Hello from my small printmaking studio in Arlington, Massachusetts, where I create handcrafted linocut prints of ancient folktales that enliven our sense of enchantment with the natural world.
The Old Woman Who Weaves Together the World (and the Black Crow who pecks at the loose ends and unravels it again). Inspired by Michael Meade’s retelling of this White Mountain Apache folktale in his book Why the World Doesn’t End: Tales of Renewal in Times of Loss.
I’m delighted to share with you several new handmade prints this season! Each print contains a precious folktale from the past, a mythos, reminding us of our ancient and intimate kinship with the wild, expressed with a multitude of endearing voices of the earth.
Whether it is the sound of clanking antlers, or the soft hoots and high-pitched trills of an owl, the mischievous pecking of a black crow, the flapping of a buzzard’s wings, the whisper of a tiger’s whiskers, or the salty spray of an ocean wave, these heartwarming stories lyrically weave us into the circle of life and remind us of our extraordinary human imagination.
The folktales featured this season are inspired by stories from: Korea, the Inuit of Greenland and Canada, the White Mountain Apache of Northwest United States, the Abenaki of the Northeast Woodlands of North America, African American folklore, and Nordic, Russian and Indigenous Sami folklore.
Pretty Pearl is inspired by Virginia Hamilton’s book, The Magical Adventures of Pretty Pearl, filled with beloved characters from African American folklore. A story where an intimate and enchanted relationship with the wild offers a source of resilience and practical means of surviving one of the most horrifying periods in history.
They are filled with folk magic, poet-prophets, earth-centered wisdom and complex characters that are like all of us: fallible, lovable and real.
They bring to life worlds where interdependence, reciprocity, and enchantment are valued and understood to be a source of survival as well as meaningful thriving.
We discover how folktales weave their way even into the lives of those who are most marginalized and oppressed, and how magic and enchantment with the wild is a source of strength and resilience in the face of unimaginable hardship.
We learn it is possible to find shared similarities despite our differences from an unexpected encounter with a Tiger; how to live with contradiction and paradox from an Old Woman who weaves together the fabric of the world as she stirs a cauldron of natural dyes made from lichens, mushrooms, bark or berries; and how unimaginable pain can transform into our greatest gifts from a young woman named Sedna who discovers her true Self in the depths of the Arctic Ocean.
These stories reveal our tender and enduring human courtship with the wild. They are our human inheritance, each offering a precious gift we can choose to take with us and pass on.
Left: Woodcutter & Tiger Brother is inspired by an ancient Korean folktale about a woodcutter who discovers that the tiger is his long lost brother. It is a story of transformation: from one of hunter and prey, to one of kinship characterized by interdependence, reciprocity and mutual respect. Right: Sedna is an Inuit folktale about how unimaginable pain can be transformed into our greatest gift to others. Though Sedna drowns at the hands of her father, she transforms from the role of victim, to the mighty goddess of the underworld who births all life.
I am so honored to be able to offer you a way to remember these ancient stories through the age-old technique of hand-carving and hand-printing that is as enduring and timeless as these beloved folktales.
You can read more elaborate descriptions of each folktale on my blog. Please also check out my Website Gallery (I highly recommend viewing this gallery on a laptop) where you can find large-sized photographs of each print, a brief summary and direct link to my shop. You can also click on any of the images in this newsletter and it will bring you right to my shop.
Selkie is a folktale from Ireland, Scotland and the Faroe Islands about a shapeshifting seal woman who falls in love with a human who steals her pelt. The story is about what happens when something vital to us gets stolen, and how important it is to reclaim it.
I am so pleased to announce that I have earned the Etsy Star Seller status because of great customer reviews, speedy shipping, and quick replies.
FeathersandFolktales is a woman-owned, small art business just getting started so if you have purchased a piece from me through Etsy or my website Shop, please consider taking a few minutes to write a public review as this helps my business grow. As always, I am truly grateful for your interest in my work.
Selkie continues to be my most popular print, and so I have done a second one. Selkie is a heartwarming folktale from Ireland, Scotland and the Faroe Islands about a seal-woman who loses her pelt to her lover, and how she finds it again. This story is about the loss of soul. . .and how important it is to reclaim it.
FeathersandFolktales uses earth-friendly packaging from EcoEnclose. Learn more about the steps I have taken towards making this shop more sustainable.
Please keep posted for the upcoming Fall/Winter 2023 newsletter which will include holiday and seasonal-themed prints!
The Owl Lover, an endearing love story about a rare white Great Horned Owl who falls in love with a human woman, an Abenaki folktale retold by Joseph Bruchac in his book Wabi: A Hero’s Journey.
If you are passionate about a particular folktale of the wild that is not already in my shop, please feel free to contact me with your suggestion (I cannot promise I will do it, but I will definitely consider it - especially if it is a folktale many people propose)!