Daybreak in the Blue Ridge ... November 2012

How can a day go wrong when it begins so beautifully?  Just a glimpse of a sunrise in November ... cold and crisp and golden ...

It's almost as if Mother Nature were opening her beautiful, bright eyes ...

 

 

At last the golden brillance and warmth begin to embrace the landscape. ..

 



Oh, what a beautiful morning! ... I wish you the same!

Dial BFF on the Ol' Social Station

The first and last time I ever went to the far west coast of these United States was on my honeymoon when my new hubby and I flew from Virginia to Seattle to catch a cruise ship up to Alaska and back with Garrison Keillor and the gang from his radio show
Prairie Home Companion.  It was the joy of a lifetime and I had stars in my eyes and was thinking that the people that lived in Washington and Oregon lived in a gorgeous land surrounded by majestic beauty and peace.  I wondered what they were really like.

Well, a couple years later, I joined the now defunct artist community called "Creating the Hive" and met (via email) a young and gloriously talented woman named Red Weaver  (she doesn't have red hair like me but that's another story).  We seemed to hit it off right away with the same interests and struggles of getting new businesses off the ground.  Believe it or not, her personal sparkle and warmth travelled the distance of over some 2600 miles and we became great friends through emails (over 700 to date). 

 We have never met eyeball to eyeball.    We have laughed and cried together and still do.  We have loved being new grandmas and exchanged grandbaby pictures and news with each other. 

Well, through all this I have become fascinated with the beauty and down-to-earth genuineness of this wonderful soul and also with the way she has blossomed from a simple old-fashioned apron designer

 into an incredible self-made artist with a flair for design in creating the most divine handbags and accessories you'll ever find this side of Paris!  Really!!  Her natural gift for choosing the most striking and colorful fabrics for her line of accessories is uncanny.  When you visit her Etsy shop, Weaver's Homestead,

http://www.etsy.com/shop/WeaversHomestead?ref=shop_sugg
 
you will find so much eye candy, you will feel like you have just stepped into a boutique on the Champs-Elysees but with a little spicy cowboy kick on the side!  Red's Etsy boutique is packed with everything from the rustic to the sublime ... from camo (including pink camo) to retro to glamo ...

 passport covers, cell phone covers, checkbook covers, enotebook covers, messenger bags to diaper bags (look out William and Kate ... we've got that special one for your royal fledgling when the time comes)

Beautiful diaper bag

 with an assortment of matching accessories to boot.  Custom orders are welcomed.  There are delights for Mom, Grandma and new mama ... and even items to gussy up your kids' school book bag and locker storage ... really! 

 From babies to tweens to teens .... this is the "must- stop" shop on the Internet.

Her hubby, Mark, joins her with his superb master craftsmanship in designing custom-order wooden toy chests and rustic wooden picture frames and other woodworking art that would get the most enthusiastic nod from even the scruffiest, dug-in, anti-ruffle, gun-totin' mountain man.



And just for fun, join Red's blog:

http://weavershomestead.blogspot.com

 This is a guaranteed great read and source of wonderful shopping tips and usually twinkled up with sparkles of humor and homelife.

So cozy-up and settle in with your laptop and let the Weaver's Homestead be your first stop this holiday  season ...
SALE !!!   SALE !!!  SALE!!!

Oh, almost forgot ... Red is having a special coupon sale on all items through
27 November ... so grab your hot cocoa and favorite armchair and be prepared to be enchanted with the Homestead hospitality of Red and Mark Weaver... your one-stop shop!!!

See ya there!!

The Dark Side of Christmas

 

Now that's one way of looking at things, right?  Maxine's perspective does give you something to think about.  However, let's look at what really has happened and the "darker" side of  Winter/Christmas celebrations.

 

Winter cold and the prospect of starvation and disease and even death certainly would strike the fear of the long, dark nights into the bravest of souls, hundreds, even thousands of years ago.  Before Christianity,  particularly in the Alpine regions, there were many "spirits" (as well as things that go bump in the night) that became available to poor huddled souls and could give comfort and favor through prayer, devotion and sacrifice.

 

These powerful entities were bigger than life and had bigger than life personalities which tended to run hot and cold.  In the simple lifestyles and mindsets of our ancestors, the fearsome balance between pleasing the protective gods and upsetting them teetered precariously from day to day and depended on the behaviors of the members of the clan or just on which side of the cloud the particular "god" happened to awake and get up on that morning.

 

One of the Christmas-related characters who most darkly monitored the behaviors of children during this time (parents of all times are constantly looking for fear-induced tactics to encourage good behavior) was Krampus ... a cloven-hoved devil of a guy with fangs, a serpentine red tongue, a hairy, matted fur coat (to keep him warm), ram's horns and switches and a bag to carry off young children who have misbehaved. 

