A Paper Marbling Class at Cat Tail Run Hand Book Bindery - A Wonderful Experience

 
A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of taking a class in paper marbling with Regina and Dan St. Johns, of Chena River Marblers, at Cat Tail Run Hand Book Bindery in Winchester, Virginia.   It was so much fun!

Marbling had been suggested to me as a possible demonstration (beside Jeff when he is blackmsithing) at historical events.  While I loved marbling, the 18th-century process can pretty much only be done by a handful of people and I am not one of them at this point!  Dan St. John is one such individual, I should point out.  The historical process is very complex and involves much study and specially-handcrafted paints.  I hope to learn that one day, but suffice it to say, I still have much to learn with modern materials! Neither Jeff nor I believe in trying to teach something we aren't proficient in -- that's not fair to anyone -- so I am tabling the idea of demonstrating marbling for the time being.  Instead, I am going to enjoy it for myself!

Regina and Dan are incredibly patient and skilled teachers, and I thoroughly enjoyed being with them and the other students for two days.  There is a lot of bad marbling out there, and to see it done very, very well was a treat.  And, to learn some pointers from them was even more special!  Students came from all over the country because the St. Johns are so well-recognized in their field.

Some students had taken the same class for the past 4 years!  As for myself, I was a newbie and am still trying to avoid air bubbles in my work, but I improved over the two days and discovered a love of color and a love for the process.   I can't wait to learn more.

And, I want to mention that Cat Tail Run Book Bindery is an amazing place on its own.  Jill, the owner, and her staff are so talented and welcoming that it is a treat to drive down the lane and enter the property, where books are loved and cats roam the property.  While it doesn't come up much, I do have a master's degree in English Literature, so I am very happy among both books and cats!  Jill offers a slew of classes on book binding, as well, if you are so interested.

So, many thanks to Dan and Regina St. John, and Jill and the rest of the staff at Cat Tail Run Hand Book Bindery for a wonderful class in paper marbling!

Demo at St. Albans

What a way to end our fall demo season!  We enjoyed a lovely day at St. Albans in D.C., where several teachers at the school had designed their early fall curriculum around something related to blacksmithing, (i.e. Adam Smith, the importance of metal and forging to world civilizations, Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, the industrialization of Europe, etc…) and asked us to teach and demonstrate to those various topics.  

We have met thousands and thousands of interesting people while demo’ing for four+ years, but we’ve never had a demo start with student-written odes to metallurgy!  

In addition, all the students and teachers got the opportunity to make (and take!) a colonial-style nail.  

It was just the sort of demo that Jeff and I love to do, and we are very thankful for the opportunity to work with St. Albans.  Also, we’d like to thank the members of the football team and other student athletes for helping us load our equipment afterwards!

Recent Photography Honors

My photo “Sugar Cookies” will be included in an exhibition titled “Feast” at Darkroom Gallery opening November 14th.  

In addition, “Autumn Reflections” was honored with an “honorable mention” award and is on display at the following galleries, as part of exhibitions supporting River to Well:

• Lawrence, Kansas — Signs of Life Gallery, November 8


• Minneapolis, Minnesota — Ambiente Gallerie, December 6, through January 1. 

Finally, several of my photographs were used in a recent newspaper article about Montessori students studying, raising, and releasing Monarch butterflies: 

The article and photos are on page 22 of this edition: 

http://connectionarchives.com/PDF/2013/110613/Mt%20Vernon.pdf

Demo at Peirce Mill Heritage Day

We recently demo’d at the Peirce Mill Heritage Day and had a nice time visiting with folks at this small, but lovely, event.  The mill operated a few times during our demo and other people demonstrated various crafts.

 

We focused on making nails and a few hooks during our time at the festival.  We were blessed to spend some quality time with visitors, which is always our goal — teaching and making connections is our focus.  

At one point, a young boy who had been watching and watching….and came back to watch some more, said to me, “You mean, you’re married to him? (gesturing to Jeff at the anvil).  I said that I was.  ”That’s so cool!!!” he replied.  Jeff chimed in that he totally agreed.  It was a priceless moment.  

Happy Halloween!

Our kids were super excited to go Trick-or-Treating tonight.  Jeff wasn’t sure about getting dressed up.  I thought that was hilarious, given how often we get dressed up in costume for various blacksmithing demos.  We’ve been dressed in costume twice this week already!  Why not add on one more night, especially for the kids?!

Happy Halloween!

A Gathering of Friends at Claude Moore's Colonial Market Fair

We had a wonderful time at Claude Moore Colonial Farm’s October Market Fair.  It was truly a gathering of friends on both sides of the safety ropes, as we had friends forging with us and as we also got to catch up with lots of regular visitors.  We’ve been doing these Market Fairs for the past 4 years and it’s always nice to see everyone. 

We focused on forging rookers and votive candleholders both days of the fair.  And, what’s a Market Fair without turkeys or geese roaming the grounds, not to mention the famous call of “Bread, Bread for Sale”…?

Please mark your calendars now for the May Market Fair at Claude Moore on May 18th and 19th— we’d love to see you!  

Wonderful Comments about Jeff's Candlesticks -- Thank you!

Recently, we received the nicest note from Kerry, who we met at the Scottish Games over Labor Day Weekend.  She had the following comments about two candlesticks made by Jeff that she purchased: ”It was a pleasure meeting you at the 2013 Virginia Scottish Games.  I just wanted to thank you for my beautiful candlesticks - they are perfect!  Attached, please find a couple of photographs of them…I am quite pleased with how nicely they fit in - I love your work/art.”

Thank you so much, Kerry!  We totally agree — the candlesticks look amazing in your house!

 

How We Spent Our Shut-Down Weekend

We were supposed to demo this past weekend but the government shutdown closed the location of our demo.  Suddenly, we had a free weekend, something we hadn’t had since the start of September.  There was plenty we wanted to do!  We are a family of list-makers, so out came the white-board and we started to write down our thoughts.  Some people ask us how we get as much done — this is one of our secrets. We might not get all the things done, nor do we try to…but by having a list, we accomplish a lot! :-)  

I was determined to make cold-process soap for the first time; we tried a lavender mint soap: 

Our kids really wanted to get pumpkins:  

We wanted to spend a lot of time outdoors, despite the rain at the beginning of the weekend and then especially when the sun came out.  These photos are from Mason Neck State Park and Huntley Meadows.

But, who would have expected that we’d save a baby squirrel that fell out of its nest and needed some help?  By the way, the last report from the wildlife rehabilitator says that the baby squirrel is mending well.  

And, we rested a fair amount….all of us…. 

We are looking forward to getting back to work this weekend at Claude Moore’s Market Fair in McLean.  Please come out.  We’d love to see you!