Journal
Taproot Contributor :: Jennifer Casa, Vintage Made Modern
Jennifer Casa's new books is a beautiful collection of past and present. The projects in this book are inspiring. If you're like me, you'll find yourself remembering favorite fabrics of your childhood and you'll be craving time at your sewing machine! In Vintage Made Modern, Jennifer shares 35 innovative projects to "transform time worn textiles into treasured heirlooms."
Jennifer Casa's love and appreciation for the history and untold stories of vintage fabrics really shines through these pages. With it's beautiful photography and touching stories, I got lost in her book and found myself completely inspired. While reading through her chapters, I pulled out one of my grandmother's quilts and viewed it again with a fresh perspective. Her attention to detail about working with (and care of) timeworn textiles shed light on true appreciation for not just the history but also the women who created these treasures from long ago. Whether repairing or repurposing, the focus remains on each individual piece and how it speaks to you.
Jennifer's book is a treasure. You'll dream of repurposing unfinished patchwork quilts into dolls, hot pads or feed sack charm pendants. Cutter quilts find a new life as pretty bangles, reusable hand warmers, no-sew wreaths, or a simple shoulder bag. Favorite vintage sheets and pillowcases will extend their life as they become twirly skirts, napkin hampers, and everyday tote bags. Quilt tops and kitchen textiles all have a place in our modern home. Jennifer provides us with the tools and knowledge to move forward with these projects.
Jennifer Casa is a maker of modern heirlooms. Her Hauschen Doorstep pattern was featured in Taproot MEND (issue 11). She has written several books on sewing, vintage textiles, and crafting with kids. You can find her latest book, Vintage Made Modern, at Roost Books. She works with swoonworthy yarn and fabric stash in her studio in Northern Ohio where she lives with her husband and twin daughters. Learn more about Jennifer at JCasa Handmade.
~meredith
Taproot Contributor :: Ashley English, Handmade Gatherings
Ashley English’s new book, Handmade Gatherings, is a beautiful collection of recipes and crafts for seasonal celebrations and potluck parties. A true resource for party planners, this book is an inspiration for gathering friends and family around shared meals throughout all the seasons. Page after page, her recipes and craft activities flow between stories of past and present while complimented by the beautiful photography of Jen Altman. Handmade Gatherings is more than just pretty parties, it's about celebrating the little things in life.
"When we slow down and notice the world unfolding around us, we experience awe. We might just gain a bit of clarity too. And we definitely find a comfort and solace that happen only when we take the time to allow ourselves to get caught up in the splendor if it all."
Handmade Gatherings carries us through an entire year: celebrating the emergence of spring with wild-crafted edibles or welcoming the arrival of bees … Ashley’s creativity is contagious. She moves from summertime cake walks and ice cream socials to the bustling art of canning season in autumn and the soul warming soup parties and festive cookie exchanges in winter. These non-traditional themed potlucks are sure to inspire creativity year round.
Ashley guides us with 16 themed gatherings, 52 recipes, 32 craft ideas and activities. She writes with an ease and authenticity on the subject of entertaining; covering details about organizing and coordinating the gathering, to the importance of sharing everyone’s skills and resources. Her potluck parties divide the work load with friends and family in attendance to make them a true community gathering.
To learn more about Ashley, join her on her homesteading blog, Small Measure. Check out her recipes in our recent spring Issue 10 :: SEED (and forthcoming Issue 11 :: MEND due out this fall!) Find her latest book, Handmade Gatherings at Roost Books.
~meredith
Taproot Contributor :: Jenna Woginrich, Cold Antler Farm
Jenna's Woginrich's newest book, Cold Antler Farm, feels like a continued conversation with an old friend. She brings us with her on her own adventures in farming, and carries the conversation through The Wheel of the Year (the pre-Christian agricultural days of ancient Europe: Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasa, and Samhain.) These cycles are life to this modern pioneer, and Jenna's chapters bring us throughout every season on her scrappy farm. We meet in chapters and chat about the weather while loading hay into her truck, we meet in town and hear stories of her horse and cart adventures with Merlin and Jasper, we lean on the fence line after chores are done to catch up with the latest news from her sheep, chickens, horses and border collie. Jenna's book feels a bit like sharing a home-cooked meal with good friends. This is the good life that Jenna Woginrich chose when she left her 9-5 job in the city and took the leap (literally!) into farming. Her stories speak of her deep connection with nature and the cycles of this earth.
