Monday, February 29, 2016

My blog has moved to WhereEarthMeetsSky.com



I am so happy to announce the completion of my website. Please come visit me at WhereEarthMeetsSky.com where you can keep up with my blog and creations. There are lots of lovely photos with sneak peaks into my studio and gardens. Now you can purchase my cards, prints, embroideries and original art directly from my store online and I can ship to you anywhere in the world. 

It's been so wonderful connecting with you all via blogger over the years. I feel like I've been inspired by so many interesting people and talented artists and met some kindred spirits through the blogger community. I hope you will still check in with me and say hello from time to time at my website! 

With love,
Kim

 




Saturday, January 30, 2016

Recap 2015!

Hello! Well 2015 has come and gone and I have posted ZERO blog posts during that whole time! Wow. Ok. So how are you? Hope you had a great 2015 and that 2016 is off to a good start.

I have to say some happy, life altering events happened during 2015. One, the big ONE... my daughter, Mirela Jozefina, was born in February, 2015.


Being pregnant, giving birth and caring for my newborn and my two/three year old son took almost all the energy I had.

And two... as I came out of the new baby fog, I began to focus some of my time and attention back on my art business. Last fall I took the steps and began the process to create a website and online store that will serve as an online gallery and shopping place for all my original designs in their various manifestations as cards, archival prints, original embroideries and paintings.

I am very, very excited to be coming down the home stretch of designing my website with the creative, thoughtful and artistic contributions of my talented friends: photographer, Erin Long at Erin Long Photography and designer, Seth Gregory at Seth Gregory Design.  Without their help I would not have the site that is about to be launched. Thank you Erin and Seth!!!

So here we are, 2016. My baby will turn a year old at the end of February and I will give birth to another baby around the same time: WhereEarthMeetsSky.com

I hope you will visit me there and stay in touch via my blog through my new website. I will no longer be blogging via Blogger. Stay posted as I will let you know when WhereEarthMeetsSky.com officially launches. Thank you!

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Stage Road Walk About, 2014, November 15th, 11am - 5pm


Shop local this holiday season, by taking a classic fall country stroll.  

Visit four open houses all within a half mile of each other on historic Stage Road in Cummington, MA. This event shows the unique concentration of artists, small businesses and idyllic farms that pepper our Hilltowns. 

Leni Fried Printmaking at 494 Stage Rd. (www.lenifriedprintmaking.com) has a studio in her 150 year old barn. Leni Fried, an artist of over 30 years debuts her latest monoprints, cards and affordable art inspired by our hilltowns.

Next on the tour at 509 Stage Rd. is Kimberly Wachtel: Where Earth Meets Sky Art and Designs (where-earth-meets-sky.blogspot.com). You can't miss Kim's brightly colored house which reminds one of her whimsical, handmade designs inspired by traditional Polish, Hungarian and Eastern European art. At her studio you will find original paper cuts, paintings, prints, cards and hand embroidered items

At the top of the hill at 523 Stage Rd. is the old Colonial, site of the former Stage Road Tavern where one was served grog! You can ask for grog, but you may receive a pottery tour in its stead! Steven Jones, potter, will be showing his wheel thrown stoneware at this classic colonial and barn.

The last stop for the Walkabout at 556 Stage Rd is Gordon's Fold Highland cattle. Look for their long horns and shaggy manes.Eric Driver  has continued his grandfather Gordon's tradition of grazing these animals on this land.  Bring your coolers Gordon's Fold will be selling Grass fed, U.S.D.A inspected beef and taking orders for Winter shares.

Mark your calendars for Saturday, Nov.15th from 11-5  (Leni Fried printmaking only Nov. 16th).

We encourage you to feel the crunch of fallen leaves, the brisk air and warm up with cider, art and refreshments at each location. Shop local, walk local this holiday season.

 

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Alchemy Fair is happening this weekend!



Alchemy Fair is happening this weekend! Here are some new hand embroidered sachets I made during the past few weeks to sell at Alchemy Fair along with my original designs, available as cards and archival prints. I'm really looking forward to being part of this special event. I think it is going to be a lot of fun.


