Folk Art

Redwork Embroidery and the Suffragist Tea Cozy Project

The focus on suffragists from upstate
New York was a conscious decision that I
made, based on my own research and desire
to highlight lesser known people within the
movement. I was inspired to put faces to
the over 70 names I had uncovered in meeting
notices and articles in Warren County
newspapers by creating embroidered portraits
of suffragists throughout New York
State. So far, I have embroidered six Warren
County women.

From the Waterfront

Over the years, I have met some amazing photographers and artists who, like myself, are captivated with the South Shore bay houses of Long Island. One of those people was artist Dan Pollera, who passed away in March 2022….Another artist who we admire is Kathy Herzy of West Islip, who has painted numerous scenes of traditional maritime activities, including clamming, birdwatching, waterfowl scenes, and traditional boats and fish houses.

Portrait of an Artist: Ellen Fjermedal

It was in my fingers!” Ellen Fjermedal explained. Ellen, a demure, but determined and spry elder, started drawing when she was a child in Arendal, on the south coast of Norway. Now living in Victor, New York, she has a studio and display area at home where she paints rosemaling (Norwegian) or kurbits (Swedish) decorations.

May Baskets

Come springtime, generations of children in the greater Glens Falls area spent weeks making May Baskets to distribute to friends and neighbors on the first of May….The custom traveled to America, noted in the late 19th century by Lina and Adelia Beard in their 1887 book, The American Girls Handy Book: ‘A May-day custom, and a very pretty one, still survives among the children in our New England States. It is that of hanging upon the door-knobs of friends and neighbors pretty spring-offerings in the shapeof small baskets filled with flowers, wild ones, if they can be obtained; if not, the window-gardens at home are heavily taxed to supply the deficiency.’

From the Editor

John Michael Vlach (1948–2022) served as the Director of the Folklife Program at George Washington University (GWU) for over 32 years. He was a giant in the field, a Fellow of the American Folklore Society, a leading expert on folklife, folk arts and craft, vernacular architecture, and cultural history …

From the Director

With an expanded and competent staff, New York Folklore
has experienced increased activity within the
greater Capital Region, including the inauguration
of the Mohawk Hudson Folklife Festival in
Albany’s Washington Park. In addition, NYF is
experiencing a resurgence of activity in folk arts
education, much of which involves partnerships…

NYFS News and Notes

NYFS hosts the Folk Arts Roundtable December 2-4, 2014, in Troy. NYFS presents two separate traveling exhibitions: “Farm and Field: The Rural Folk Arts of the Catskill Region” and “Stable Views: Voices and Stories from the Thoroughbred Racetrack.”

From the Director

A
maker of utilitarian
baskets held in high
regard by his Haudenosaunee
Mohawk community, Henry Arquette
was one of nine award honorees for
2014, and the only artist from New York State
to receive the National Endowment for the
Arts National Heritage Fellowship Award for
2014.

Reimagining Irish Lace in Western New York

“(Re-)Making Irish Lace” attempted to understand how a particular art form has been interpreted by different groups of people, locally and abroad, for nearly 200 years, comparing past and recent practice…how the unfurling story of Irish lace is playing out in the daily lives of Buffalonians.

Artist Spotlight

George A. Olsen, Jr., practices the art of wood turning to craft tools, including rolling pins, spatulas, and pepper mills.

Drawing the Line

Throughout history humans have responded
to a profound need to translate the experience of life into marks, signs, and
symbols onto an infinitely varied number
surfaces, using an equally varied number
of tools and materials, ranging from compressed
charcoal on a cave wall to a rod
of gold on specially coated parchment.
The medium of drawing has chronicled
the history of humankind—a rich and varied tapestry comprised of countless
interwoven threads, each one bearing the
mark of an individual in relation to a series
of larger wholes. For the novice, the
act of drawing can prove irresistible: give
someone a pencil and a sheet of blank paper,
and they will likely leave their “mark.”
For the accomplished draftsman, drawing provides the satisfying experience not only
of exercising a well-honed skill, but also of
giving eloquent form to a vision.

Artist Spotlight: Noah Khoury

Artist Spotlight: Noah Khoury

Noah Khoury is  a second generation blacksmith, as his father was a blacksmith and a welder.  In his teenage years, he worked alongside his father,  teaching middle-school aged youth at a summer workshop program in Altamont, NY called the Helderberg Workshops.  After...