"All I know to do is keep farming, and so I do. My part of the bargain is to tend and fuss, the apple tres' is to quietly grow and thrive. They do what they do and I do what I do and perhaps in the fall we'll both cast our shadows in the light of a Hallowmas bonfire and know we made it through another year. A circle is a fine religion. It keeps me going."
Jenna Woginrich is a modern pioneer, a writer, and a young woman single-handedly doing it all. Her six acre homestead is in Washington County at the base of the Taconic Mountains in New York State. She seldom ventures further than a few miles from her farm, and it's from here that she writes of simpler times and a deep-rooted life. This book documents the perils and pleasures of her day to day. Her words easily resonate, even if you have never worn a pair of muck boots to feed the pigs, her words resonate because they are true and real.
Jenna is an independent single woman who writes about the beautiful (and often messy) everyday life of balance and chaos that goes hand in hand with farming. Her book was written with the perfect dose of sass and humor. I highly recommended Cold Antler Farm to anyone who has even the smallest seed of homesteading in their heart.
To learn more about Jenna, follow along her adventures on her homesteading blog of the same name, Cold Antler Farm. Check out her piece in our latest Issue 10 :: SEED. Find her newest book at Roost Books.
~ meredith
Jennifer Judd Mc-Gee at College of the Atlantic
[gallery type="slideshow" ids="1681,1662,1663,1664,1665,1666,1667,1668,1669,1670,1671,1672,1673,1674,1675,1676"]
All of us here at Taproot are big fans of the work of Jennifer Judd-McGee, our first year cover artist as well as continuing contributor and Maine "neighbor." Last week, Meredith Winn and I had the pleasure of attending the opening of her new solo installation in the Blum Gallery at the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine. What a delight to see not only her work but her world too! As we spent the following day exploring a tiny corner of her neck of the woods, we found the beauty that is reflected in Jen's art everywhere we looked - from the moss and sand gardens in the Asticou Azaela Gardens to all the nooks and crannies around the harbor and shores and woods of Mount Desert Island. Her show, titled Rows & Rows: Community, Pattern and Landscape, features her paper cuttings, wood cuttings and 100 laser-cut flags. It will be up through the summer, and there are several events in conjunction with it. Do check out the College of the Atlantic news about her show for more details and be sure to stop by if you're in the area. You'll be so glad you did - and surely inspired by the beauty Jen shares!
~Amanda
Taproot Contributor :: Carrie Bostick Hoge
[gallery type="slideshow" ids="1514,1511,1507,1516,1509,1510,1515,1508,1512,1517,1513"]
Continuing with our Taproot Interview Series, we'd like to introduce you to Carrie Bostick Hoge. Carrie is a photographer, knitter and designer. She lives in Maine with her husband, daughter and animals and dreams of living on a small farm someday where she’ll be surrounded by much more flora and fauna. She works and creates for Madder out of her backyard studio.You can find more of her work at www.maddermade.com
Meredith: Carrie, you studied at Parsons School of Design for Photography and began your career as a photographer. When did knitting and photography professionally merge for you?
Carrie: Knitting and photography merged after I met Pam Allen! We met in 2006, through the small Portland grape-vine—little did I know that meeting her would change my creative focus towards knitting and that I would end up working with her for several years. At that point I was a hobby knitter and a day-dreamer knitwear designer, with a little unread blog. My relationship with photography was confusing—I didn't feel like a fine art photographer, nor was I driven to do commercial work. I saw photography as a wonderful tool for documenting my work and progress in my studio, my travels local and abroad, and my everyday life with family and friends.
I started another blog, more focused on knitting, called Swatch Diaries and worked on a self-published book called Away/Japan. Pam was a big supporter of my photography and when she changed jobs to Classic Elite Yarns she brought me on board and tapped into those skills—among other duties, I photographed the weekly web-letter and a few pattern booklets.
In January of 2010, we started working on Quince & Co. And in May of that year, I photographed the premier collection, now called Prima. I spent the following 3 years discovering I have a passion for photographing beautiful knitted things. I'm so happy and grateful that Pam found me.
