Adventures with the Scout Plein Air Box

In the beginning of September, I (Walter) felt the call of adventure, packed my Scout Plein Air Box and art supplies, a few changes of clothes and set out – this time a little further from home. An early morning Uber drive, two plane rides across the country, and a 4-hour van trip later, I found myself in the high country of Yosemite National Park, with a 50 lb pack on my back accompanied by three fellow adventurers and our guide. We were on a 5-day hike into the wilderness to escape the crowds of people and the endless demands of our busy lives, to camp under millions of stars that illuminated the night sky, to swim in the refreshingly freezing lakes fed by melting snow, to climb Vogelsang Peak, and for me to plein air paint.

Finding a nice spot to paint

Vogelsang is the one on the left

Painting by Fletcher Lake

The sunrise

A journal entry during the trip

I saw a bear yesterday! We were sitting drinking coffee and in the distant clearing a bear was moseying up the hill towards the lake. I burst out, “There’s a bear, there’s a bear!” We all jumped up and followed him. For a moment we lost him in the brush and when we got to the lake, he had somehow crossed from the left side of us to the right and he was super close! Preoccupied with breakfast, his head was down in the water. Occasionally he popped up with a mouthful of small fish. Chomping away, he looked around slowly then got back to snacking. When the water hole no longer proved satisfactory to his appetite, he turned away from us and went further into the reeds. We could see the tops of the tall grass shaking and hear the water splashing. He seemed to be having a grand time!

After breakfast we packed our day bags. With a few snacks, a rain jacket, and my paint box, I was ready. We set out through the meadow over a creek and began to climb a winding trail up to Vogelsang Lake. After a quick swim, we continued the trek to Vogelsang Summit. The going was steady but gradually slowed as the path steepened. When we reached the pass, we transitioned into rock scrambling. Loose gravel made for unsteady steps, and I stuck to boulder hopping, avoiding the gravely path as much as possible. On the final ascent we trail blazed through thick low piney brush. We bushwhacked our way up, intermittently discovering a patch of bare rock only to lose it again under the gnarly needled thicket.

The last few feet we had to hoist ourselves up onto rock ledges using the cracks as holds. As we scrambled up the final rock the world opened around us. Below lay a vast array of granite peaks dotted with ice melt lakes. The pine trees stitched each mountain together and the range went on as far as our eyes could see, disappearing into the hazy horizon. We could see Half Dome jutting up from the rest, completely bald, a formidable hunk of granite! We sat up on that razor edge ridge for a while and I attempted to capture the land below with my paints, brushes and canvas. During the descent we stopped at Vogelsang Lake for a late lunch and an invigorating swim before heading back to camp. What a day! How amazing life can be!

Rock scrambling

Painting atop Vogelsang

Leaving Vogelsang Summit

The Bear!

Vogelsang Lake in the distance

First painting of the trip

Right outside my tent

Goodnight!

Coming Soon: Postcards and Prints of the Yosemite National Park Plein Air Paintings!

Toulomne Meadows

Vogelsang Summit

Fletcher Lake

The view from my tent

The Scout Plein Air Box: A Backstory

The Scout Plein Air Box was inspired by our endeavor to make art every day. Each one is handmade in our West Chester, Pennsylvania workshop. It compactly secures all of your essential art supplies for painting outdoors. Fill your box with your favorite colors, paintbrushes, and sketchbook. Find your spot and quickly transform the box into a mini studio. Set it on a flat surface or mount it on a tripod, snap the liquid jars, brush holder, and easel in place, clip on your canvas and you are ready to paint. Read our earlier blog post for more of the Scout's story, or dig into its features and uses with our video walkthrough!

Sendak for Knitters!

Like everything we make at Peg and Awl, we made the Sendak first for ourselves, and then for everyone. Our objects most often arise as something we desire, something missing in the world.

As one who writes and draws, it was easy to share with other writers and drawers — and the Sendak exploded. But we are often asked if it will work for chefs, make-up artists, knitters, crocheters, sculptures, &c. as well. We love seeing photographs pop up sharing these other uses — but it isn’t often.

The question of knitting comes up the most, so with the help of Brooklyn General Store, one of our stockists, we set up a Sendak for a beginner knitter.

If you use your Sendak for other things, please share with us – we’d love to see.

