners where you are expecting a few little guests. usually inexpensive these cups generally have handles to keep little hands from dropping them and it makes the little ones feel "all grown up" to use a "big people fancy cup".
WHAT'S IT?
weave to make cloth by interlacing threads of the woof and the warp in a loom.
shuttle a device used in weaving to carry the woof thread back & forth between the warp threads.
warp the threads that run lengthwise in a fabric crossed at right angles by the woof.
weft the horizontal threads interlaced through the warp in a woven fabric. (often called woof)
woof the threads that run crosswise in a woven fabric at right angles to the warp. the texture of a fabric.
Artist Profile
WARREN KIMBLE
FOLK ART PAINTER
Warren Kimble was able to find his calling by combining his favorite things: painting and antiques. Chances are you're familiar with his work. His pastoral landscapes, calmative still lifes, and stylized animals whisper of American Heritage yet speak of modern Folk Art.
Ignoring his father's advise to pick a career with a steady income, and following his own growing passion for art, Kimble chose to study fine arts at Syracuse University. After serving as head cheerleader and President of his class, Warren graduated from Syracuse in 1957.
Following graduation, Kimble enlisted in the military for a two year stint. While stationed at Ft. Dix he took a position teaching in the base art building. His students included enlisted personnel, officers and children. Upon completion of his service with the Army he took an advertising position, only to return to the education field after a short time.
Teaching art suited Kimble well. He began with instructing younger children, from kindergarten through sixth grade, and later junior high and high school. In 1970 he relocated to Vermont, which became his permanent home.
In Vermont, Kimble taught art at Castleton State College, where he acquired many techniques and had opportunity to learn new mediums (in some cases, he worked side-by-side with the students to learn these skills).
At the same time, he continued working in the antiques business -- buying, selling, and restoring furniture and other items -- which he had begun to do in 1962. He also found enjoyment painting on bread boards and old boxes and the move to Vermont gave him new serene surroundings that he would later use as inspiration for his landscapes. An interesting turn of events occurred in 1987 when a modern clock, a gift from his daughter, fell off the wall one day and broke. Kimble salvaged the clock works and painted a new face (what would be his first landscape) upon it. His exposure to antiques, and the distressed architectural artifacts such as old cupboard doors, table tops, and old signs gave him his future canvases, and the beautiful surroundings of Vermont provided his subject matter.
Kimble's style developed through the next few years. Wild Apple Graphics (a husband-wife publishing team in Vermont) and Kimble came together in 1991 to market his work, beginning with prints of the "Kissing Cows" image.
Today Kimble paints mainly on salvaged table tops, old signs, and cupboard doors from the 1840's and 1850's. He seeks them out on his antiques finding trips and is particular that they have a worn-aged-abused patina. While some of the boards Kimble finds will excite him to do a painting, others remain in storage to await their turn as pieces of folk art. Table tops are more suited as a medium for his work than, say, a saw blade or a sled. Often, he feels, when these identifiable items are used as a canvas, they are looked at for what they are (i.e., saw blade, sled, etc.), which makes the painting secondary. Kimble believes that the use of wood as a canvas allows the painting to take center stage.
The familiarity of subject matter is what makes his paintings "work". One can't help but wonder if these places and scenes are ones we ourselves have visited or known. He says he didn't set out to make his work "familiar;" it simply happened that way. While Kimble does have a few pieces that are modeled after actual buildings, such as the Brandon Barn, most are straight from his imagination, styled from architecture typical of historic Vermont. The animals, too, are from his imagination or belong to friends.
Kimble says it is not his mission to duplicate history, but merely to draw on it and create a memorial to our rich American heritage. Without depicting life as it was, Kimble still manages to capture and preserve its essence: simplicity, serenity and comfort -- all of which are welcome in today's rushed lifestyle. A sophisticated style with a dash of humor and whimsy are what make Warren Kimble one of America's best loved modern folk artists.
Warren Kimble makes his home in Brandon Vermont with his wife, Lorraine. He has a studio and gallery which is open to the public.
all pieces shown with permission of warren kimble
WARREN KIMBLE'S gallery INFORMATION:
burlap sack
Hours: July through October 16
Mon-Fri 9am - 5pm, Sat & Sun 10am - 4pm
October 16 through June
Mon-Fri 9am - 5pm, weekends by appointment
(802) 247-3062
Brandon Vermont
From Route 7 in the center of Brandon - Take route 73 East approximately 1 1/4 miles, go around sharp curve and take and immediate right. You will be facing the gallery& Studio - which is housed in a large red barn.
ANTIQUE COUNTRY FURNISHINGS
book reviews
&
books of interest
by George Neumann
Paperback - 354 pages (January 1996)
L-W Publishing & Book Sales
ISBN: 0517661837
American Antique Weather Vanes
Paperback - 100 pages (December 1982)
Dover Publishers
ISBN: 0486243966 ;
Folk Art Weather Vanes : Authentic American Patterns for Wood and Metal
by John A. Nelson Paperback
160 pages
1st Ed. edition (September 1990)
Stackpole Books
ISBN: 0811724069
Whirligigs & Weathervanes : A Celebration of Wind Gadgets With Dozens of Creative Projects to Make
by David Schoonmaker, Bruce Woods (Contributor)
Paperback Rei edition (August 1992)
Lark Books
ISBN: 0806983655
web sites of interest
WARREN KIMBLES OFFICIAL WEB SITE
WWW.WARRENKIMBLE.COM
Jill Kemp's website - patterns, Block Of the Month
http://www.bearspaw.com
harry rinker, appraiser & collector
http://www.rinker.com/
salvage shops
http://www.architectural-salvage.com/
http://www.architecturalsalvage.com/
http://www.historichouseparts.com/
http://www.architecturalsalvagevt.com/
antique source
http://www.antiquesource.com/
antique quilt source
http://www.antiquequiltsource.com/
cyber telephone museum
http://www.museumphones.com/
bauerware knobs
http://www.bauerware.com/No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
prose
Elinor Roosevelt
All words are pegs to hang ideas on.
Henry Ward Beecher
ABOUT THE SEED POD
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