![Graceful stitching at the altar](https://lakevillejournal.com/media-library/an-assortment-of-kneelers-and-pillows-in-needlepoint-there-are-some-done-in-crewel-as-well-note-the-symbols-used-throughout-th.jpg?id=51909392&width=1200&height=675)
An assortment of kneelers and pillows in needlepoint’ there are some done in crewel as well. Note the symbols used throughout the items.
Judith O'Hara Balfe
An assortment of kneelers and pillows in needlepoint’ there are some done in crewel as well. Note the symbols used throughout the items.
So much of what we know about religion comes from the written word, but much can be found in paintings, sculptures — and needlework.
Famous tapestries hang in castles and museums around the world, but some of the most beautiful pieces can be found on altars, on kneelers, and in the vestments and hangings found in great cathedrals and in some small country churches.
Father Matthew Calkins, of Grace Church in Millbrook, is justly proud of the altar frontals, pulpit falls, veils, scarves and vestments that are found at Grace Episcopal Church. He recently shared with members of the church, a “festival frontal” that was found in a box in the sacristy.
“Unused for many years due to stains on the silk damask,” he said in describing the treasure. He said the piece was removed and will be remounted on a new frontal that has been ordered.
Grace has an Altar Guild, led by Director Jean Hayes, who along with fellow Altar Guild member Susan Nestel carefully brought out and arranged the many pieces, most of which are placed between absorbent packing and kept in a mapmaker’s cabinet with large shallow drawers.
Calkins said that the “festival frontal” piece was made by Erica Wilson and was her first major piece created when Margaret Thorne Parshall began the Grace Needlework Guild. It was shown for the first time for Christmas services in 1955.
The Thorne name is well known in Millbrook, and for those interested in needlework, the name of Erica Wilson also is probably familiar. How they came together is an interesting story, and a fortuitous one for Grace Church.
Parshall had an interest in fine needlework, gathering together a group of friends, they began doing needlework at her Smithfield home, calling themselves “The Ecumenical Group.” At one point Parshall grew interested in The Royal School of Needlework, and invited one of their graduates, Erica Wilson, to come to Millbrook to teach the fine art of needlework. Wilson taught needlework to the ladies, and the needlework treasures of Grace Church grew, the recipient of many exquisite pieces.
At the time Wilson was persuaded to come to Millbrook, she was sure she was going to a place far from civilization. In a 1973 interview, she said, “I brought a big trunk of my own wool, thinking I was going to Indian Country, where such things wouldn’t be available.”
One of a set of altar cloths and hangings at Grace Church, done by the Grace Needlework Guild which was most active in the 1950;s and 1960’s, even into the 1970’s. The current Altar Guild takes care of the items now, prized possessions of the church, still in use throughout the year.Judith O'Hara Balfe
Wilson found Millbrook pleasant and civilized; she lived and worked with the Grace Needlework Guild from 1954 to 1957, when she married renowned furniture designer Valdimir Kagan and moved to New York City. She opened a shop there, which she ran for 33 years and wrote nine books on various forms of needlework, had a syndicated newspaper article called Needleplay, and hosted two Public Television series.
Some of her designs werepublished by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Vogue. She gained the title, the “Julia Child of of embroidery” as well as “America’s first lady of stitchery.”
Wilson died 2011.
A third famous name, Marianna Garthwaite Klaiman, was contacted about the “festival frontal” after discussions with the Millbrook Historical Society and the Altar Guild Klaiman is a textile historian who specializes in the study of Anglican and Episcopal ecclesiastical textiles. She is currently working on sacristies of New York.
Klaiman has been a fashion and collectibles expert at Sotheby’s, a former costume and textile conservator and an independent textile scholar.
On Thursday, March 21, Klaiman visited Grace Church to examine some of the fine embroidered pieces, as well as some crewel work, hangings, kneelers, bell pulls and other items. She shared her knowledge of Erica Wilson and the Royal School of Needlework.
Although the frontal piece was the main attraction, there were so many items for Klaiman to examine — with rich colors, damasks, intricate designs, and patterns with silk and metallic threaded embroidery.
Klaiman was impressed with the items, and she was also impressed with the fact that there was documentation concerning the work.
“The needlework, aside from being beautiful when used during services, also attests to the services of the many generations who contribute to the legacy,” she noted.
Abstract art display in Wassaic for Upstate Art Weekend, July 18-21.
WASSAIC — Art enthusiasts from all over the country flocked to the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley to participate in Upstate Art Weekend, which ran from July 18 to July 21.
The event, which “celebrates the cultural vibrancy of Upstate New York”, included 145 different locations where visitors could enjoy and interact with art.
On Saturday, July 20, The Wassaic Project hosted numerous community events. Will Hutnick, the director of artistic programming, said “We’ve been a part of it since the beginning, this is the fifth year of UPAW.”
Most of the action was based at Maxon Mills, the seven-floor grain mill located in the heart of Wassaic. On exhibit was work from 30 artists, 18 of whom were past residents of The Wassaic Project. “Artists can come and do a residency here, meaning they live and work with one another for a couple months at a time,” Hutnick stated.
The first floor held work by Petra Szilagyi, who uses dirt and linseed oil to construct images of paranormal concepts, most of which include bats. They reflected that a recent trip to a fifth sense competition in Vietnam was the influence behind the exhibit.
Across the floor was Tiffany Smith’s interactive installation which incorporated plants and wicker chairs, all of which were objects associated with her Carribean upbringing. “The room being filled with plants is symbolic of hurricane prep which often included bringing the plants from outside into the house,” Smith said.
