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!

12 comments:

  1. Lovely, Kim... wish we lived close enough to put on our snowshoes and ramble over to eachother's fires for tea on snowdays like this!! But, close enough, for sure!!

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    1. I think that would be perfect...if we could snowshoe to each others houses on days like yesterday! I like the idea even if it's not realistic. :-)

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  2. Yes, prisons, or even worse, factories

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    1. I believe that childhood is a time for magic, learning, dreaming and playing... not rigid schedules, test scores and oversize classes in oversize buildings.

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  3. Love this! I think you might love a book I read recently called The Brittle Thread of Life. It's a history of Ashfield around the time of the American Revolution. There isn't much about points west because Ashfield was the "frontier" at that time. There's a lot about the neighborhood I live in (Baptist Corner). On the land we live on there's the remains of the neighborhood school house, just a crumbled foundation.

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    1. Hi Anna! Thanks for the book recommendation. I will look for it and will enjoy reading about our local history. It's neat to think of Ashfield as the frontier. Hope you're well and have a happy holiday!

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  4. What a lovely place. My dad went to a one-room schoolhouse until he was in the 4th grade, and he still speaks fondly of those days.

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    1. Hi Starr,
      I would love to hear your Dad's stories and all about what that was like for him!

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  5. Hi Kim, Sorry I missed that sale. I love these old schoolhouses too. I had that same feeling when I used to demo basket weaving at an old historic home in Buckland. It does have electric lights in the bathroom, (modern but not too) but the rest of the house is amazingly old and unspoiled. The Morris Dancers would come around, there was a fiddler, a hearth cooking demonstration and others showing their craft skills. Outside would be cider pressing, an ox pulled wagon, lots of other things to do and see. My Friend Elaine and I did it together, she quilting and me baskets. I loved climbing the chimney stairs to the attic and exploring the barn.
    Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and ...Happy Solstice!
    Hugs,
    Sherry

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    1. Your experience at the old home in Buckland, making baskets, sounds really nice! I think I would love to go to that. Thank you for sharing your memories Sherry!
      Merry Christmas to you too!
      xo
      Kim

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  6. I just saw your beautiful cards at Zononi's Christmas shop. Mom loved them too.
    Sherry

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    1. Hi Sherry, Glad to hear my cards are out there being seen and I'm happy to hear that you and your mom like them!

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