Craft, Food, Workshops and Entertainment.
Saturday April 26, 10am-6pm &Sunday April 27, 11am-4pm
Gateway City Arts Complex, Holyoke, MA 
(92-114 Race Street, Holyoke, MA, 01040).

$6 at the door, under 12 free. 
Admission includes participation in dozens of FREE workshops including juggling, tight wire walking, fabric trapeze, pottery making, hula hooping and our Kids Kraft Korner. Check the workshop page for days and times. 
UPDATE: We are now officially a St. Baldricks Foundation Event! Come shave your head with us and help put an end to pediatric cancer! 
Alchemy 
Different elements coming together to create something entirely new 

Our Sponsors
Earth Level:  
WEBS, America's Yarn Store
Northampton Beadery
Water Level:
Premiere Staffing of Holyoke
Air Level:
Artisans of Western Mass
Friends of the Fair:
The Show Circus Studio
Alotta Hoopla
BE Organics
The Celadon Studio

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Get Thee To A Garden!

Smith Botanical Conservatory

"Spring is here. If you are inclined to look for the meaning of life, get thee to a garden. There are profound reasons why the garden is central in the sacred texts of major religions. Since ancient times, it has been the place where the soul goes to exercise, while simultaneously engaged in a multilayered dance with earth, plants, sun, birds, bees, hummingbirds, butterflies, night, day, temperature, the faithful earthworm, water, minerals, fragrance, a cast of thousands of microorganisms, our stalwart friends the fungi, chlorophyll, nectar. I think of it as a ballet in the biosphere."
                                                            - George Ball in The Wall Street Journal

The temperatures are climbing to the 50's F here in the hills and although there is still snow on the muddy, muddy, ground, I feel as if I am finally thawing out from a long, hard winter. The above quote made my head spin in gladness for the beautiful perspective of the words which celebrate our interconnectedness with the plant, animal environmental, celestial systems. My gardens at home are just starting to reveal themselves again and I'm aching to connect with the dirt and the plants. Soon, soon...

We went to the Smith Botanical gardens a couple of weeks ago. Oh, the smells! Wonderful smells! Humid, damp air, moist dirt, hyacinth, freesia, daffodils, tulips, orange blossoms, camellia, cacao trees... It was soothing to our winter weary souls. And nice to have a view looking out the conservatory windows through green plants and steamed up windows to the gray frozen landscape.

So if you are still waiting for the grasses to green, the daffodils to push up, the forsythia to bloom, get thee to a garden! A botanical garden or conservatory is a good place to BE, even if just for an hour or two.  Your kids will love it, you will love it! You will linger in a room of blooming bulbs and close your eyes, just to breath in the fragrance. Happy Spring!

Kaz smelling the flowers

Bulb Show, Smith Conservatory

Camellia

Cacao Tree

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

My Book Review of "Bieganski: The Brute Polack Stereotype, Its Role in Polish-Jewish Relations and American Popular Culture"


From Naivety to a Better Understanding of Polish-Jewish Relations and Stereotypes

I just finished reading Bieganski: The Brute Polack Stereotype, Its Role in Polish- Jewish Relations and American Popular Culture by Dr. Danusha Goska. The heart-wrenching, complex realities and stories captured my mind and heart. Goska’s brave and honest writing pulled me in. The information revealed and the topics discussed about Poles and Jews are what most people, in polite conversation, do not want to talk about or bring up. “Don’t go there. It is too touchy.” Goska bravely goes there and brings to the forefront a history of the Polish people and Polish Jews that needs to be openly discussed and understood. Stereotypes have defined these cultures in a negative light for far too long. It is time to understand and look at our assumptions and biases. I give Goska a standing ovation for collecting all this harrowing, at times horrific, yet important, information for her book. Goska’s agenda is not to side with Poles or Jews. Her agenda is to uncover, reveal and discuss an elephant in the room: the misrepresentation and stereotyping of Poles in contemporary culture by some people and organizations. She has introduced me to a whole wide world. Goska writes:

