Where We Make: Bonnie Sennott
Bonnie Sennott is an artist and knitwear designer living in Amherst, Massachusetts. She blogs about her creative work at Blue Peninsula. You may recall that I am currently knitting her Pomegranate pullover, and I can't remember the last pattern I found so pleasurable or satisfying to knit. Bonnie has drawn inspiration from Squam Lake (where we met last year) for patterns like Deephaven and Rockywold, and here she describes another beautiful setting that creatively (and literally!) nourishes her.
***
Although I have a studio (a spare bedroom), I can’t seem to confine my creative impulses to just one room. There’s work all over the house—sketchbooks on the dinner table, embroidery on the coffee table, knitting projects on the sofa—even on the kitchen counter!
But my home is a private space, so I thought instead I’d write about one of my favorite places to work away from home: the Bookmill in Montague, Massachusetts (population 8,400), a former mill that houses a used bookstore, café, and restaurant, CD store, and artist studios.
My Peppernut shawl artfully draped over a chair as I work on a pattern in the Lady Killigrew Café.
Quirky rooms awash in light pouring through big windows; comfy, well-worn furniture; an ever-changing selection of books and notecards; good WiFi—all this makes the Bookmill a favorite hangout for writers, artists, and other creative folk (and booklovers, too!)
“Books you don’t need in a place you can’t find” is their marketing slogan. But it’s really not that hard to find. And the bookstore? Amazing! Lots of books I do need—I’ve found some great stitch dictionaries there. On sunny fall weekends, the Bookmill can be crowded. But I always find a nook or cranny where I can knit or embroider. When my eyes or hands need a break, I head into the Lady Killigrew Café for an iced tea or fresh salad. I love the view from the café windows and how peaceful and at ease I feel there—so much so I named a scarf pattern after it. As I stitch or knit while listening to the Sawmill River rush by, I find my mind quieting down—sometimes working there is like creating and meditating at the same time. It’s a beautiful place, and since I’ve been going there for seventeen years, it really does feel like a second home.
***
Where We Make is a series on creative workspaces. Read the submission guidelines here. If you'd like to contribute a profile of your own space, please email me at cometpartyATgmailDOTcom.
On the Nature of (Beautiful) Things
Here's the very belated Christmas present I mentioned in my post on selfish knitting.
It's for my dear friend Jill, who gave me some really beautiful vintage clothing after she moved from Minneapolis to the D.C. area last spring.
One of the pieces was her wedding ensemble—embroidered linen, since apparently she was a bit of a hippie! I knew I wouldn't wear the blouse, so I asked her if it was okay to cut it up and turn it into something else, and she was cool with that. On our Turkey trip we were reading about Lucretius in a New Yorker that got read cover to cover at least twice, so this project was inspired by a line from De Rerum Natura:
As I ruminated on this line in particular, I became enchanted with the idea of one form of love turning over into another—one kind of love creating another. Elliot and Spencer's parents, like ours, are no longer married, and as a child of divorce I think about this from time to time: that my parents had to come together because we wanted to enter into the world through them, and that in a cosmic sense they may have had very little choice in the matter. (I don't actually believe that, but it's always fun to ruminate on these Big Questions, right?)So as I stitched, I enjoyed the symbolism in cutting up Jill's wedding blouse to make something completely different (and equally pretty, I hope).
I did the embroidery 100% freehand. I didn't have a plan, and I didn't trace a design onto a piece of Sulky Solvy (though that was my original intention). I wanted to see how it would turn out if I took a more organic, "type B," anti-perfectionist approach. Actually, I can't see that it would have turned out any nicer if I had sketched something out beforehand. I'm very happy with it!
I used my all-time favorite calico for the backing.
Happy Stitching
Some things I've been stitching since June Squam 2012:
A gift for Olivia, stitched in Jessica's class.
A few shots of Kate's birthday present, the angry rooster translated from Colombian graffiti, which I began in Rebecca's class: Dissolving the Sulky Solvy (the product you use to transfer the design).
A wedding gift for my cousin Jenni. She asked me to read this poem during the ceremony, so I thought it would be fun to stitch up my favorite lines, with alternating mirror-writing to add some visual interest.