Meredith: Are design ideas typically born from necessity? Something designed for your daughter Imogen came from the seasonal needs of a baby? Where do you find your inspiration?
CBH: Design ideas often come from a combination of yarn and a particular stitch I'm interested in. So, usually, I'll swatch away and think about what kind of fabric the pair make and what type of garment or accessory is appropriate. And sometimes I know I need to use a certain yarn to make a sweater. In which case, I make a swatch to see what kind of fabric the yarn makes—is it drapey or sturdy? Once some of those questions are answered, I begin to think about a desirable silhouette. I get a lot of my inspiration from being outside in nature and from my own thoughts on comfort and simplicity—and I can't help but confess to my Pinterest addiction.
Meredith: Balancing motherhood with a creative life and work can be challenging. Does this balance exist? Can you share how you juggle the two? What does a typical creative day look like for you?
CBH: Balance is tricky, as I have learned recently. At the end of last year, I made the tough-yet-easy choice to leave Quince & Co. to be home more for my daughter. Some weeks are little crazy and unstructured if I have photography jobs going on (like right now!), because the days are long and the prep work is both time consuming and mind consuming. If I'm not working on a photo gig, then my creative days are usually Tuesday through Thursday while she is at a pre-school for half a day. It's not much time, though. Often, I'll be knee-deep in writing a knitting pattern and—that's it—my work day is over. So, my work time often spills into early mornings before Imogen wakes up or while she naps. I am very lucky to have my mom around a lot so sometimes she takes Immie for a few hours at time so I can be productive.
Balance is definitely something I'm struggling with—how to get done what I want or need to get done, while still being present and available for my family?! For me the key is knowing my limitations so I don't take on too much or expect too much from myself. But it's so hard to say no sometimes...and so hard to keep the creative ideas reined in when you really have the drive (and not the time) to see them through. I wish I had more wisdom to offer on this subject.
Meredith: How long does it take you to complete a pattern from design inception, to modification to presentation to the public?
CBH: A long time! I'm not sure how long exactly since I keep wanting to design collections, not just one single piece—which would be a lot easier! But, a couple months at least. There is a lot of work to be done before I am ready to even write the pattern. There's swatching and sitting with the idea for a while to make sure the design is worth the time and energy to follow through. I am very indecisive so this part can often be arduous. Then, there's the pattern writing and proofing. And, if the design is going to a sample knitter then there's extra time put into proofing the instructions and sometimes there's a thoughtful back and forth with the knitter. After the sample is ready, then I wear it around—am I happy with the fit? Does anything need to be modified? When the pattern and sample are where I want them to be, then the pattern gets tech edited and graded, which can often take several weeks (or months) depending on their work load. I feel fortunate that I can photograph the garment and design the pattern layout rather quickly on my own. This is actually the part I like best. I love seeing the finished results—it makes all the work seem worthwhile.
Meredith: What's in your knitting basket today? Do you find your knitting changes with the seasons?
CBH: Oh, my knitting basket(s)! Right now I am working on a shawl in Plucky Knitter yarn and a blanket in Osprey. I don't like to have too many projects going at once, otherwise I find things don't get finished. I also have a basket full of yarns balled up because I need to swatch them for upcoming designs.
New England is a colorful place and changes so dramatically from one season to the next, it's easy to become affected by that. In Fall, I definitely want my rusty browns. But, spring comes and I'm drawn to paler shades, lighter weight yarns, and more open stitch patterns. Though, I must admit, right now I'm not able to knit to my fancy since I have some work-knitting to take care of...which is fun, too.
Thanks so much for your time and insight, Carrie, it's great to get a peek into your knitting world. We can't wait to see your newest creations in the pages of Taproot!