“Stereotyping occurs when insupportable conclusions are drawn from demonstrable facts. These conclusions come from a limited perspective. To the Polish peasant who saw Jews only as tavern keepers or estate managers who lured Poles into excessive drink and then pressured ruined, drunken peasants to pay very high tavern tabs, or pressured desperate serfs to work to fill grain quotas, the Jew is a greedy drug pushing slave driver, no more, no less. To the Jew whose most memorable encounter with a Polish peasant was the Pole who drank to excess and toiled like a mule in the fields, the Pole is a bestial drunk. The Pole did not factor into his assessment the tender Jewish parent, or the intimidated Jew pressured by the Polish magnate to wring the peasants for all they were worth. The Jews did not see the exuberance, generosity and creativity that the peasant displayed with his peers.”

With all stereotyping we choose to see only one side of a story. The simplification of Jewish or Polish culture perpetuates misunderstandings, bigotry and hatred. When you bring into the mix horrific world events like the rise of the Nazis, the Holocaust and the power play Poland experienced at the hands of Russia and the Soviet Union, the stereotypes are compounded by the awfulness and the ugliness of these times and events.

I had not heard of this book and I didn’t really think about Polish and/or Jewish stereotypes much before the spring of 2011. This all changed when I went on a quest to Poland to meet my relatives and to study art history and ethnography through a summer school program at Jagiellonian University in Krakow. I met Dr. Goska on this trip and that is how I learned about Bieganski.

 A couple months before I embarked on my trip, I attended a Georgian singing workshop, in a New England town near where I live. I spoke with a man about my plans to travel. When I said I was going to spend a little over a month in Poland, a look of astonishment appeared on his face, followed by a question. “Why would you want to go to Poland?” he scoffed. I was taken aback by the suspicious energy that was driving this inquiry. An awkward pause in our conversation followed. He then said, “The people of Poland are anti-semitic. My nephew was there this past year and he was horrified by what he saw and what he experienced. Poles hate Jews.” His demeanor and blanket definition of a whole race of people alarmed me. Aside from the “dumb-Polack” jokes I heard growing up, this was the first serious run in I’ve had with the stereotyping of Polish people. This “Bieganski” moment shook me awake. Interactions like this one, documented and undocumented, is why Bieganski  is such an important book. Bieganski has been an instrumental book in helping me to understand Polish / Jewish relations.

Goska unveils how Poles are stereotyped in popular media by writing extensively of the portrayal of Poles in American cinema and in the press. She devotes early chapters in Bieganski to these fascinating topics. You have to read these chapters to believe it!
   
Chapter 6: The Peasant and Middleman Minority Theory was particularly eye-opening to read. I found this chapter helpful for understanding the core issues explaining the rise of Polish / Jewish stereotypes. Jews were the middleman minority in Poland for hundreds of years.

“Middleman minority populations are concentrated in urban, skilled and mercantile professions. Their Socioeconomic status falls between elites and peasants. To some extent, they operate under their own code, and are not limited by the surrounding culture’s taboos that impede business progress for those rooted in their communities (Bonacich 584). Middleman minorities have at least a ritual tie to another territory, and if only in a mythic sense, experience themselves as ‘sojourners.’ The sojourner mindset encourages the choice for easily liquidated professions and the amassing of capital, while at the same time it erects barriers to the forming of bonds with members of what Bonacich calls the ‘host’ society. Bonds are formed with other members of the middleman group, even those geographically distant (585-86; 593).”

Chapter 6 provides a theory and one possible explanation of why relationships between Poles and Jews have not always been smooth, easy or easily understood.