Apparently, as the story goes, the snarly, smelly old beast thrived on the sweet flesh of a freshly dismembered, disobedient child to be savored al fresco in the back woods.  The threat of his appearance anywhere between December 5 (Krampus Night) and St. Nicholas' Day (6 December) through Christmas was the answer to every parent's dream to relieve themselves of unruly children, too excited  to sleep and too spoiled to listen otherwise to the rules and demands for "proper" behavior. 

 

 

Well, as fate may have it, even though the early Catholic Church disliked the idea of such a beast with such unholy, yet deeply sown cultural roots clamoring about the countryside, and holding the attention of its tender flock, it allowed Krampus to join into the Christian winter festivities by including him as a sidekick to St. Nicholas. 

 

In order to tame the powers of the beast without totally emasculating his historically significant personna, Krampus was allowed to walk submissively with St. Nicholas on December 6, wearing chains and bells about his waist, wrists and ankles and seek out and threaten only the naughty offenders. 

 He could hand out switches or coal to the bad children or even snatch their Christmas presents for himself.

 

Krampus still exists in this early form but others have moved into his place as Christmas traditions have been softened over the years and tweaked down through the cultures.  We see a sweeter companion such as Black Peter

 and even the Christmas elves who assist our Santa Claus have evolved from the earlier sinister old beast.

 

  However, never fear, Krampus continues to haunt the streets of  Austria (especially in Schladming, Styria),

Croatia, in the Czech republic, Switzerland, Germany and Hungary and Slovenia today in one form or another.  He may be known as Belsnickel, Pelznickel (in 19th century USA and in Canada and Nova Scotia), Knecht Ruprecht or Zwarte Piet (Belgium and the Netherlands).  And word has it that he is beginning to make more appearances here in the good old USA as time moves on.

 

 

So beware, naughty children, Krampus is on the prowl.  St. Nick may have your Christmas wishlist and is checking it twice to find out who is naughty or nice.  Just be sure Krampus doesn't get wind of your name if it isn't showing up on the "Nice" side of Santa this year ......

 

 

Krampus side of a Topsy-Turvy Doll Created byCarlin Davis

Just flip up the hairy coat of Krampus and Voila ....
St. Nicholas appears ...

St. Nicholas side of  the same Topsy-Turvy Doll Created by Carlin Davis



Trunk Show

Trunk Show ... that is, bringing everything you create to excite and entice your audience about your art and your passion.


Yummy Trunk Display Example

Well, my guess is that the definition of a trunk show is packing up everything except the kitchen sink and literally "moving" across town to my destination ... the Rockbridge Pieceworkers Quilt Guild, Lexington, VA meeting last Saturday.  I've been working hard and it took two cars loaded and one husband (not loaded) to get the job done. 

 My doll display took up two ten-foot tables, dollies shoulder to shoulder, propped in lined suitcases (tutorial on the way), wooden sleds, on doll stands, seated in wooden crates ... phew ....!!  However, like a dog and pony show, it was testament to the fact that I love what I do and absolutely adore telling such an attentive (and somewhat captive) 
audience just how I got started and some of the stories behind the creation of my "children."

Some of My Children
 

You may ask ... What does quiltmaking have to do with dollmaking and design?  Well, I originally started out as a quilter (back in the 70's) and evolved into doll design.  I truly have the appreciation and love of quilts, quiltmakers and  an insatiable addiction to fabrics.  Quilt design takes a special discipline in accurate piecing and alignment and the beauty and love of harmony in geometry as well as art and color.  All this comes together into the magic of creating a piece of art that is 3-dimensional as well as something that hugs you back ... sort of candy for the eye as well as comfort for the body and soul.
Quilts from October Meeting RPQG

Well, in that same context, I evolved in my art into creating dolls that, in some cases, portray the personality of the quilter and human beings in general.  Whereas quilting is a form of silent meditation in demonstrating how the "Whole is greater than the sum of its parts," so too is the freedom I have found in precisely designing and sewing together body parts that "work" and creating a doll that has come together from similiar pencil and paper drawings.  In my case, I learned to "let go" and allow the doll to take on a life of its own, somewhat like a baby develops in its mother's womb. 

Hermione - My beloved mascot and sewing room companion

What emerges is a 3-dimensional work of art demonstrating how the Whole is greater than the sum of its parts, a lot of creative meditation (sometimes not so silent) and in the end, emerges as that little piece of art that now has human elements which strike a chord with the beholder in the recognition of those emotional parts of themselves ... a piece of art that can literally hug you back!

Clarabell .. Connecting with your Inner Clown?

My adventure Saturday with the quilting ladies was delightful, tremendously fulfilling and has now opened a new door for me as a prodigal quilter returning to the fold ... yes, I joined the Guild and am looking forward to coordinating both my passions ... we'll see how this develops ...

Ahhhhh ... Hermione and a quilt ... the picture of love and comfort

stay tuned ......!!!!