Making a life : working by hand and discovering the life you are meant to live

Title:

Author:

Falick, Melanie, author.

ISBN:

9781579657444

Physical Description:

319 pages : color illustrations ; 29 cm.

Contents:

Introduction; Keep Looking at Your Hands; A Conversation with Ellen Dissanayake: Making the OrdinaryExtraordinary; One: Remembering; Jessica Green: A Weaver's Prayer; Renate Hiller: The Spiral of Our Galaxy; Sarah Jerath: Playing in the Mud; Judith Mac Kenzie: Harnessing the Power of the Wind; Annemarie O'Sullivan: Drawing a Line; Two: Slowing Down; Maura Ambrose: Balancing Motherhood and Art; Natalie Chanin: A Slow Fashion Pioneer; Kristine Vejar: Dyeing for a Better World; Claire Wellesley-Smith: Textiles in the Landscape; Three: Joining Hands

African American Quilt Guild of Oakland: Each One, Teach OneKeiko Hirosue and the Brooklyn Shoe Space: Sole Mates in the City; Lizzie Hulme and Chateau Dumas: Kindred Spirits; Peter Korn and the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship: Integrity, Simplicity, and Grace; Elsa Mora: Art Is a Way; Jack Sanders and Camp Heavy Metal: Sandlot Values; Four: Make a Home; Lotta Anderson: Homeland; Megan Fowler and Geëlle Boling: A Mother's Love; Ann Ladson: Curiosity as Wayfinder; Nikki McClure and Jay T Scott: Day by Day; Frances Palmer: An Art of One's Own

Laura Poulette and Katie Startzman: Thinking a World into BeingFive: Finding a Voice; Wendy Chien: Learning a New Language; Alex Devol: Journey as Destination; Chip Dort: Living with a Big Brush; Tif Fussell: Work in Progress; Joelle Hoverson: An Internal Imperative; Brittany Watson Jepsen: An Artful Life; Nathalie Lété: I Make, Therefore I Am; Mandy Pattullo: All My Life Is in That Quilt; Dolores Swift: New Moon; Saying Thank You; About the Author

Subject Term:

Artisans -- Biography.

Handicraft -- Philosophy.

Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.) -- Philosophy.

Meaning (Philosophy).

Added Author:

Allen, Rinne, 1973-

Summary:

Why do we make things by hand? And why do we make them beautiful? Led by the question of why working with our hands remains vital and valuable in the modern world, author and maker Melanie Falick went on a transformative, inspiring journey. Traveling across continents, she met quilters and potters, weavers and painters, metalsmiths, printmakers, woodworkers, and more, and uncovered truths that have been speaking to us for millennia yet feel urgently relevant today: We make in order to slow down. To connect with others. To express ideas and emotions, feel competent, create something tangible and long-lasting. And to feed the soul. In revealing stories and gorgeous original photographs, Making a Life captures all the joy of making and the power it has to give our lives authenticity and meaning. --

Holds:

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Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Bayport Public Library	920 FAL	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Hardwood Creek Library (Forest Lake)	920 FAL	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Park Grove Library (Cottage Grove)	920 FAL	Searching... Unknown
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	920 FAL	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Wildwood Library (Mahtomedi)	920 FAL	Searching... Unknown

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A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2019

Why do we make things by hand? And why do we make them beautiful? Led by the question of why working with our hands remains vital and valuable in the modern world, author and maker Melanie Falick went on a transformative, inspiring journey. Traveling across continents, she met quilters and potters, weavers and painters, metalsmiths, printmakers, woodworkers, and more, and uncovered truths that have been speaking to us for millennia yet feel urgently relevant today: We make in order to slow down. To connect with others. To express ideas and emotions, feel competent, create something tangible and long-lasting. And to feed the soul. In revealing stories and gorgeous original photographs, Making a Life captures all the joy of making and the power it has to give our lives authenticity and meaning.

Author Notes

Melanie Falick is an independent writer, editor, and creative consultant--and a lifelong maker. Formerly the publishing director of STC Craft/Melanie Falick Books, an imprint of Abrams, she is also the author of Knitting in America , Kids Knitting , and Weekend Knitting , as well as several other titles. Find her on Instagram @melaniefalick and at melaniefalick.com.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Falick (Knitting in America) profiles authors from her former Abrams imprint, STC Craft/Melanie Falick Books, as well as other artisans she admires, in a remarkable series of 30 vignettes that simultaneously comfort and stimulate. "Even though I didn't need to make my own clothing... to stay alive," she says of her own crafting pursuit, knitting, "I needed that bond to feel whole, competent and grounded." Falick asks two basic questions, of herself and others: "Why do we make things by hand?" and "Why do we make them beautiful?" Among the artisans profiled are Natalie Chanin, who helped pioneer "slow fashion"; Charles "Chip" Dort, who cuts linoleum blocks to print fabrics; and the members of the African American Quilt Guild of Oakland, who use the medium to explore their lives and their California city's history. Other subjects include weavers, spinners, dyers, and shoe, spoon, and furniture makers. Falick sprinkles choice quotes throughout: "For the next two hours," says Elsa Mora to her paper-cutting class, "the only thing that matters is that we're here and we're going to do this... and do it well." Falick's treasury, sumptuously photographed, will appeal to anyone who admires the people dedicated to making the world around them more beautiful. (Nov.)

Booklist Review

Writer, editor, and knitter Falick (Knitting in America, 1996; Kids Knitting, 1998; et al.) gathered this lovely and thoughtfully inspiring collection on makers and their arts. In the 2019s, Falick quit a comfortable and arts-focused senior position in publishing to find a better life. A self-styled journey took her around the U.S. and to international centers of art, like Jaipur and Oaxaca, and led to these 30-plus portraits of artists men and women, young and old who believe that ""buying pre-chopped, pre-baked"" makes us become ""estranged from nature. These very up-close-and-personal profiles, supplemented by elegant color photographs of people at work and their projects, capture the spirit of making and the dedication that's behind the art. Readers meet Maura Ambrose, who's still figuring out how to balance motherhood and quilts. Windy Chien mastered a different knot every day for one year. Knitter and embroiderer Joelle Hoverson mustered up courage and cash to open Purl Soho in Manhattan. In wholehearted agreement with the author: When we get to the point where we aren't able to make things with our hands and feel no mastery, we feel lost. --Barbara Jacobs Copyright 2019 Booklist

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Summary

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Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Booklist Review

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