Poles and Poland, as well as the Jews, were victims of the Nazis. Chapter 7 in Bieganski, The Necessity of Bieganski: A Shamed and Horrified World Seeks a Scapegoat, begins to explain the question that I have in all of this. Why are Poles sometimes blamed by Jews and others for the Holocaust? Why are Poles sometimes blamed for allowing the Holocaust to happen? It was Nazi Germany who brought all of this about. Nazi Germany caused the suffering and deaths of millions of Jews AND Polish people and others. The problem is as Goska writes here:

“If one does not single out Poles, whom can one blame? The answer is too terrifying to attract an audience. Given the worlds response to the Holocaust, and to events since, like the auto-genocide in Cambodia, Wladyslaw Bartoszewski wrote:

‘Humanity has failed and continues to fail ...  the only people who did not fail and who completely confirmed their humanity were those who responded to this test by making the ultimate choice and who died helping their neighbors. No one living can say that of himself. No on living can - whether for political or polemical reasons - demand it of others.’ ”
   
 I’ve read comments about Bieganski, in book reviews and on the Bieganski blog, where others sometimes want to label Goska as an anti-semite and/or anti-Polish. Both criticisms are flawed and narrow. Bieganski is such an important book because Dr. Goska brings to light stories of Jews and Poles that help air out the the stink that builds up and perpetuates stereotypes. It is time to move beyond the past, towards a more understanding, kind-hearted, compassionate view of the Polish-Jewish history. As long as there is an US and a THEM, there will be stereotypes. Our human selves are flawed yet the religions which represent the Jews and the Poles, Judaism and Christianity, teach kindness, compassion and understanding.  Unfortunately, until we can rise higher than our human hurts and gain a level of compassion and forgiveness, there will be negative stereotypes.

Goska writes:

“It is time for people of good will to stop scapegoating, to stop insisting that one ethnic group is uniquely prone to stereotypical thinking. It is time for people of good will to join together to a way to address all stereotypical thinking, including that engaged in by stereotyped people themselves.”

One of the many things I take away from this necessary book is to tread lightly and question assumptions: personal assumptions and assumptions made by others including the media, academia, and world and religious leaders. Bieganski deserves to be widely read and discussed , especially by Polish-Americans, Poles and Jews. It deserves to be included in academic courses about Jewish and Polish relations. The Bieganski issue is not black and white. Goska does a fair and thorough job revealing the shades of gray found in the stories she shares and tells. Goska does not paint the picture that all Poles are good and all Jews are bad, nor vice versa. Instead she walks a fine line in her writing revealing the hurtful stories, both true and untrue, that are perpetuated about these two intertwined cultures and ethnicities.
____________________________________________

Check out Danusha Goska's Bieganski The Blog for more thought provoking reading and links in relationship to Bieganski issues in popular culture. She is now in the process of having her book picked up by a Polish publisher,  Wysoki Zamek publishing. I wish her and her publisher the best in this pursuit. See my Amazon review and comment of vote for it here.

Sunday, February 9, 2014

A Fun Morning! Valentine Paper Cut Workshop @ Knack






Last Saturday I had a wonderful morning at Knack teaching paper cut techniques to ten lovely women. I had a full house show up for the workshop and we all gathered around the table and got to work. I talked a bit about Wycinanki, Polish paper cuts. I especially focused on the Kurpie style Polish paper cut which uses a single fold, symmetrical design technique. Some students used the templates I brought to class for their design and other students created their own unique designs. Every paper cut made in this workshop was created by using recycled / up-cycled materials that Knack has gathered or that have been donated to the store. All the women seemed inspired by the class and especially by the design examples I shared from books I bought while studying in Poland and Hungary. A couple Polish/American students came to the class because they wanted to learn a little about their creative, Polish heritage. It feels good to pass on the beauty and heritage of traditions I've found particularly rich and inspiring. I plan to be back to Knack sometime this spring to teach another paper cut class. This time we will create floral paper cut designs. Stay posted for the date which I will announce here and on Facebook once I book the day and time. Thank you to Macey and Amber at Knack for having me teach this class and for taking these pictures which capture the feel of a fun, creative morning at your store.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Making Valentine's Cards: Up-cycled, Paper Cut Workshop February 1st





Last month I created the above example and template of a hand made, paper cut, Valentine using paper remnants I found in my scrap paper folder for an upcoming work shop I'm teaching at KNACK: The Art of Clever Re-Use, in Easthampton, MA. The workshop takes place in a couple weeks, on Saturday morning, February 1st, from 10am until 12pm. Spots are still open if you want to join me!