~meredith
Taproot Contributor :: Thorpe Moeckel
[gallery type="slideshow" ids="1456,1461,1458,1459,1453,1451,1452,1454,1455,1460,1457"]
Continuing with our Taproot Interview Series, we'd like to introduce you to Thorpe Moeckel. Thorpe's prose and poetry has been featured in issues 2-4 and 6-9 of Taproot Magazine. Through his writing, we are invited into his world of well-crafted words. Homesteading, family life, goats, wood stoves named Gracie and the beauty of every day reality are the threads that connects us to his stories. Thorpe teaches at Hollins University and lives on a small farm near Buchanan, VA, where he helps his wife Kirsten and their children make good eats from their Nubian dairy herd, sheep, poultry, and big garden. Thorpe is the author of three books, most recently Venison: (2010, Etruscan Press). Other works include Odd Botany and Making a Map of the River. Thorpe Moeckel's fourth book, Arcadia Road, is forthcoming in 2015.
Meredith Winn: Thorpe, you have the heart of a poet and the mind of a naturalist. You're an author of three books and have been awarded the 2011 NEA fellowship in poetry. Your life experiences (teaching, fathering, homesteading and being a river guide) take focus in your stories and poetry. When did you know you wanted to be a writer and a poet? Do you find farming/homesteading to be a complimentary work ethic to writing/teaching?
Thorpe Moeckel: As a kid, I messed around with words in my head, on paper, and in talking. Making up words, playing with the sounds and meanings of words, was always fun for me, and it was more than fun at times -- it was comforting, deeply so. In college, I mostly majored in the Maine Atlas and Gazetteer and various field guides, meaning I focused on what the woods and rivers and coasts and locals of Maine had to teach as much as what my classes did; a course with Frank Burroughs my senior year, where we read Faulkner, connected these impulses, made me start writing with a dedication I'd never known or expected. Faulkner's ways exploded something in me, as if what he heard (and distilled) from teachers, readings, lands, waters, people held a key, unlocked something in me. I memorized paragraphs from his works. I copied him badly and often. That same season, spring of '94, a friend Pete Relic gave me Denis Johnson's poems and his book Jesus' Son -- o my. I wrote and wrote a lot of imitative, crappy stuff and kept messing outside, leaving college and summers guiding on the Chattooga River to lead 30-day Outward Bound-adaptive trips for state-sentenced (Pennsylvania) youth offenders. For a few years I did this, six trips/180 days a year on the trail, sleeping out and so forth, all these wonderful, chaotic, tough, beautiful kids, learning more from them and the woods and weather and seasons, trying to, watching them, and I kept writing, wrote a lot in the early mornings and memorized poems on the trail during the day and fell hard into poetry. I didn't have the attention span for prose then – maybe my life was too nomadic.
The teaching job at Hollins led us to affording these 18 acres, but Kirsten and Sophie, my wife and oldest daughter, led us to caring for this place and making food the way we do. They are amazing with animals and plants and soil and people, all the loving, humble attention and care, the domestic life, the critters and plants and neighbors. They are artists of the domestic, great ones. They work and care their hearts out, and have a way as if everything they touch turns magic; it's amazing. I'm the often neglinquent maintenance man, but day in and day out there are chores and things to fix and tend to and so on, and I help. The last nine years or so of doing this led to daily, weekly, seasonal patterns and rhythms that made prose writing more natural than it had felt prior to living here. I like teaching writing and reading and great books, have inspirational students and colleagues, and I like the academic schedule, the time to help Kirsten and Sophie, and to read and write and mess around, when possible, outside the fences.
MW: What does a typical creative day look like for you? Can you share thoughts on balancing (or the illusion of balancing) homesteading a small farm, raising a family, and working outside the home? If you have a few words to describe your experience maintaining a creative work/life/career what would they be?
T.M: The only thing typical about a day is this: coffee, chores, meals, and if I'm not teaching or going to meetings at work, then maybe some writing. Lately the big writing shots have come at odd, sleepless times, sort of binge-sessions. But I take a lot of notes -- not really a journal, more drafting notes, sketchbook stuff-- and I'm always writing and working on sentences and paragraphs in my head. Always. Yes, I'm distracted, focusedly so. The things I'm working on, revising, they are audacious, and working around this place or driving and cutting wood or playing with the kids, making coffee, whatever, the words are moving, they are messing around, and I'm, in a way, herding him, and in another way, I’m trying to tear down all the fences, trying to let them be free and wild again.
