Talented, Caring Women

Last week, volunteers from nonprofit corporation Designing Women exhibited work in Freeport. Donations at the door benefited the Coastal Studies for Girls Organization, a science and leadership semester school for 10th grade girls. The artisans and crafters presented an astounding array of gift items for giving to loved ones of gifting yourself.


December 12th, at Woodford's Church in Portland the Designing Women are at it again. The $2.00 donation at the door will benefit Women Unlimited, a nonprofit providing technical training and resources for Maine women, minorities and disadvantaged workers. There will also be a luncheon offer if you work up an appetite shopping. It promises to be a fun "girls day out".


The designing women, as you will see on their website, work in many mediums: soft sculpture, glass, note cards, jewelry, paper, soaps, pottery, wearable art, porcelain and fine art. The wonderful part is that their work is so individual. When you give a gift from Designing Women you know you are giving something original from a Maine Artisan. Not only do you gift with pride, you are also helping the Designing Women give back, with the donations made at the door to very worthy organizations.


Visit the Designing Women show December 12, 2009 from 9am-4pm at Woodfords Church at 202 Woodford Street.


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-Kathryn

Diane Bowie-Zaitlin to Offer Workshop

Encaustic by Diane Bowie-Zaitlin

Local artist Diane Bowie-Zaitlin is offering an encaustic workshop at her studio December 5th & 6th from 10am-3pm. In this contemporary approach to encaustic painting, classes will work with color, transparency, manipulation and texturing of the wax surface, layering, oil stick, collage and mixed media. Classes are small and flexible to accomodate the various interests of the students.

Encaustic painting is also known as wax painting. Pigment is added to hot beeswax and applied to a panel with metal tools before it cools. This artform dates back to ancient egyptian mummy portraits! Paintings can be abstract and layered like a collage or can be similar to oil/acrylic in complexity and style.

6th-Century Encaustic Icon

For more information on the workshop, email Diane.

Priscille Verrier's Saturday Class

You may know Priscille Verrier is teaching a "Hue Can Do It" class, for the Biddeford Adult Education. You may know she taught a "Learning to "See" Like an Artist" Watercolor Workshop recently, but did you know she is offering continuous Saturday watercolor classes at Highland Home Gallery? Highland Home Gallery is right across from Aquaboggin on route 1. The idea at Highland is for artists to learn tips and tricks to jump-start their creativity. If you've always wanted to try watercolor, this is a perfect way to get started with a teacher-artist who wants your imagination to soar.

-Kathryn

Why Archival Matters – Part 2

When preserving your fine art, your child's masterpiece or a family heirloom archival is best.

Archival materials are best because they:

1. Slow paper degradation,
2. Neutralize acid by-products,
3. Protect against damaging pollutants,
4. Are fade and bleed resistant,
5. Buffered to maintain alkaline pH,
6. Are acid free and lignin free.

We can appreciate those precious treasures now and we can, with just a little knowledge, safeguard those same dear memories for our great-great grandchildren.

Why Archival Matters - Part 1

Precious family treasures like Grammy’s Christening Gown, Great Auntie’s Sampler or Grandad’s Medals seem to be appreciated more in these trying times. While we are putting greater value on the links to our past, we realize that we need to preserve these heirlooms for the generations to come. To take the guess work out of that process, we need to know some simple things about protection.

First, you want to learn anything you can about the object: who made it, when, any interesting story that relates to the object, where it fits in historically, if that applies. For example, a 2nd cousin wrote down the story of how a 1st paycheck from the phone company at the St. Louis Worlds’ Fair ended up inside a goat. She illustrated the story with a photo of a 1900’s Switchboard, a Fair Program and a photo of the goat with our great grandfather. So remember to label paper times with a soft pencil. Then you should scan the photo. Take photos of bulky items and store them on CDs. If you make a few extras, relatives can store them too.

Secondly, purchase an inexpensive light meter and hydrometer, to check humidity and the amount of light. Store those treasures away from direct sunlight and in an environment between 40 – 50 % humidity, at 68 degrees. Books within those light and humidity guidelines can be stored on shelving if given generous space. Squeezing too many books in too small a space, can damage the book spines. Avoid basements, attics or outside walls. Use acid-free mats, backboards, acid-free albums and boxes.

Every six months, examine your heirlooms for holes and sawdust. Wear cotton gloves or handle as little as possible with clean hands. Never store your treasures in wooden chests, because the sap they exude can stain and spoil. Never store in plastic drycleaner's bags because they trap moisture. Remove all pins, paper clips and staples, to avoid rust. These Archival tips matter because your family’s story should be preserved. It matters to your generation and the ones to come.

-Kathryn