Share with us on Instagram, Reviews, YouTube, or whereever you spend your screen time – we’d love to see!

A Mini Sendak works too!	An Orra Portrait notebook – perfect for project ideas and notes.

A Classic Sendak in Slate.	I made this for stitch markers from scrap. We had a great response so are working on Leather Scraplings now! See our Waxed Canvas Scraplings here!

A Pouch for Littles!	The back pocket is great for notebooks.

Pockets filled with knitting tools from Brooklyn General Store	Lavender Treasures from Warwick Furnace Farm

Starter set-up in Our Knitting Sendak

• Stitch Markers by Allstitch Studio
• Short Blade Scissors by Merchant and Mills
• Tape Measure by Merchant and Mills
• Ruler and Gauge Set by Cocoknits
• Yarn: Skydance Fibers
• Interchangeable Knitting Needles
• Orra Sketchbook by Peg and Awl (!)

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Some Shared Sendaks!

Sendak Mini for Knitting Needles and Supplies Photograph by Alice O.	Sendak Mini for Storing Crochet Needles! Photograph by Maryse M.

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Sendaks in Clay Studios

My clay set up in a Moss Sendak. Still rather clean, as I've not made time to frequent the local clay studio. 

My introduction to clay was inside of this big yellow clay pot!	Cara Graver’s Cob Studio, a time traveling adventure.

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Here is my friend Darla Jackson’s Sendak in All Black. A well-loved and daily used clayey wonder! 

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Your Reviews!

Shop Tijana’s original illustrations in her shop, here!	“Beautiful artist roll is from @pegandawl and it’s a keepsake piece to get you round with everything you need in one place, it fits whole sketchbooks, papers and palettes in, next to all the other usual stuff that you can get into these. And if that is not enough it’s extremely beautiful.” –@tijanadraws

Back to School!

“I will draw in class!”

Søren and Silas have always been draw-ers, and that they draw has always felt like a good thing to us. But when they went to public school, (and me before them), the message was different: drawing is distracting, or it shows you aren’t listening, or, just don’t draw because I said so!*

My guys actually had a relatively good public school experience, but this message persisted. When six year old Søren came home one day and told us that he was punished for drawing, we decided to do a little Back to School campaign with our recently launched desk caddies, chalk tablets, pouches, and journals. Søren partook in a magical alternative version of the punishment writing lines with “I will draw in class.”

I still love this.

That was then, this is now. We have been homeschooling for five years, which means that our creatures have a lot of free time to do what they love, as homeschool is very rarely (if at all) all of us at a table with textbooks and lined paper.⁠⁠ Søren, 15, is now dual enrolled in our local community college. Dual enrollment is open to most high-schoolers in America and very common for Homeschoolers.⁠ His first class is drawing!

As a family, we tend to go against a lot of currents in our world, and are fortunate to have built our own business, which gives us the freedom to do so. We’ve shared fragments of our recent decision to smallen Peg and Awl and move from a massive city building on an acre of land to our barn in Chester County, but I haven’t yet articulated on paper or screen, the whole of it – if there is a whole of it. My exhaustion of the words efficiency and busy certainly played a role. But here, the new-to-me word salutogenesis comes to mind.

Simply put, we smallened Peg and Awl for our mental and physical well being. We started Peg and Awl as a way to adventure and bring objects to life, and we ended up becoming managers of a business much bigger than expected. In smallening, we are gaining our freedom to make and explore once again.

Let us remember The Lorax:

“I went right on biggering… selling more Thneeds. And I biggered my money, which everyone needs.”
–Dr. Seuss

If you have any questions, I’d love to try to answer them. Perhaps here is where I open a Q+A. I think our story is an interesting one, unfamiliar, but also the kind of story that is gaining confusing and wondrous commonality these days, so I’d love to share!

*after sharing this on IG, some delightful souls came forth telling their stories of how they encouraged drawing in their classes. Absolutely not to be missed – there are always exceptions!

Shop Our Shop!
 

I will draw in class.	I will too.

Our Pouch Collection

A Poem by 7 year old Søren.	Anselm Bookbinding Kits

Our Desk Caddies

The Sendak Artist Roll

See Søren’s work here!

Everywhere, Astonishments!

