(process) – from lands long ago

I have been wanting to add a weekly process feature to “Whither Will I Wander” for a long time … sharing traditions of woodworking,  toy making, and of old and perhaps forgotten artistry .

Hope you enjoy today’s post sharing a still living history of the the handmade wooden toy in three far away workshops….

(glimpses) – corners of the workbench

How lush and green it is outside ….
a rainy and joyful weekend … I am clearing the workbench for tomorrow’s work .

 … here are some glimpses of projects now in progress …. that I look forward to sharing in the coming week….

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Hope you are enjoying a beautiful weekend where ever you are.

at the worbench: At Play (Of Course!)

Even toys need to play …

There is so much to love about toymaking (and toys!)

I think toys -at the very heart- live quite a busy life even while they are at rest. So many stories have been written just about this – a toy’s hidden, private life- for a reason.

I am amazed how even when making the simplest toy, a little plaything can be so expressive and possess their own irrepressible, quirky nature.

 I’d like to introduce you to some of my newest friends: roaring picture book lions . Big-hearted, wooden lions with movable, little heads.

I could some how imagine these little lions stepping out of a child’s storybook just so they could be in the the palm of your hand to purr, tell their secrets (and roar!) to their hearts content.

Wishing you a bit of whimsy and childhood joy today! : )

 

about a little bird

March has been such a very nice month …a few things have resolved …. and how good it is to be moving ever closer to Spring!

 I received word about a week ago that my little folky bird was sitting on the March new stand!
 

Quail with a heart is a happy but shy bird by nature and was the first in my fanciful flock series -a collection of folk art push toys. She is  letter Q in an A to Z directory in this month’s issue (March 2010 )  of Pregnancy & Newborn (pnmag.com).  Thank you so much P&N!!

a little introduction to prettydreamer

Perhaps there’s still a part of you (that five year old or that eight year old child self) that managed to stay with you through all the years … well to me, that is the inspiration of Prettydreamer – that open-eyed, eager, curious, precious little being.

Toymaking is a way of giving life to the cherished plaything. Kind of an honorable old profession that brought with it a great excitement as birthdays and holidays do for children. Somehow, I hold an image of far away days of workshops and kitchen tables in many close and distant lands where love and imagination crafted and shaped a wonderful plaything. I remember a a special little red and spotted-white strawberry spinning top I had… though a little thing, I thought it might be one of the neatest things I ever saw and missed it when it went lost.

Now taking this a step further, to take a thought or idea (and all it’s little nuances) and with hand, tools, materials, color and intuition to form something you can touch -especially something with its own life such as wood and fiber – wow!

For me, whether making a toy for a child (or the child in us) or something for all that just captures the heart, that is the desire of Prettydreamer!

Thank you for visiting!