Review by 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
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by 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.)
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