To maintain a creative work/life/career: stay in the flow -- even when everything feels dammed up, you have to trust that you're in it, the flow, or close to it, and if you're not and can't find your way back in, you'll know it because then you'll be losing your marbles and that's no good for anybody, so you better find a way back in no matter what. Ways back in, ways to blow up the dams are various and seasonal and personal; some include working with my hands/body on a focused project outside, a jog or a walk, exploring with Kirsten and the kids, jumping in the creek – lots of ways.
MW: "Revision dreams" and patience is how you describe the process of drafting your written work. Can you share with us a bit of your writing process? Do you write or journal every day? How do you work through creative blocks and tap into the muse?
T.M: The response to #2 addresses this, but yes, weirdly, I used to dream sentences/poems being revised a lot more than I do now, or remember upon waking doing now.
MW: In your Bowdoin interview you mention being inspired by the poetry of Robinson Jeffers and how you saw his poetry relating to your life and how you were living at the time. Would you describe this as a pivotal point in your writing career? What other writers, artists and poets do you go to for inspiration?
T.M: I mentioned Jeffers specifically in relation to the poem Frank Burroughs showed us the fall of my freshman year at Bowdoin, a class called "Entering Nature." Frank was at that reading/interview. He's a great writer and person, a quiet, deep influence. It was a well known Jeffers poem called "Hurt Hawks." I was a very confused kid then and a poor student grade-wise, but I memorized that poem and spoke it a lot, and it helped keep me safe, I think, while I did a lot of things young men do. I was about to leave Bowdoin to learn about and from the Chattooga River, an amazing place, while working as a raft guide. I was lucky, so lucky to find my way back there (to Bowdoin) after a while, and lucky too to be able to keep working on the Chattooga in the summers, and I was a different, hopefully better sort of confused then, as now.
MW: As a professor in the MFA program at Hollins University, you are steeped in the written word and literary culture. Do you have any words of advice for new writers? Do you have any upcoming projects (written, life, farm or otherwise) that you are looking forward to this year?
T.M: Projects underway include, first, getting our family back into a healthy living space. We’ve had home health – Lyme, mold – issues, and it’s been a tough year, but we’re on a path towards changing that. I always look forward to the words that Taproot bases its issues on; these words bring a busy life into relief, give it shape. Also, there’s a book coming out in 2015, a trilogy of long poems called Arcadia Road, which is the road where we live, exit 168 off of I-81 in Botetourt County, Virginia.
My main advice for new writers is this: Turn off your phone, close your email, close all the parasitic internet stuff. If possible, do not even own a cell phone and use some of the money you'd save then to buy books or buy time to read them, read and live with them until you feel them in your blood.
We thought you'd enjoy hearing Thorpe read his own poetry. Click on the links below and listen to Thorpe read three of his poems: Southern Cresent, Beginning to Peel, and Trees and Stars.
~ meredith
Taproot Contributor :: Phoebe Wahl
[gallery type="slideshow" ids="1401,1398,1391,1392,1396,1390,1386,1388,1393,1389,1387,1399,1397,1394,1395,1400"]
It has been a great pleasure to work with our contributors for each issue of Taproot Magazine. Behind the scenes, the process of creating our magazine is multi-layered (from concept to sketch/draft to layout to print) - the magic you find between the pages of Taproot reflects not only our aesthetics and ethos but the creativity and imagination of our contributors as well. It's a symbiotic relationship, and one we feel grateful for.
We're thrilled to introduce you to our Taproot Interview Series, where you'll find nuggets of inspiration and thoughts from the people who help create this magazine. An interview with a regular contributor feels like a conversation shared over a cup of tea, between work and chores, all the while sharing a bit more from "behind the scenes" with the writers, crafters, and artists that make up our community. Phoebe Wahl has been with Taproot since the very beginning and we're excited to launch this new series with a glimpse behind the scenes with Phoebe as she shares a bit about her art.
Phoebe is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in illustration. She spends her time illustrating the imaginary worlds she inhabited growing up in the Pacific Northwest through painting, sculpture, sewing or storytelling. You can find her wherever there are pillows, children's books and a cup of tea. Her work can be found in each issue of Taproot. To see more of her work, you can visit her online at phoebewahl.blogpost.com
By way of introducing you to Phoebe and our new Interview Series, our editor Meredith Winn sent a few questions her way. We hope you'll enjoy her responses and the above gallery of photographs she shared with us.
