|| vintage botanica ||

 

Vintage Botanica illustrations are some of my very favorite imagery.

The attention to detail of the representations are not only informative but posses a unique lovliness. I collect herbalism, botanical, and gardening books and many of them have beautiful full color images of the plants in study. These images are some I have collected while meandering cyber space as I do not have digital versions of my print collection.  

 

 

 

 

 

 



|| snow and weaving ||

 

 

Me and my trusty Doc Martins.

 

On Monday, there was a terrible winter mix that hit Tulsa. For Midwesterners who see all four seasons in a week, the one most renowned for disabling our daily schedules is ice. Going out and about that morning as an individual with particularly good driving skills, I wasn't worried about the ice and snow blanketed roads. However, at some point, the house key fell off my broken carabineer and successfully left me stranded outside.

 

Luckily, I have been wonderfully welcomed into a lovely creative community at the Workshop at Made in the Pearl district. Making my way there with snacks, hot chocolate, and yarn, settled in to learn how to weave. I would have probably just gone home and been lazy had my house key not fallen by the way side.   

 

 

Using a simple "how to" from the adorable, creative and informative blog by Elsie and Emma "A Beautiful Mess" and a borrowed lap loom, I successfully tried my hand at weaving. It seemed to me to be much like knitting but simpler, and allowing for easier freedom of pattern design.  Below is the final product - approx. 8in wide and 12in tall (excluding the fringe). You cant tell the actual size very well from the photo. It took me about four and a half hours with a lot of trial and error.

 

I'm proud of the final product and am very excited to make more. Learn different patters, collect more yarns (but of course!) and continue my knowledge of fiber arts. Lap loom sets online are pretty expensive, however a friend gave me the dimensions for building a home made one. I know what Ill be building this weekend! All  in all - you should try your hand at weaving, its super fun and anyone can do it!  

|| charles freger ||

"Painted Elephants"

Recently I have discovered and fallen madly, completely, and utterly in love with the work of masterful portrait photographer Charles Freger (www.charlesfreger.com). His series focuses upon the uniform of the individual and the subtle positioning of the subject in contrast to its background.

In my mind, Freger's work can be considered a delightful visual ethnography. Every subject no matter how magnificently adorned or simply dressed receives his careful, attentive eye.  With curiosity and respect, his captures portray the essences of expressive cultural practices.

 

Freger's series "Wilder Mann" is an expose and collection of unique European Pagan cultural practices and traditional dress. Below are some of my most favorites.

 

"Wilder Mann"

 

"Wilder Mann"

"Wilder Mann"

|| vvhitch hunts of medieval europe ||

Torture techniques included thumb screws,
iron maidens, witches shackles, the rack,
and having their finger nails removed.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, Europe experienced a mass hysteria towards those suspected of being vvitches or practicing vvitch craft.  Historically this period in Europe has been referred to as "The Great Witch Craze" which in the very title emits a disregard of the severity of the brutality that took place. Unspeakable torture and cruelty was done to women and men suspected of consorting with the devil or evil spirits. Evidence points towards a grossly under discussed gender genocide.

 

The following is an excerpt from "A Brief History of Witchcraft Persecutions Before Salem" by Linder Douglas:  "Over the 160 years from 1500 to 1660, Europe saw between 50,000 and 80,000 suspected witches executed.  About 80% of those killed were women.  Execution rates varied greatly by country, from a high of about 26,000 in Germany to about 10,000 in France, 1,000 in England, and only four in Ireland.  The lower death tolls in England and Ireland owe in part to better procedural safeguards in those countries for defendants."

Women burning at the stake. Often times the victims would be drowned or hung before being burned.

A wood cut of a "Witches Sabbath"

 

The North Berwick Witch Trials of 1590

|| new gems in the shop ||

 Spent the day filling up the esty shop with a bunch of new jewelry and a few vintage pieces. 

Among a 1970s woven Native American belt and a 1960s grey floral frock dress, I listed raw Ametrine earrings and a Lapis Lazuli bracelet set.

 

A mid century design by Navajo artist Terry Martinez with sterling silver and dark turquoise gem stone. Size 5 1/2. Makes a wonderful pinky ring or a midi ring!

Click here or at the top to take a peek at the shop!

|| knit-nerd ||

50.50 wool/acrylic blend - "Oatmeal"

 

My mother taught me to knit when I was in fourth grade. I was terrible at it but continued to do it anyway. By the time I got to high school I'd gotten a little better. One day I brought my knitting to school with me at Tulsa School of Arts and Sciences here in Tulsa. A friend saw me and asked me to teach her. I agreed and without knowing, laid the foundations for a knitting club that is still going strong at my high school today.

 

Finished scarf, with buffalo bone pin

 

It has a lot of different meanings to me. It always marks the beginning of fall and winter because who wants to hold new wool in their hands in the heat and mugginess of Oklahoma summers? Its a pleasant past time with infinite uses and a glorious palate of dyed yarns and specialty needles. My favorite things to make are cowls, scarves, infinity scarves, and beanies, but I also enjoy making hair bows and ear warmers. Things I'd like to make but haven't gotten around to it yet include fingerless gloves, leg warmers, and a blanket.

 

Making a huge chunky knitted blanket is a dream of mine - only you have to have the bones for a shopping cart full of skeins!   

 

A couple great places to look for yarn locally is Loops and surprisingly Michaels has a good selection of quality yarns as well.

|| mw logo ||

 

 

With a very big thank you to my father in law, Keith Whitfield, I now have a beautiful logo! I doodled it one day with a crummy ball point pen at work. He cleaned it up, gave it better shape and made it a solid logo. I love the way my initials look like old Norse runes.  

I also finally got to spend the time putting together proper tags for my jewelry inventory!

 

 

You can find a handful of my jewelry designs for sale at the "Made: Indie Emporium" in downtown Tulsa on 5th and Boston. It is a store of amazing local artists and designers with everything from t-shirts to home décor. Currently, that is the only location that I have jewelry at. Hopefully, I will have some inventory at their Pearl District location soon.   

 

Support local, Shop local!

|| family stories ||



Great Grandmother Myrle Orga (Wier) Cooley and Great Grandfather Dana Cooley.

 

When the Irish born Cooleys landed on the East coast of America, their name underwent a significant change. Due to the amount of illiteracy and the phonetic challenges of Gaelic dialects, surnames began to be spelled the way they sounded to the individual documenting it. Whither it was for immigration papers, birth certificates, licensing and the like, names slowly underwent small changes at a time. Although those changes are unknown to me, at one time Cooley (Koo-lee) in it's original Irish origin is spelled Kaulie (Kau-lee). You can see the differences in the representation of the vowels is likely to do with its pronunciation.  

 

Cooley kids, 1930s

 

Although I didn't have the pleasure of meeting either of my paternal great grand fathers, I knew both my paternal great grand mothers: Myrle Cooley and Sylvia Gillam. The picture above is of the Cooley children and several friends (my Grandmother Susan was the little girl standing on the bumper of the car). In the background of the photograph you can see Dana's sport plane that he built himself for fun.