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Happy New Year!
“Turn it and turn it,
for everything is in it.”
–Ben Bag BagGrowing and flourishing are not always analogous.
Join us for a quick wander through 2023, the year we smallened Peg and Awl, and moved out of Philadelphia. Also the year where we found ourselves finding ourselves again. The ‘smallening’, as I’ve been calling it, is a bit vague. I’m an open book when it comes to most things, and would love to engage in conversation on the topic, but mostly, I know neither where to begin, nor how to distill it. The simplest version is this: Peg and Awl was a thriving small business with twenty-five people at our height, reaching sales numbers we’d never imagined nor planned for. But the joy of having a small business, being curious, and exploring this weird world with family and friends, became secondary as our responsibilities to maintain this monster perpetuated. Somehow growing and flourishing are not always analogous.
And here we are in 2024, returning, already, to what matters most! We’ve ventured south for a little warmth and a lot of biking, I went north for a mini retreat in the snow. We’ve been working on new Peg and Awl treasures, building our barn storefront and workshop, and working on the land.
We cannot wait to share our progress – there are so many stories to tell!
Our 14th Anniversary was January 10th!
Søren and Silas made me a bunch of Specimen Cards of the Five Acre Wood for Christmas! I continue to fill sketchbooks and journals, and am designing some new books and journals that will be available soon!
One of the most thrilling parts of 2023 was finally launching our long-in-the-works Solvitur Ambulando ring – and with much success! We appreciate all of your shared stories. Thanks to Claire of Warwick Furnace Farm for modeling for me!We opened up our barn shop which we look forward to stocking with Peg and Awl treasures and more. We are heading to New Orleans for the NAMTA show in March! We made new treasures out of Sendak scraps, and small batch colours, a puzzle of a kind! We spent a week on a cargo ship during a storm on the North Sea – there were two visible twisters at one point! By the fourth day a calm settled over the sky, and the water, and the few floating birds, and we jumped into the cold sea. (no showers on board!)
So often I wish to jump back in, to return to the cold depths in that utter post-storm quiet. We went from thinking we’d made a big mistake in booking this trip, to longing to do something like this again – such a harrowing and magical adventure!Here in Whitby England, where we wandered in the glorious and misty rain. Before the storm and the reality of our upcoming adventure, Walter painted and Søren drew. ps: Walter began to work on a larger Scout! We discontinued 3/4 of our catalog – both daunting and freeing! Inevitably, once we sell out, the inquiries start pouring in. We still have some Rogues and Weekenders and more available in our Last Chance! section.
(Here, in Amsterdam on gigantic rented bikes!)Søren, Silas, Pearl, and I moved our studios back into the cozy Springhouse! We opened our barn for the Chester County open studio tour. Come visit us May 18 and 19!
We traveled! Here we are, on the other side of our wild cargo boat trip after wandering down the coast of England. We spent a quick couple of days in London!We cold plunged in Virginia when it was 29 degrees outside and were tingling and spectacularly warm when we climbed out onto the previously cold rock to shake off. Walter bringing flowers over to the barn to brighten the wet and wintry gloom. Solviture Ambulando (It is solved by walking)! A Christmas Eve post dinner walk and view of the Peg and Awl Barn from the street.
I started 2024 with a retreat with my friend, Deb, in CT during a snowstorm! Making progress of a kind on a project. I share bits on my Substack and @beingmargauxkent We did a few shows – here we are at Wintherthur, which we shall partake in again in 2024! One of our last family photographs in our Philadelphia workshop!
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Everywhere, Astonishments!
I was working on this newsletter at Lentil & Co, and this song came on. It comes and goes as songs do, but this one every time, crawls into that place where only certain songs crawl.
No Hard Feelings by The Avett Brothers
When my body won't hold me anymoreAnd it finally lets me freeWill I be ready?When my feet won't walk another mileAnd my lips give their last kiss goodbyeWill my hands be steady when I lay down my fears, my hopes, and my doubts?The rings on my fingers, and the keys to my houseWith no hard feelings.
This paired well with the essay Who Will Mourn Them When They Are Gone? from Margaret Renkl’s new book, The Comfort of Crows.Also reading Planting in a Post-Wild World which is a really hopeful and process heavy take on regeneration!Planting in a Post-Wild World The Comfort of Crows Our Year (2024) in Photographs and Words!
Happy New Year!“Turn it and turn it,for everything is in it.”–Ben Bag Bag Gr...
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HOME, AGAIN.
HOME, AGAIN.
A joyous new-place photograph that you’ve seen if you’ve been with us for any amount of time. Every year we promise ourselves a new family portrait, but the year ends and I find myself reaching for this one again.This shall be a kind of public self-nudge!14th Anniversary Pondering, a Power Outage,and a Coffee Shop Pause
Walter and I started Peg and Awl on the 10th of January, 2010. My journal – which was blank – suggests nothing miraculous. Last night’s power outage from yesterday’s deluge means a coffee shop in-between which rouses the unexpected, always. As I walked and wrote in my new journal*, the in-between felt grounding, as each footfall, each letter, and the sun warming despite the cold, settled me.I was thinking that we should share a timeline of Peg and Awl successes, but it occurred to me as I walked, to share bits of the in-between days instead.
Thank you for being here!
As we do our best to plan for this coming year (I am notoriously spontaneous, but appreciate the need for a weaving), I look forward to so much. So here, a little looking forward to 2024:-
Our Shop! We recently opened it up to visitors for a few days with great success – we met so many wonderful people, which reinforces how lucky we are to connect, through Peg and Awl, to such humans. 2024 will see our shop filled with new treasures from us along with treasures made by others. We are heading to NAMTA in New Orleans in March, on the hunt for art materials.