I'm really looking forward to teaching an art class again as it has been a number of years since I've been in a teaching role, encouraging other's creative energy and talents. Yes, in a past life, before I moved to western MA, I was an art teacher to middle school and high school students.

I took two embroidery classes at KNACK this fall and had a ball! It was wonderful to get out of the house on a Saturday morning. I walked into KNACK with the smell of a fresh pot of coffee brewing, greeting my senses and one of the friendly owners there to welcome us. All the workshop attendees soon gathered around the table and got to work with a wonderful and talented teacher. We all learned something new that morning and it was inspiring to be in KNACK's studio space.

I just got confirmation today that the workshop is a GO since I have enough people enrolled in the class to allow it to happen. And there are still some spots available if you want to join us at KNACK's fabulous creative re-use lounge. I included the following information taken from KNACK's website which shares all the info and links you need to find out more info and enroll in the workshop.

Class Description

Valentine’s day is just around the corner!  Make unique cards to give to loved ones (or keep for yourself!). Paper Cutting is an art form that is practiced by different cultures all around the world.

You will learn about the Polish form of paper cutting called “Wycinanki”; the Kurpie style of cutting from Poland is the inspiration for the projects in this workshop. This style cut out is made from one piece of paper that is folded in half, down the middle. You'll create beautiful cards to take home, and  learn the skills to make many more on your own.
Details 
 Saturday, February 1st
10am-12pm
Taught by Kim Wachtel
Cost: $30

Pre-registration required
Class size limited to 10
Sign up

Stop by during regular business hours to register for this class, or you may sign up online.

Register for Workshop!


Our cancellation policy can be found at the bottom of the Workshop listings page.
Questions
 Contact us! We can be reached at 413-529-0126 or info@knack.org.

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Snow Days

My little place in this world is covered in snow again. As I struggled with the flu a couple of weeks ago it became warm and all the snow melted away before Christmas. It all just didn't feel right! I began to feel better and then freezing temperatures and a few flurries came on Christmas Eve. Beginning on New Year's Day the snow officially returned. The fresh snow is one of the things I am grateful for in 2014.

I have been enjoying looking at art work online that captures the beauty of winter and this snowy season. A friend recently posted art work done in the early 1900's by Wladyslaw Jarocki on facebook and I found his work beautiful. I love the contrast of the whites, greys, browns and blues of the landscape with the brightly colored scarves and embroidery accents on the traditional clothing of his Polish highlander subjects. I want to give away my black, nylon covered jacket for sheepskin, fleece lined, embroidered coats, woolen stockings, leather boots, long heavy skirts and colorful scarves and dress like these beautiful highland women.

Władysław Jarocki, Żółta chustka oil, canvas
Wladyslaw Jarocki, "Winter Sun", oil on canvas, 69.5 x 99 cm, private collection
Wladyslaw Jarocki, "Hunter in Winter", 1915, oil on plywood, 98 x 67 cm, private collection
This past holiday season I was particularly inspired by eclectic paintings and other works of art posted by a blogger at A Polar Bear's Tale. The art work posted there is so special. There are illustrations, fine paintings, crafted items and photographs to be enjoyed. All the images chosen for this blog seem infused with magic, beauty and nostalgia. The posts cover themes and the art work reflects the seasons and holidays. I enjoyed looking at this blog over Christmas more than watching a holiday movie or tv program. If you enjoy looking at lovely works of art that reflect the magic of a season I suggest that you head over to A Polar Bear's Tale to scroll through the treasures there.

And finally since this is the first post of the New Year I think gratitude is the word for 2014. I started a gratitude jar and before going to sleep I will write down on a piece of paper a moment of beauty from the day for which I am grateful. On New Year's Eve this upcoming year I will read about all the positive things that filled up 2014. Among other things, I am grateful for the love of my family and friends, the return of snow, celebrating Christmas again with my mom and dad who came up to visit on New Year's Day bearing beautifully wrapped gifts, birds chirping and singing outside on a walk and nearby my bird feeders and the kisses of my 18 month old, cutie-pie of a boy, Kazmir.

gifts on New Year's Day with snow just beginning to fall outside

garden in snow

My house in the snow



Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Merry Christmas!