As visitors made their way up the narrow wooden stairs, music could be heard from behind the walls. The echoing music was Daniel Shieh’s installation, entitled Mother’s Anthem, which played a recording of the American Anthem in 30 languages. The languages ranged from Spanish and Italian to Navajo and Bengali.
Each floor was filled with artwork of all mediums, including painting, fibers, collage and photography. Rachel Bussières, who switched her concentration after watching the 2017 solar eclipse, uses varying light sources to produce lumen prints. During the wildfires, she recounted that she “made a new exposure each day to capture the changing air quality”.
Luciana Abait also incorporates the natural world into her pieces, instead using maps. An environmental activist originally from Argentina, Abait’s work highlights “environmental fragility, specifically the impacts it has on immigrants.” Her installation that is currently on display at Maxon Mills, takes the form of a mountain range built solely from maps of the US and Argentina.
Throughout the day, visitors could “Arm Wrestle 4 A Popsicle”. Winners had the choice of 3 playfully flavored trout-inspired popsicles - Nightcrawler, Power Bait, and Salmon Roe. Artist Katie Peck, who spent the day in costume as a rainbow trout, encouraged guests to step up and try their hand at an arm wrestle.
Shibori Indigo dyeing, group meditation, and dance workshops were open for community members of all ages as well.
While the daytime activities fostered appreciation of fixed art, a dance party until midnight at The Lantern Inn offered guests a space for performative art.
When describing the environment of The Wassaic Project, Smith emphasized, “It’s all community, it’s all love.”
A serene scene from the Amenia garden tour.
AMENIA — The much-anticipated annual Amenia Garden Tour drew a steady stream of visitors to admire five local gardens on Saturday, July 13, each one demonstrative of what a green thumb can do. An added advantage was the sense of community as neighbors and friends met along the way.
Each garden selected for the tour presented a different garden vibe. Phantom’s Rock, the garden of Wendy Goidel, offered a rocky terrain and a deep rock pool offering peaceful seclusion and anytime swims. Goidel graciously welcomed visitors and answered questions about the breathtaking setting.
Amenia Finance Director Charlie Miller welcomed visitors to his Bog Hollow Road garden in Wassaic, a manicured expansive yard with well-placed garden beds framing a far-reaching view. He said he plans carefully each winter for the next spring’s improvement.
The organic, environmentally responsible Maitri Farm was next, a lesson in coordinating agriculture with natural balance. The farm stand and a walk among the greenhouses brought visitors together.
Near the center of Amenia was the garden of Polly Pitts-Garvin, offering a chance to visit a robust vegetable garden with raised beds to be envious of and a remarkable absence of any insects or usual vegetable garden problems.
At Chez Cheese, the vast garden acreage surrounding the 1850s historic home of Joan Feeney and Bruce Phillips in Millerton, visitors could begin at refreshment stations where walking tour maps of the 15-acre property were available. There were streams and ponds with docks, and a dozen bridges arranged around the landscape. In the 19th-century, the property had been the home of the Wilson Cheese Factory, inspiring the name of the estate.
The Amenia Garden Tour was supported this year by Paley’s Garden Center in Sharon.
Gary Dodson working a tricky pool on the Schoharie Creek, hoping to lure something other than a rock bass from the depths.
PRATTSVILLE, N.Y. — The Schoharie Creek, a fabled Catskill trout stream, has suffered mightily in recent decades.
Between pressure from human development around the busy and popular Hunter Mountain ski area, serious flooding, and the fact that the stream’s east-west configuration means it gets the maximum amount of sunlight, the cool water required for trout habitat is simply not as available as in the old days.
This is not a new phenomenon. It does seem to be getting worse, though.
Gary Dodson and I convened where the creek makes its final run into the Schoharie reservoir, part of the New York City water supply system, on a semi-broiling Thursday afternoon, July 11.
The goal was simple. Catch smallmouth bass, which abound in the lower section of the river.
This was hot stuff — as in an 80-degree water temperature.
The air temperature was actually slightly less at 77.
After negotiating the intensely slippery rocks, festooned with treacherous algae, the first major pool presented several difficulties, with a back eddy competing with a main flow and several large trees draped about the whole thing.
I hit on the simplest strategy, which was to flip a weighted attractor fly called a Tequilley into the start of the eddy so it would proceed slowly but steadily into the maelstrom, sinking all the while.
This worked. A proper adult smallmouth, with bronze coloring and vertical stripes, took the thing.
The point-and-shoot camera finally died, however, and I was not going to try to fumble my phone out for a nice but routine fish photo.
Why not?
Because I guarantee the fish would have made a sudden, last-moment bolt for freedom, causing me to drop the device into the drink.
Gary moved downstream while I continued trying to annoy the residents of the pool, succeeding a couple of times with different colored Wooly Buggers.
Then we all got bored and I moved off, where Gary was catching rock bass and cussing them out for not being something else.
I have to admit, they are not the most compelling critters. Something about the red eyes.
This latest trip was dominated by extremely tedious and distasteful Harry Homeowner activities, but on both Wednesday and Thursday mornings I prowled Woodland Valley Creek. By “morning” I mean “dawn,” because that was when the water temps were down to a barely acceptable 64.
I made the acquaintance of several stocked browns and of a handful of their wild cousins. The wild fish are smaller and nimbler.
The successful ploy was an Adams wet fly, size 16, drifted behind something big, like a Parachute Adams or Stimulator.