Olivia really wanted to stitch, so I got her some yarn embroidery kits from Jo-Ann for her birthday. (She's six already!!!)
A mystery gift (lyrics! I bet you can guess the song.)
For Kelly and Jeff, with lots of ♥ from Mealey D. (See Cocktails & Calico and Musings from a Beginning Quilter; proper quilt post coming soon!)
Squam 2012, part 3
(Me, stitching. Photo by Jessica Marquez, who has a book coming out soon!)
I leave for Squam again in a little more than three weeks. I've heard the "vibe" at the September session is quite different than the gleeful fiber-fest that is June, which is just one of many reasons I'm looking forward to the experience. The September session has painting and mixed media classes, jewelry making, and some rather "woo woo" stuff as well. I must say, I'm very excited for the "woo woo."Most exciting of all, though, is the writing workshop I will be facilitating on Saturday morning. I'll tell you more about it afterward, but here's a peek at my prep:
The workshop is called "No-Stress Storytelling." I'll be building on some of the exercises we tried out in my library sessions to get everyone creatively limbered up. Of course, they'll be coming off two full days of art workshops, so some people will be ready to go, but others will need a bit more encouragement. The prospect of a blank page can be paralyzing, especially when you have a nasty little voice in your head telling you you're not a writer, who do you think you are, blah blah blah. The beginning is a tender spot, and I want to honor that. So: there's no pressure. No one else is going to read what you write, unless you choose to share it. You are a writer--a writer is someone who writes, not just someone who has published a book or gets regular bylines. And so forth.Squam is usually on the surface of my thoughts, no doubt because I've been working on my embroidery from Rebecca's class:
Bonnie put this photo of me (with Rebecca and Jeanne) on her blog, and it made me laugh. (See why below.)
Now check out my art club yearbook pictures:
(That's also me in the top left, holding my "Birth of Violet.")I like to think I've grown a great deal since Mr. Heusser took those photos in 1998/1999, but it's comforting to see that the best parts of me--that passion, that single-mindedness--those I get to keep forever.(Squam, part 1; Squam, part 2; Anne's post on Squam 2012.)
Squam 2012, part 2
(Squam, part 1. More Squam recaps here.)
When you come looking for sugar,your bag will be examinedto see how much it can hold;it will be filled accordingly.
--Rumi
Evenings at the Playhouse. Incandescent Elizabeth. Ahhhhhhhhh.
I made new friends, and grew to love my "old" ones even deeper. It is the loveliest feeling to know there's noplace else you'd rather be, and no one else you'd rather be with.
So in love with @pettymagic. One of the most beautiful people I know! http://t.co/3Nswl36b— Anne Weil (@flaxandtwine) June 10, 2012
Mumsy came along this year, and we had a great time. We took an embroidery class together, and she also took Helene's food photography class:
Savory scents wafted out of the Deephaven kitchen while we worked on our personal monograms in Jessica's embroidery class:
Jess's "E," Crystal's "J," Carol's "B," my "O," and Suzanne's "S." The "A" in the background is Jessica's sample. What a great gift idea! And Jessica is a fantastic teacher.
This shot is so Amy.
Bonnie had her sampler from Rebecca's class last year beautifully finished.
Renee's project inspired some serious embroidery envy! (There's a flamingo on her head!)As you can see, I took two embroidery classes, and they were both awesome. Jessica and Rebecca have very different styles, and I really admire them both.
I was a total enabler at the art fair ("should I?" / "BUY IT, BUY IT!") That gorgeous dress Anne's wearing is from Hodgepodge Farm. My goal for next year is to draft that pattern out of Cal's book and get it sewn! Also, the lovely sweater I have on is Bonnie's Pomegranate. I can't wait to knit it!(I will also be blogging soon about the dress I'm wearing in that photo. Yes, I made it!)
Squam 2012, part 1
Anne, Amy Lou, Jill and Jeanne, Saturday afternoon, Greenwood dock.
Evening light reflected by the surface of the lake.
Remember this?
A cicada shell (?) stuck to the porch screen.
Cragsmere.More soon.