Meredith Winn: You create a world of wonder with your art. Ferns, fairies and families living together; life within your pieces have a magical quality to them. It's a nostalgic blend of everyday reality with a taste of idyllic childhood. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, do you find that your surroundings as a child and young adult worked their way into the art you are creating as an adult? Where else do you find inspiration?
PW: I definitely feel like where I grew up, in Bellingham, WA had a huge impact on my visual aesthetic. The concept of home, and all of the sensory experiences I associate with it are hugely inspirational and important to me. I spent a lot of time outdoors growing up, hiking, camping and exploring. My dad is a Washington native plant nut and every evening we would go on a ‘Yard Walk’ slowly moving through the garden, listening to birds, noticing what had bloomed, how things smelled and felt and tasted. I spent days on end with my sister and the other neighborhood kids in forts and hideouts in the bushes. I wrote letters to the fairies who lived in a mossy corner of our yard, and got letters back! I am so thankful for the level of exposure I was given to the natural world from such a young age, it has played an enormous part in shaping who I am and how I interact with the world. The things I’m drawn to create now are very similar to the things I drew and painted as a child. Which is comforting in a way, that I really haven’t changed all that much. My work has really always been about nature, loving moments between people, and magic, tiny worlds. Books have always been and still are big for me, reading old favorites, especially picture books, never ceases to inspire. I love the work of Barbara Cooney, Alice & Martin Provensen, Elsa Beskow, Garth Williams, Roger Duvoisin, Elisa Kleven, Tove Jansson, Rie Munoz, Bonnard, Vuillard, Cassatt, Chagall, Matisse and Grandma Moses. The list could go on forever...!
Meredith: When you graduated from RISD did you experience a shift in your creative process moving from an art school setting into creating your own work schedule with a studio in your home? Do you structure your work day or does it flow naturally? What does a typical creative day look like for you?
PW: It definitely has been an adjustment learning to manage my time outside of school. But it almost feels like a re-adjustment, since as a unschooler growing up managing my own time working on different projects came very naturally. I fall into a loose schedule in the way that I work, but in general it’s all just time management of what needs to get done when. I’ll have periods that are more hectic, and ones that are more calm. It depends if the sun is shining, if my roommate Brailey is home to hang out with, if I’m reading a good book...
Generally I try to do any computer work I have to do, like answering emails, in the morning, and move on to physical creating (drawing, painting, sewing) by noon. One thing that I learned the hard way in college is that taking time to take care of yourself, to cook and read and relax and be social, can only make you a better worker. I find working from home makes it hard not to work ALL the time, since it’s always staring me in the face. My studio is also my bedroom. So I can’t escape. It’s important to keep reminding myself that investing in a happy, whole life for myself outside of my studio will only ever be reflected positively in my work.
Meredith: You have an upcoming children's book to be published in 2015. What was your favorite part of this process? Do you often incorporate story with your art? You work with many different mediums. Illustration as well as sculptures from felted, wired, and recycled fabrics are part of your portfolio and shop. Do you have a favorite medium?
PW: I am still very early in the process, so it’s hard to say. Writing a children's book and having it picked up by a publisher is definitely a really exciting reminder that writing is and always will be something I absolutely love to do. I think whether I’m conscious of it or not, story always incorporated in some way. It may never be written down, it may not be exciting and full of intrigue, but I have an overall knowledge of the world that all of my characters come from, and of their own individual paths and passions. So I guess you could say those are stories, for me it just knowledge that goes hand in hand with drawing someone...inevitably I begin to think about who they are and how they came to be on my paper.
The medium I am most comfortable in is watercolor, I’ve been painting with it since I was nine and it will always be special to me. But I also love printmaking, and working with drawing tools since I love line and texture. Pen and ink, colored pencil, charcoal and graphite... Collaging with paper is something I started doing in the last two years. I loved the dimension and solidity it added to my work, and the opportunity for detail and patterns incorporated from books and magazines. I have always loved and will always love working three dimensionally too, whether it’s with fabric, wire and felt, paper mache, or ceramics. I think all artists should give themselves the chance to work in 3D, it really informs understanding of the way shapes behave in space, which can only make you a better at drawing them.