99% Invisible Podcast: Roman talks with Brian Merchant, author of Blood in the Machine, about the Luddites – a story that I, along with so much of the world – have misunderstood! PS: I first learned about them a little over a decade ago at a museum in Philadelphia that also had the story all wrong. I am on a wildly swinging pendulum around the conversation of AI, and this was the most compelling connection for me yet.

The Doctor’s Farmacy Podcast about Function Health: the other side of the efficiency conundrum! What is wrong with our healthcare system, and how we cannot seem to abandon the stuck channels for costs and fear of the unknown, and how Function Health is aiming to redirect our understanding of ourselves as impacted by the common standards of living, eating, &c. into a healthier future!

Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones: We all enjoyed the first episode, as Dan Beuttner, a familiar name in our house, visited Okinawa and some of their many centenarian inhabitants.

A Ramble About Clay and My New Moss Sendak! 

We designed the Sendak for drawing and writing, and I have used mine for that since 2016. But my recent tumble into clay gave me a reason to choose another colour, and gather some new-to-me tools to fill it!

My introduction to clay was inside of this big yellow clay pot!	Cara Graver’s Cob Studio, a time traveling adventure.

‘“Who in the world am I?” Ah, that’s the great puzzle.’
–from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

I used to drive around and explore flea markets, find abandoned houses, and take photographs with a heavy Hasselblad that hung around my neck and bruised my chest. I had a car full of props and costumes, and bags for collecting abandoned house treasures like dresses, photographs, and letters. I didn’t count minutes or hours – I just sang and let the wind move through me as I drove. I’d drop off film and wait a week or more to pick it up – the time between was for thinking. Returning to the camera shop for my 12 square prints and negatives filled me with wild anticipation and gratification for the ongoingness.

This pacing of days somehow became a forgotten, foggy past – until I found clay and Cara’s studio. I began with directions that didn’t lead to the right road in the woods. I wandered amongst tulip poplars in the wintry dimness, looking for an oversized handmade pot, where the ‘open studio’ that I signed up for was about to commence.

When I found it, everything quieted. The ‘building’ was yellow and otherworldly – out of a book, another time, or imagination. As I do, I wandered around, taking it all in with an abundance of questions and shutter clicks. Inside, there were no corners. Diffused light poured in through reclaimed windows, each a different size and each with a deep windowsill. The wood-burning stove cut the chill in the air – I could have stayed for days.

I chose a seat, and got to clay-ing.

After the making was the waiting. As I returned the next week to pick up my fired treasures, I was reminded of the days when I used to drive around and explore flea markets, find abandoned houses, and take photographs with a heavy Hasselblad that hung around my neck and bruised my chest.

The wood burning stove kept us all warm and cozy during a bit of a flurry.	The composting toilet, outside in the cold, was a kind of treat!

The Sendak Artist Roll

Shop Our Stationery Collection

We plan to interview artists and makers who use the Sendak, and share their stories and work. Until then, enjoy Darla’s well-worn Sendak that has been accompanying her for 8 years!

Photograph by Darla Jackson
All Black Sendak Artist Roll

Sendak Artist Roll
in Red Maple

I love this little treasure spot in our City Workshop – soon to be the home of someone new as we move our workshop to the Barn here at the Five Acre Wood!

Photograph by Catharine Mi-Sook

The Mini Sendak Artist Roll

Photograph by Maryse M. Almond Mini Sendak for Crocheters	Photograph by Alice O. Slate Mini Sendak for Knitters

Inside the Sendak...

Shop the Stationery Collection

4” Anselm Bookbinding Kit	Tilda Painter’s Palette

Orra Portrait Sketchbook	Brush Rest Trio

Watch our Walkthrough of the Sendak Artist Roll!

We’ve watched all of the YouTube reviews of our Sendak (thank you!) and have made our own video to answer some questions and share our experiences.

Blog: Our Sendak Walkthrough

Our Of a Kinds!

We have some treasures left from our past Of a Kind collections!

Shop Of a Kinds

A Rural Pen Ink	Essential Pouch with 1800s Dressmaker’s Fabric: Sylvia

Standard Tote with Feedsack: Winnie	Foundlings Original Art: Solidago

Essential Pouch with 1930s Textile Adlai	Small Hunter with 1800s Quilt Block: Bonnie

Everywhere, Astonishments!

