Studio Notes: September - Repost from Substack

Hello again!

This month I’ve been splitting my time between the loom and newly: the easel. I have been weaving new pieces to enter into the North Carolina State Fair next month and diving into my first soft pastel painting class. It feels good to stretch in two different directions at once, one thread by thread and the other stroke by stroke.

On the loom:
I’ve been working on Halloween hand towels and a table runner. The rhythm of weaving feels familiar and grounding. It’s the kind of slow work that makes me forget about time passing and de-stresses me from my day job shuttle throw by shuttle throw. Photo below for a little peek.

Halloween Ghost Towels on the loom

At the easel:
Soft pastels (not to be confused with oil pastels that are all the rage right now) are brand new to me, and I love how immediate and messy they are. It’s a completely different energy from weaving or even watercolor: quick, bold, colorful. My hands are always smudged and there’s pigment in places it doesn’t belong but it’s worth it. Here are two of my very first pieces from a week long class I took at the John C Campbell Folk school earlier this month along with the pastels I bought (with a coupon!). This is my third time going to the folk school and I love it more each time I go.

My first first pastel paintings

There’s something exciting about letting these two art styles coexist. The color choices I’m making in pastel already feel like they’re influencing what I want to weave next. I don’t know if these two crafts could be any more opposite from each other: math and planning heavy weaving to artsy and flowing soft pastels. That might be one reason why I enjoyed the class so much, it’s just so different than the types of activities that usually occupy my days.

I’ll be sharing more photos from all creative worlds as I go. For now, here are a couple of snapshots from the studio in September:

A selection of finished soft pastel paintings

Studio Helper

Mornings at the Folk School

Purple Greyhound Painting in Pastels - my first attempt at a more “real” animal instead of a super stylized version

Thanks for following along with my experiments and meanderings. Handmade life is never just one thing and that’s what keeps it alive and interesting.

-Danielle

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Baskets. So many baskets.

Finally put up shelving in my office, I've only been in this house for a bit over 5 years and owned the shelves for 3. Some things just end up taking a back seat to everything else. 

 

I took up basket making a few years ago and several in this photo have been made my me, not all, but several. I have not been super busy being creative this year, the weight of the world has been getting to me but here's a few from the last couple of years. I took a class at my local arts center and found it super fun so I joined the NC Basket Guild and have been going to their annual conventions. The 2025 one is next weekend and I'm looking forward to the three classes I signed up for!

One of my own designs, I did it in a second color way with a few changes and entered it in the NC state fair, got a blue ribbon! I did not expect it to do so well. 

This was a class I took at the convention in 2024, a Nantucket basket class, I got second for it. 

I didn't enter this one, but I really love it: 

It's my favorite colors. I have it holding a bunch of knitting yarns in my office right now. It's quite large. I found a few mistakes in the pattern which is why I did not end up entering it into the state fair. I bet it would look stunning in a solid color instead of the space dyed I used. The rim took me months, it was a huge pain in the butt but it turned out so good looking. It was worth the time. One of my friends is keen to come over and make some baskets when the weather is nicer and we can do it outside on my deck. I'm hoping to connect more with other crafters this summer. Doing all my hobbies alone isn't as fun as I remember it being when I worked in an office. 

My second basket ever was this lovely cat head basket I made from a kit I got at Earth Guild in Asheville in 2022: 

 

It's currently under my nightstand holding my greyhound's outfits and some misc other bits and bobs. It was supposed to have a handle but something happened and I lost those pieces. I'd love to make it again with the experience I have gained since then. My shaping would hopefully be even better now. 

Hope everyone is having a good 2025 so far. 

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Once a year update - winter

 Looks like I never updated again. Sometimes I miss blogging. I recently deleted the social media apps from my phone but still want to see what fun things others' are up too. There's still blogs out there it just seems a bit harder to find nowadays with the socials as options. I've been looking around discord which seems to have replace forums too. I'll find my people. Maybe I need to start prioritizing going to guild meetings again! 

Here's some crafty updates. 

Pulled a 8/2 tencel scarf off the loom for my mom's Christmas present. Yes, it's February. Better late than never. :)

Still wet and hanging to dry. 

Also measured out a warp for my next set of towels:

This is just half of the 480 threads, it's two different shades of gray. I'm using a kit from Jane Stafford for huck towels. I have a huck book as well, so I'm going to try to do a bunch of different ones. I accidentally used the charcoal for the warp when I was supposed to use the other grays, but I think I'll make some napkins with that instead. And yes, I ordered more charcoal so I could use it here too. 

I also finished this temari a few months ago. I think it turned out really well. I'm not sure about everyone else, but I cycle through hobbies a lot. 

Speaking of that, I learned to knit and crochet last year. Finished a sweater in January and a scarf in October. And a hat.

I think we sometimes forget that these hobbies take time. And that's the appeal of them, but in a world filled with instant gratification it's hard to remember good things take time. 

Farewell for now, but hopefully it's not an entire year until I post again.

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