The Seminole Patchwork Book by Cheryl Greider Bradkin; Simply Seminole by Dorothy Hanisko; The Complet Book of Seminole Patchwork by Beverly Rush with Lassie Wittman
My friend Beth handed me a book, The Seminole Patchwork Book by Cheryl Greider Bradkin, a few months ago, telling me that she thought I'd like the decorative work inside. Yes, I liked it.
I like squares. I'm fascinated by the surprises of diagonals. I'm captivated by repeating patterns, especially geometric ones. I also like the challenge on working out things that are hard to understand. Seminole patterns check all these boxes.
The Seminole Tribe of Florida are Native Americans who, against all odds, did not relocate to west of the Mississippi back in the 1800's after President Andrew Jackson aggressively pushed for all Indians to be "removed" from the East. We can credit the cunning, courage, resourcefulness and intelligence of the few hundred Florida Seminoles who persevered for developing an extraordinary method of creating colorful decorative bands of cloth.
The Seminole people used their skills to make distinctive clothing, quilts, dolls, and more. They did not, as far as I can tell, use paper. As an artist who works in paper I set out to decipher and recreate their patterns using paper. It's taken countless hours of failures and successes to figure out a method of working with paper that does justice to this gorgeous system of Seminole decoration.
I would like to share this adventure of discovery with anyone who cares to join me.
A couple of years ago I showed up for a half-hour a week to teach a series of zoom classes focusing accordion folds, Accordion 101. These were free workshops for anyone who wanted to join in to be part of what I was teaching. It was great fun. I'd like to do the same sort of thing for Seminole Patchwork with Paper.
Seminole Patchwork, using paper
This post is a sort of Save-The-Date announcement for joining me in exploring Seminole Patchwork techniques using paper.
I will be starting on November 18, 2023 on Zoom. I'm in New York state, EST. I'll begin at 1:00 pm EST but doors will open at about 12:53. If you want to work along, you will need to print out something specific each week (TBA weekly). I recommend that you get yourself a pack of Astrobrights Spectrum 65 lb. Cardstock Paper which you can purchase from Staples, Target, Walmart or Amazon. Each session will start with a few minutes about some of what I've learned about the Seminole people, then we'll get to work, and end promptly at 1:30. Zoom links and supply list and links will be in a later post, probably about a week from now.
My intention is to present for about 20 minutes, then have some time at the end of the session when can people unmute to ask questions and to share. Unlike the Accordion 101 classes, I plan on recording the classes for later viewing on YouTube, which, undoubtably, people will need to do. This is tricky stuff!
Seminole Patchwork, using paper
Learning about the Seminole people and their way of arranging colors and shapes. is all relatively new to me. Looking forward to having you join me as I learn more. Stay tuned.
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