• Podcast: Foodie Pharmagolocy: Animal Medication with Dr. Jaap de Roode. I’ve been catching up on all that I’ve missed recently – so many good episodes! This one feels most fun for everyone.
• Book: The Plant Hunter: A Scientist’s Quest for Nature’s Next Medicines by Cassandra Quave. Cassandra Quave is now on Substack – read here!
  
  

#100dayproject: Read More on Substack – I Heard A Hawk Today

Snowdrops! They arrived a little early here – these small wonders are always a treasure to happen upon!	Søren’s 100 Days of Tiny Worlds is starting off strong. Here is Day 2. ​@sorenscoutkent

The world is bursting with magic, and for anyone looking, it positively pulses. As a family of life-long learners, we felt compelled to share a few of our favorite activities in one compact notebook of removable cards.

The Specimen Card Notebook

Whether embarking on a backyard exploration, a community science project, traveling near or far, or identifying mysterious objects around your house, these cards encourage observation, drawing, writing, and a touch of research.

Tear them out, and hang them up, give them as gifts, or keep them intact as a journal. However you use them, we hope they inspire you to always keep an eye out for the little things!

Walter paints a portrait with The Scout Plein Air Box. 

Time isn't very orderly these days.
It speeds up and slows down inexplicably.
This was this winter, or years ago.

Read the backstory of how Walter came to develop the Scout Plein Air Box, which was inspired by our endeavor to make art every day. 

What happens when two founders meet, each of whom is already breaking new ground with her products, and whose similarities seem to leap to mind even before they’ve had a chance to talk? Exactly! Only good things can come out of it! And that’s exactly how things went between Wildling founder Anna Yona and Margaux Kent, who created the Peg and Awl brand together with her husband Walter. In a virtual meeting, the two founders chat about their brands, their everyday work life, and their collaboration.

Margaux, tell me... what do you do at Peg and Awl? And how did you come up with the idea of founding a company together?

Walter and I have always enjoyed doing things ourselves. My great passion is bookbinding, and Walter loves working with wood. In the beginning we rummaged around at a bunch of flea markets and rescued old wood from the rubble of torn down houses using Walter’s rusty pickup truck. We then used our finds to craft beautiful and useful items for our home.
A little over a year later our first son, Søren, was born and Walter and I got married in Iceland.

But barely a year went by before we founded Peg and Awl. I was pregnant with our second son, Silas, and Walter had just returned from a mission in Iraq. After celebrating our reunion, Walter headed straight for the workbench in the basement and built me a new book rest for the bathtub – a long-standing wish of mine. This gave rise to the idea of producing useful items that weren’t just for us, but for everyone.

Over the past ten years, Peg and Awl has grown significantly. What’s different now?

We started our company as a couple, and now we are a 15-person team handling all the work ourselves, from accounting and product design to production and sales. We’re still small but we’ve become much more efficient.

On top of that, we have most likely exhausted the local supply of old raw materials. In the beginning, we recycled antique leather – which was formerly used for rifle straps – to make our bags, and worked with reclaimed wood. But at a certain point we had to look for alternatives. I was even close to abandoning everything because I didn’t like the idea of buying conventional leather.

Fortunately I managed to find a producer virtually around the corner who offers vegetable-tanned organic leather – that’s something I can stand by personally and that’s what we’re working with now. The search for wood ended ten miles south of Pennsylvania, where we work. We found a 17th century sawmill that is still in operation and has processed hardwoods from the region for two decades.

While the sources for raw materials have changed a little, the rustic look of Peg and Awl products has been preserved and is also reflected in the Wildling model Griffin and the matching Silva bag that was inspired by it. How did this actually come about, Anna?

I’ve been following Peg and Awl for a very, very long time. Margaux’s newsletter is one of Wildling’s best-practice examples, and a picture of her tote bag is pinned on the mood board for our very first collection. I also have two bags and a backpack because I love the design, the rugged look and the materials. (At this point we can picture Anna enthusiastically holding a black canvas bag in front of the camera).

The approach of taking something old, something that at first glance may seem outdated, and creating something new that is not only beautiful but also becomes a part of your everyday life – that approach resonated with me immediately. Learning to value things again instead of just throwing them away is also one of the directions we want to pursue at Wildling. It was clear to me relatively quickly that I absolutely wanted to work with Margaux and her family to develop a new product.

