Shakers

studio rainbws
in circles & squares

waxed linen thread spool
'Thought Forms' squared chart
stacks of Shaker boxes
Winsor & Newton 'Revival' dot card
& grids of buildings clad in 'beauteous colors'

on eclipse day - 
circular images -
maps & cities
rugs & blots
sun & buckets
utopias & moons


1/Polly Jane Reed, Spiritual Map. The Holy City.1843, Philadelphia Museum of Art
2/ Mary Gartside orange blot, An Essay on Light and Shade, 1805, Dr. Alexandra Loske
3/ Elder Joshua Bussel, Shaker Village, Canterbury NH, 1850 - detail, Winterthur Library
4/Edward Deming Andrews color slide, Winterthur Library
5/Knitted rug attributed to Sister Elvira Hulett, C. 1893, Shaker Museum | Mount Lebanon

Mother Ann Lee
29 February 1736 — 8 September 1784

Cosmic feminist karma
Inspired when first in,
When women invited in.
A broadsheet to marketh the course, to report. 

Lace repurposed, given new life, liberties,
infused with psychedelic indigo.
A spectrum instructed with solemnity
Occasionally, light flickers. 

Mother Ann Lee embodied cosmic feminist karma
bringing a new religion into the worldf
ounded on principles so radical that they endured persecutions 

One could say her broadsheet was verbal;
she being illiterate to written words
yet literate in all realms cosmic
. 
The written  Testimonies of her contemporary believers 
and works of the later visionists-scribes themselves of hearts and leaves
and maps and flowers and trees-- 
scripted scrolls brought down from spirits’ energies spoke to her cosmic energy. 

Stone Prison 
How can I but love my dear faithful children
Who’re willing to bear and suffer with me
When I was on earth and in a cold prison, I cry’d
To my God to remember me 

I prayed to God to protect my dear children,
To strengthen the weak and comfort the strong
For I was distressed and in a stone prison,
And none but my God to protect me from harm. 

—excerpt from ‘meetinghouse’ --  spoken word by Brece Honeycutt & Shaker song/Stone Prison sung by Miriam Cantor Stone. performed at Shaker Heritage Society for Moonbow #6, July 29 2023.
.

color & circles & spools

color encircling chores

spindles painted brilliant chrome yellow

spools of red and yellow

spools twined with indigo thread

Shaker Spool Holder & 24 Spindles

2 1/2″ H x 8 3/8″ W x 4″ D

Made by Brother James Johnson, Canterbury NH c. 1850

Object and images courtesy of JKRussell Antiques

90,000 artifacts (textiles, ceramics, furniture, ironwork….)
20,000 American & European imprints
3,000 record groups of manuscripts, trade cards, photographs, ephemera
7,500 plant specimens
1,000 acres

+Specialists, Conservators, 
+Librarians, Archivists,
+Curators, Gardeners,
+Scientists, Fellows

“Research is a material”
and earlier this year,
as a Maker-Creator Fellow,
I explored Winterthur's Shaker collection
(and others) and loved every second
of researching, working with archivists, 
conservators, curators,
fellows and librarians;
and walking on their incredible grounds.

Artists & Makers
consider applying for 
Winterthur’s Maker-Creator Fellowship!
Happy to answer any questions.
Applications due 1/15/2024
 
Application info right HERE

community encircled

past & present

near & far

‘Hands to work. Hearts to God.’

Shaker mops made from so-called ‘waste’

fabric pieces include chair and rug tape & old cloth

sleeping mats & ottomans made from ‘plarn’ aka recycled plastic shopping bags

Thanks to Shaker Museum | Mount Lebanon for the panel discussion about reuse and the necessity to make with one’s hands and use what we already have in hand.

Panel moderated by Shaker Museum’s Sarah Van Buren with Jerry Grant (Shaker Museum ) Elise McMahon (likeminded objects), Sabine Steen (Triform Camphill) and Fahari Wambura (Fahari Bazaar)

As Jerry Grant noted, if you can end the day knowing that you made something, there is a satisfaction for both body and mind. 

Find more information about The Alchemy of Re.Use on view until December 17 2023, HERE

.
studio slanted light
Shaker color research
Mary Gartside’s colour blots
circular stitching.

Mary Gartside (c. 1755-1819) published 3 books on color theory. Her 1808 An Essay on a New Theory of Colours is illustrated with these amazing ‘colour blots’ —abstracted views of ‘white, yellow, orange, green, blue, scarlet, violet and crimson.” Abstract before JMW Turner, before Kandinsky, before…………

Thanks to Alexandra Loske  for her research on Gartside. [quotes and info from Alexandra Loske, ‘Color: A Visual History from Newton to Modern Color Matching Guides’]