Meredith: You recently shared your creative process with the folks over at Storyacious about the making of Moon Dance. You mention the importance as a working artist to make time to create pieces of art just for yourself, for "fun". Can you expand on this concept? As someone who makes a living from being creative, how do you stay mindful of balancing creative work and creative play?
PW: It can be very difficult, when the line is so thin between work and play. They’re so intertwined. Lately I’ve been thinking about this a lot, about how to keep myself engaged and excited about my own work, and what feels different about that than work I do for a client. I sometimes feel myself drawn more and more to work in abstraction in my sketchbook, or write for fun, or make something three dimensional that challenges me and feels completely different than an illustration. The other day I was frustrated with a piece and I jumped up, plopped myself in the middle of my room and started ferociously cutting up cardboard boxes and shaping them into a giant animal head. I never finished it. In fact, I ended up using it for kindling. But there was something about the spontaneous decision to sit down and make something ‘pointless’ that felt refreshing. I think it’s just good to allow myself to be unpredictable, and create things that keep me on my toes. Although it can be scary investing in that time, since it feels less ‘lucrative’ so to speak. But enormously essential. I still feel very new to the entire process of being a working artist, and I’m sure this feeling of work vs. play is something I’ll be dealing with for the rest of my life.
Meredith: You have a bustling work space and are always creating something lovely in your studio. Do you have any upcoming projects that you are excited about? We'd love to hear about what new projects you look forward to creating!
PW: Besides the book, I have been working on getting my entrepreneurial cap on by getting prepared in advance for upcoming holidays with seasonal goodies. For Mother’s Day I’ll have three new greeting cards and giclee prints coming into my Etsy shop. I’ll also hopefully be making some new mobiles that will be for sale soon. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about exploring animation further... that’s just a matter of investing in some equipment and time to explore...! I have a ton of long term ideas, ones that I may have to keep it in my back pocket until I have my dream homestead with a massive barn studio and acreage to do giant projects on…And of course I am VERY excited about all the upcoming work I’ll be doing with Taproot. It has been such a joy to have been a part of every issue so far. I can’t say thank you enough, both to the incredible Taproot team, and readers. The amount of positive feedback and love I receive from the Taproot community is so humbling and touching, I’m regularly blown away by everyone’s support. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for Taproot!
~ amanda & meredith
Beyond the Pages with Kimberly Peck
[gallery ids="1265,1266,1267,1268,1269,1270,1271,1272,1273,1274,1275"]
If you've received your copy of BREATHE, I'm sure you noticed the stunning photographs of apple trees and their blossoms opposite our Head, Hands, Heart divider pages, as well as on the back cover. Kimberly Peck shared those images with us, and we asked her to share some words here about the orchard and farmer photographed:
"Green Mountain Orchards, located in Putney, Vermont, is celebrating 100 years in 2014. It has been owned & operated by the Darrow family since 1914, starting with great-grandfather William Darrow, and passed down through the generations - currently going on it's 4th (photographed is Lara Darrow). The orchard has grown over the past 100 years, with a few acres purchased in 1914 to well over 100 today. They grow 36 varieties of apples over 100 acres, as well as 19 acres of blueberries, pears & raspberries (plus more fruits depending on the weather that year). They offer their own high-quality apple cider, as well as make-your-own-cider using their demonstration press. Pruning is done by hand, tree by tree, all winter long, and thining is done in the spring. Bees are rented to keep pollination going.
What sparked my interest, in addition to the orchard and the Darrow family being staples of the Putney community & southern Vermont, is that over the past 2 years they have installed solar panels as a way to switch to more efficient and 'green' energy. The energy needed to refrigerate their fruit over the winter months, sometimes as long as 8 months, (and they wholesale all winter long, with destinations as far as Boston) is an enormous amount, so they have found an alternative to help get off the grid as much as possible. According to Casey Darrow, in position to take over the business along with his two sisters, it was the most logical step to bring more sustainability to the orchard, as well as being more cost effective. They currently have around twenty-four 54KW panels, with more being installed this year."
Thank you, Kimberly, for sharing their story, and your beautiful images!
~ amanda