You produced the Silva bag in Pennsylvania. What do you think of Griffin – the new Peg and Awl inspired Wildling? And how was the collaboration for you, Margaux?

Unfortunately I haven’t held a pair in my hands yet, but they look great in the photos! I can hardly wait to finally wear them. We like to walk barefoot a lot and we wear barefoot shoes, but I have never had a pair of Wildlings on before and I am really excited.

Our collaboration actually turned out to be kind of a blend of cooperation and contract work since we unfortunately couldn’t coordinate things with each other live and on site. If we ever work together on something again, I hope that we can meet in person. In that case, I would love to come to Germany, visit the studio, and fine-tune the designs together.

What do you think, Anna? Will there be a sequel?

I would be delighted if these two products were the first step and if they laid the foundation for further joint projects. I know that you originally wanted to make shoes at Peg and Awl – maybe someday there will be a Wildling that will help us bring your perfect shoe to life.

That sounds like things are going to remain interesting. We are looking forward to seeing more from both of you and are already so excited about where the journey is heading, dear Margaux and Anna!

  Photographs by @wildling.shoes

Our Bakehouse Collection is comprised of seven useful bags intended to replace common and disposable paper goods.

A trip into the old-country, by to-day's standards, proves to be thoroughly modern. To be sure, it is still quite sensible to bring along your sacks for the produce market and boulangerie as well as one for the frock shoppes.

We invite you to a little time travel...

No. 1 Pastry: A small, simple bag that works well with the other six. This pastry bag is perfect for a morning cookie, pastry, or an afternoon snack!

No. 2 Snack: I imagine this on road trips with pistachios or grapes, pretzels or rice cakes. This snack bag is also perfect for any loose snack fitted for day trips and lunches for little people and big people too!

No. 3 Wine: This one fits a bottle or two. It's also good for olive oil and I am certain, other things. This wine bag – traded at a market and stuffed with two bottles of wine – is perfect for bringing wine home or giving as a gift!

No. 4 Baguette: Quite perfect for just such loaves! No more one timers. Use this on repeat. This baguette bag is perfect for those who frequently fetch baguettes from the local bakery or farmers’ market, or for those bread makers who find the gifting of fresh baked bread irresistible!

No. 5 Bread: For bread bakers, buyers and gifters! This bread bag – scooped up with a delicious loaf of fresh baked bread – is perfect for those who regularly bring a hearty loaf along to a picnic, afternoon adventure, or friendly meeting.

No. 6 Petite Market (Right): Good for lunches, markets, or any other kind of little-thing-shopping. Our Petite Market bag – scooped up with a delicious trio of salads – is perfect for those who share lunch, have a big mid-day appetite or for a visit to your local cheese shoppe.

No. 7 Market (Left): Perfect for every kind of shopping. Our Market bag – actually received with a dress within – is a large shopping bag strong enough to suit whatever your gathering needs may be!

Our zero waste washable cotton bags were made after scouring our city’s best cafes for the most useful shapes in paper bags. These bags are all made from locally sourced 100% cotton canvas, and are therefore washable!

We've been making a lot of tree swings this year as everyone, both young and old, have been navigating fun at home.

Before Peg and Awl, we made a rope tree swing for our boys. It was something they never grew weary of and has long since become a thing many never grow out of. 

As summer turns to autumn, we are finding small escapes, but we never grow weary of swinging in the backyard! Now, we are preparing to set up our swing at the Five Acre Wood, as our barn space is ready for use. When you're ready to join in the merriment, we have a video demonstrating how to hang your tree swing.

How do you spend your long hot summer days?

For me, I’m home, mostly – outside sitting in a folding chair with the cold creek water chilling my feet, sketching and dreaming, or walking along the wildflower-lined roads, stopping to draw and nibble upon the many new plants in my life.

When I’m not outside, it’s another day in the studio, stealing another moment at my desk to write and draw in my journals and sketchbooks. Summer is for gathering ideas and inspiration, and I adore these slow times.

Where will you take your leaving this summer?

Sendak Mini Artist Roll	Beatrix Artist Caddy

Anselm Bookbinding Kits	Foundlings Desk Caddy

Landis Wall Caddy	Handbound Journals

Rainer Maria Rilke

“All things want to fly.
Only we are weighed down by desire,
caught in ourselves
and enthralled with our heaviness.”