I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! 

Above are a few images from vintage Polish Christmas cards for you to enjoy. I hope that you enjoy this special Christmas Eve and Christmas day where ever you are, with those you love!

 Images from: http://www.petea.home.pl/apan/en/node/2343

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Spruce Corner






For the last two weekends some of my cards and embroidery pieces were at the Spruce Corner Schoolhouse Holiday Sale. Above are some pictures of this magical little place. I traveled "over the river and through the woods" to get here and also seemed to travel back in time.

This little schoolhouse harkens back to another time when we educated our children in our small communities in one room buildings. Kids of all ages would gather to learn together. As I set up my things for the holiday sale my mind wandered. Part of me longs to send my child to this place with other kids of all ages, with a dedicated teacher who believes in creativity and story as well as math and science. Today schools often look like office buildings or even worse, prisons. They are often big impersonal spaces filled with people and tied to the clock like a factory. Although a place like this may be filled with good teachers and love, it is just hard for me to think about how big classrooms and schools have become in their physical size and numbers of students. The system is less personal. So when I come to this space for the holiday sale, as an artist and a holiday shopper, I start to day dream about "what if?". What if our small communities in the hills of MA could open some schoolhouses like this with a dedicated teacher and smaller groups of our children? Is it possible? What would it look like?

When I walk through the wooden door the first thing that I am aware of is the quiet. There is only the sound of the crackling fire and the hushed voices of other holiday shoppers. I also quickly become aware of the lack of electricity.  The light is all natural. On a cloudy day or at twilight the space has a muted, serene quality and on a sunny day the sun casts shadows, playing with the window panes and lovely arts and crafts objects that are for sale. A fire in the big wood stove heats the space. A top the stove a pot of spiced, hot apple cider infuses it's fragrance throughout the room. The building is truly how it would have been in the 18th and 19th centuries. There is no loud holiday pop music, no glaring flourescent lights and no crowds. It's a place where I can think and where I can enjoy what I'm looking at.

If you live in the area or find yourself in western MA during the first two weekends in December perhaps you would like to shop here too? The Spruce Corner Schoolhouse is on Rt. 116 between Ashfield and Plainfield, MA. This was my third time participating in this sale and I look forward to it every year.

Here are a few things that I purchased this year. I knitted knome for Kazi, a felted Christmas tree ornament and some felting materials to try my hand at felt painting.

It's a  beautiful frigid snow day here at my home and I'm keeping the wood stove pumping as I write this.  If you look closely at the picture with the knitted knome, out the window my sentient sunflower is still standing guard over our house and garden. Her head is bowed and she wears a cap of snow. I hope you are enjoying the warmth of the season where ever you are!

Monday, December 9, 2013

Winter Quiet





In between the extreme busyness of art business activities, craft fairs, stocking the stores that carry my designs, holiday travels, family gatherings and birthday celebrations there have been moments of peace and quiet. I catch these moments when I can. Sometimes the moments are more premeditated and sometimes the quiet moments catch me by surprise.

Like now as I write this on an icy December night, the baby is asleep and my husband is out in his studio. I have the house to myself. I lit a lot of candles and am playing medieval renaissance music through the speakers. It feels good to sit in golden candle light and catch my breath at home in a peaceful atmosphere. I created this moment.

Another moment of winter quiet came by surprise this weekend early in the morning and at twilight as I drove to and from the craft fair in Charlemont, MA in which I participated. The rural winter scenes were beautiful as I drove and the light against the silhouettes of the trees so lovely. These quiet moments in the car were a welcome break from the constant sound of voices and loud, popular holiday music at the fair. The pictures above were taken during these moments this weekend.

Winter is a time for quiet, a time to think, reflect, regroup and dream. I'm slowly exhaling after all the running around of 2013 and I am ready to reflect and dream. For the next few months I want less agendas and less deadlines. My creative self needs this kind of break.

