Toronto Craft Alert

Man, I LOVED Thunder Bay.  Never having been this far north, this was the most anticipated stop on my craft tour of Ontario and I was not dissapointed.  Incredible industrial architecture, a surprisingly robust Finnish culture (the largest Finnish population outside of Finland, who knew?), super warm people, insane thrift, and a bit of a “land that time forgot” vibe going on in the restaurants, cafes and shops.  My discussions with makers revealed that a cultural regeneration is taking place and that we should [...]

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Stop two on my Ontario craft road trip was Kitchener-Waterloo, and a definite highlight was visiting the Joseph Schneider Haus Museum and Gallery, a Pioneer Village-eque spot in downtown Kitchener. The central building is a Georgian farmhouse built by one of the area’s first pioneers, Joseph Schneider, a Pennsylvania-German Mennonite c. 1816. The rooms are filled with gorgeous woven Menonnite blankets and quilts, linen feedbags, super heavy duty functional ceramics, hand woven [...]

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Spark Box Studio

With TCA wrapping up in just a few short days (whoa!) I wanted to try to squeeze in some pics from my Ontario craft odyssey to Prince Edward County, Kitchener Waterloo, and Thunder Bay this past November as part of an Ontario Crafts Council funded project to uncover regional issues for makers practicing outside of large urban centres. The trip was a real eye opener to this Toronto native about different cultures of craft [...]

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There is a long history of quilting in Maryland, from the Amish quilts of Southern Maryland to the spectacular Baltimore album quilts of the 1800s. I spotted a few quilts at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History a few weeks ago, among them was this quilt commemorating the inspiring life of the abolitionist Harriet Tubman, made in 2002. On a related note, for some unbelievably interesting reading, do a quick online [...]

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It’s an interesting time to be in the United States right now– protests have been heating up in New York City and across the country for weeks now. At the Smithsonian Museum of American History, the foyer is full of amazing historical and cultural odds and ends, including– fittingly– union flags, placards, and these political pinback buttons from the 1960s-1980s. I especially loved this one…

Tara is [...]

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Last Saturday, I went on a fast and frantic tour of a few New York City art galleries on a day trip from Baltimore. 8 hours of driving, 6 hours of hanging out…what was I thinking?! Saw some great stuff though, including a model of the Expo ’67 Pulp and Paper Pavillion in a Chelsea gallery, as well some amazing sculpture by American artist Do Ho Suh. The glowing [...]

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