August 3, 2013 - Ah, Berea

Headed out early today, Greg was riding 51 and 1/2 miles today, very mountainous.  At one point he was booking down a two mile decline at 40mph!  There was a group of bikers keeping a distance back behind him and at the bottom of it they cheered and gave him a thumbs up as they passed him and continued on their way!  Very cool.  

I had my usual winding journey through the mountains, with an occasional opportunity to take a pic...

Got to Berea and pulled into Oh! Kentucky campground.  The nice lady there, took me around (golf cart!) to find a nice level site.  Once I was settled in, decided to go explore the town.  

The other day I finally got to researching all the areas we'd be passing through in Kentucky and found neat places to "sight see".  

Berea was one of them.  It's a college town as well as a hub for local artisans.  What a glorious day!  

Right outside of the welcome center were these large sculptures of hands - to signify handmade crafts...

I've seen sculpture like this before...cows (don't remember where) and lobsters in a town in Maine near Bar Harbor.  Each one unique...so neat.

I started in this area called Old Town, where there were artisans, some in the midst of doing their craft, in the different shops - glass blowing, weaving, metal smithing, woodworking, painting.  The first shop...

...had a watercolor painter, but unfortunately she wasn't there at the time.  I've never been able to master watercolor and would've loved to talk with her and see her at work. Her chair, paints, brushes and art work were niched into a section of the shop...  

In the same shop was a woman glass blowing beads - I found out it's actually called lamp working.  She asked a young boy who was with his parents to pick out colors from these thin colored strands of glass.  She then created this beautiful dark blue bead that had glittering starbursts inside it.  He shouted "Wow!"  It was great. The bead would then be put in a kiln to finish the process so it wouldn't crack.  

There was a weaver in one shop with this huge loom.  There were rugs, placemats, coasters and other creations in the shop.  I have a small loom...got it for Christmas one year...it's still in the box! (what am I waiting for??!!)

Went into a metal-work jewelry and sculpture shop, Gastineau Studio, and first thought, eh, I rarely buy jewelry and was going to leave.  Then Ken, the artist and owner of the shop started talking to me.  Next thing I know I'm telling him all about the arts & crafts business my mom and I have.  We talk about traveling, art and business.  He describes how the process works - he melts bars of lead-free pewter and pours them into molds to create the jewelry, ornaments and napkin rings.  He also makes pewter cups by spinning a pewter disc on a lathe. He showed me the machines he uses and the wax molds. The molds were circular around 7 inches in diameter and around the circumference were different designs.  One was Celtic and was actually one part of a clasp that he uses for the jewelry he makes. I thought it was a charm! 

Having a charm bracelet when I was a kid was such a big deal to me. Little silver trinkets...there was a book you could open - it might have been a Bible I got when I was confirmed, the state of Ohio (think my dad brought that home from a business trip), a musical one, I think a blue bird...the others I don't remember.  It was stolen years ago. Maybe my new Celtic "charm" will be part of a new bracelet someday!

The lady at the welcome center said there were two other parts of the artisan community in town - one was a couple of blocks away, so I headed there first.  Got a parking spot right in front of the shops.  And the first thing I see is...another hand!

Then I see this sign...

...and I'm thinking, well, okay, quilts are neat but they never really did anything for me. But it intrigued me...for them to have an exhibit, there must be something extraordinary here...

Wow, was I ever impressed!  They have taken quilting to a whole other level I didn't even think possible!  Talk about thinking outside the box!  It was called a Challenge - "Search for an apron to inspire your design...No strings attached...except to use a technique new to you.  Search your kitchen drawer, your mother's, grandfather's, anybody's...the apron is the impetus...for your work".   

The first quilt just blew me away...

One of the ladies from the arts council, Paige, shows me this pamphlet that went along with the quilt.  It tells the story of each of the 15 women depicted.  As I read the introduction, I was brought to tears...

...and as I turned each page, reading of their struggles and victories, I was humbled. Such amazing women.

I wanted to remember all I was seeing and to my delight, Paige said I could take pictures of anything I wanted to!  So I did!  

She showed me her entry...she was struggling with the challenge until she came upon her son's apron from his first job...and the rest fell into place! 

I loved the story behind this amazing quilt...
(you should be able to make pictures larger by clicking on them)

Got a kick out of this one...

...the middle top - I have that exact sachet in one of my "treasure boxes" from my youth!  











And check this out Mom!  Remember those paper dolls from the McCalls magazines?!!

There were also quilts that weren't part of the challenge...

Paige showed me three other beautiful quilts she had made...

I thought this one was stunning!

Other quilts featured...

As I was talking with Paige, she asked if I had done any quilting, and this memory pops into my head - I had!  Many years ago I started one, with squares of fabric from clothes worn by me or the kids when they were young.  I have to find that and finish it!  But the real challenge would be to make a quilt from an apron I have of my grandmother's.  What a wonderful keepsake that would be!

With all the inspiration I am getting on this adventure, I'll have so many projects to do when I get home!  

Speaking of that, I finally leave the quilting expo and stop into the Berea College Artisan shop, and find two young ladies - one was busy weaving the seat for a stool.  Started talking to the other about these hand made brooms in the shop. They sold the seeds to grow the stalks...

Yeah, you guessed it...I bought some!  She looked up online if I could grow them in NY and the answer was yes!  This plant is so neat - the stalks look a lot like bamboo and the top of the plant becomes the broom. They usually cut it off and dye it colors and attach it onto stalks or other woods with wire or hemp rope.  I can't wait to plant the seeds!

Talked with her about the college.  If you live in Kentucky, tuition is waived.  Room and board is determined by how much you can afford. And each student is required to work 10 hours a week taking care of the college.  Sounds similar to Warren Wilson, doesn't it Nicole?!

It was such a wonderful afternoon, really nurtured the artist in me!  And just as I was finishing my tour of the town, Greg rides up finishing his trek of the day!

We end the evening with a walk to see if there are any signs saying they have church service at the campground...no signs, but discover a neighboring campsite...