I turned 38 this past Tuesday. I am excited about this time in my life. I'm old enough to know more about what I want and who I am. And I'm young enough to continue working on projects and begin working on some long term goals.  I can take steps, one at a time, that will eventually add up to something big. I think this something will take years and years to accomplish. I hope to still have plenty of time ahead.

And yet despite having goals and dreams, I feel wrapped in the mystery of the unknown and this is where the magic lies. Those unexpected, sometimes quiet moments when I feel held, embraced and guided by something bigger than myself.

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Danse Macabre


...and the veil between the worlds is thin.

Happy Halloween.

I'm thinking about my ancestors as All Souls Day approaches. My relatives will be lighting candles by their grave sites in Poland and Hungary tomorrow.

I couldn't help but listen to this song tonight, remembering when it captured my imagination so many years ago as a little girl. And it still captures my imagination! I love this piece by Camille Saint-Saens. Enjoy!

Friday, October 18, 2013

Shop Local! ...handmade arts, crafts and farm on Stage Road, Cummington, MA

I've been busy getting my things ready for this fun event that I am helping put on and organize with my neighbors. I feel so lucky to live in such a beautiful area with many talented artists and farmers. Our Walkabout has become a tradition I look forward to which encourages the support of local arts and farms and the local economy. I hope some of you can make it out here to take a stroll and visit our neighborhood. Mark your calendars!

Our press release and posters are making their way out into the world. Here they are...

"Shop local this holiday season, by taking a classic fall country stroll. Visit six open houses all within a half mile of each other on historic Stage Road in Cummington, MA. This event shows the unique concentration of artists, small businesses and idyllic farms that pepper our Hilltowns. Start at 494 Stage Rd. or 556 Stage Rd. to do the 1 mile round trip tour, on November 2nd and 3rd, 11 am to 5 pm.  (** Just 494 Stage Rd is open on the 3rd.)

Leni Fried Printmaking at 494 Stage Rd. (www.lenifriedprintmaking.com) and One-Off Handcycles (oneoffhandcycle.com) have a shop and studio in their 150 year old barn. Leni Fried, an artist of over 30 years debuts her latest tree monoprints, cards and affordable art inspired by our landscape. Mike Augspurger from One-Off handcycle builds and sells a three wheeled handcycle for off road use for people in wheelchairs.  Rosemary Wessel (www.rosemarywessel.com) will have cards and original oil paintings of trees and more other-worldly subjects. She will also be showing in their barn.

Next on the tour at 509 Stage Rd. is Kimberly Wachtel: Where Earth Meets Sky Designs. You can't miss Kim's brightly colored house which reminds one of her whimsical, original handmade designs inspired by traditional Polish, Hungarian and Eastern European art. paintings and cards. Her hand made paper cuts, paintings, prints, cards and embroidered items will be for sale.

At the top of the hill at 523 Stage Rd. is the old Colonial, site of the former Stage Road Tavern where one was served grog! You can ask for grog, but you may receive a pottery tour in its stead! Steven Jones, potter, will be showing his work in this classic colonial and barn.

The last stop for the Walkabout at 556 Stage Rd is Gordon's Fold Highland cattle. Look for their long horns and shaggy manes. Eric Driver  has continued his grandfather Gordon's tradition of grazing these animals on this land.

We encourage you to feel the crunch of fallen leaves, the brisk air and warm up with cider, art and refreshments at each location. Shop local, walk local this holiday season.

See you there,
Leni, Mike, Rose, Kim, Jim, Steven, Eric and Monica..."

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Christmas Trees and Snowflakes, New Card Designs, Holiday 2013




These new Christmas Tree and Snowflake paper cut images are at the printers this week to be made into holiday cards for the upcoming season. I thought I'd give you a little preview of what I'll have available at the Walkabout, craft fairs and at the stores where I sell my things and here on my blog starting in the beginning of November.

It is good to have some new items made to sell at the various sales opportunities coming up in the next few months.

I liked making these Christmas "Tree of Life" designs and Snowflake designs. Working with colorful paper, coming up with original, folk-style inspired images and symmetrical design is satisfying for me. I like the moment I unfold a new piece after cutting it for an hour or so to see if it works.