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Journals and Kits and Tutorials! We’ve been working on some unusual new designs and look forward to sharing them.
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Of A Kind Collections (accompanied by more Flea Market adventures)
- New Collaborations, New Colours, and New Found Treasures!
Time Traveling Through the In-Betweens...2009Before starting Peg and Awl, I had a little slow and steady business called The Black Spot Books. I made journals and jewelry and a gathering of my favourite scraps lead me to make the tiniest books, which I eventually strung together into the Library necklace. Boing Boing featured it, making it my first experience with spiraling, viraling.2010We started out making treasures for our Philadelphia Row Home, including our Tub Caddy out of reclaimed wood and materials gathered from nearby construction sites. At that point, people were thrilled that we were rescuing the materials from them or the deconstruction sites, saving them time and money with trips to the dump.2011Now with two boys and a business, and needing a diaper bag that wasn’t paislied, flowered, or pre-gendered, we decided to make a bag that would suit all of us. Thus, the first Peg and Awl bag – The Tote – came to life! This may be when we realised we could keep making things first for ourselves, and then for others.
2014The Black Spot Books and the early days of Peg and Awl treasures were mostly comprised of reclaimed and found materials. As our business evolved, we started using new materials for a variety of reasons, primarily as a shortage of reclaimed materials arose. In our first couple years, we decided to officially launch our Of a Kind collections which harkened back to those early days.
2016I went to Spain for Picture Camp, a picture book workshop with my art supplies in various pouches and bags. On the way home, realizing i needed something more conducive to traveling, I started to design an artist roll unlike any artist rolls I could find at the time — one that would hold a variety of art materials, could hold small necessities in a zip pouch, as well as small notebooks. Thus, our most popular treasure to date — The Sendak — was born!
2019Walter, feeling compelled to find his way back to making art as well, went to a painting workshop lead by Jeremy Mann and Nadezda in Tuscany, Italy. On the supply list was a plein air box. Not knowing what this was, Walter ignored it and found himself taping his canvas to his hand to paint. Thus began his developing of the Peg and Awl Scout Plein Air Box!2023Growing weary of Philadelphia and the business success story of growinggrowinggrowing, we sold our Philadelphia workshop and moved everything to our land in West Chester, rebuilt the dilapidated barn, set up shop, and are now enjoying our new adventure!
2024Journals! I am always eager for change and currently working on new journals*, tutorials, and kits for Peg and Awl. If you’ve been following along, I started this unusual creature a few years ago, and they are nearly ready for take off! This one I made for my friend Deb, using her Pinocchio illustrations on the cover.Just Yesterday
When the power went out, we found a box of unused Hannukah candles, sunk them into decade old organic black rice and farro, and lit our way through a few rounds of one of our favourite games, reminiscent of The New York Times’ Connections, Code Names! Søren and I started out strong with Roadtrips for 5.
Workspace:
I moved around a lot in 2023 and started this year the same! We’ve already found our way to Savannah, GA and I meandered up to snowy Canaan, CT.I’ve been moving around The 5 Acre Wood looking for spot that is just right.Sophie Blackall’s, Milkwood in New York, Photograph by Sophie. Our Cabin in CT, photograph by Deborah Stein. A salvaged flat file turned standing desk! A beloved new corner of my studio.
Everywhere, Astonishments!The Flynn Effect and “kids these days...”
I don’t know about you, but I hear a lot of mischief about kids these days and see a lot of memes that don’t make a whole lot of sense to me.
This morning in Turk’s Head Coffee Shop in West Chester, Penna, there was a young person – he must have been 5 – who sat near us and lit up upon seeing a gigantic book of maps on the table and immediately asked “Where is Israel? Where is Japan?” as he navigated the book’s systems. “Mommy, I want to go to Japan.” She considers then realizes he means Japan in the book. Pages turn. “Where is Taiwan. What is this island? Georgian Bay, Ontario. Lake Superior. Where is Minnesota?”
He reads and pronounces places I am still learning, and goes on to explain what makes 75 an interstate.
I could have sat and listened all day, but I had to go fetch my own two creatures, full of wonder, curiosity, and magic. I wanted to leave my name and number, to connect this 5 year old map lover to my 13 and 15 year old map lovers. But maybe they aren’t unusual, these curious young people. Maybe they are everywhere.
Leave us a comment!
–Margaux✨ This Year, We Celebrate 14 Years of Peg and Awl!
HOME, AGAIN. A joyous new-place photograph that you’ve seen if you’ve been w...
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Our Shop! We recently opened it up to visitors for a few days with great success – we met so many wonderful people, which reinforces how lucky we are to connect, through Peg and Awl, to such humans. 2024 will see our shop filled with new treasures from us along with treasures made by others. We are heading to NAMTA in New Orleans in March, on the hunt for art materials.
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Come Visit Our Shop!
Come say hey and pick up a treasure if you are in the area. Email us to make an appointment.Morning Light! Cozy Corner and Our Bags! Vignettes of our Actual Messies!
Walter Hanging Photographs Silas Setting Up Track Lighting Walter’s Original Oil Paintings
Scout Pochade Box Handmade Ink! Our Bookbinding Kits
Vintage Pencils and Dip Pens! Bioplastic Pans from Poems About You that fit our palettes! Of a Kind Book Necklaces Along with Our Classics.
Everywhere, Astonishments!Søren, Silas, and I went to Philosophical Hall in Philadelphia with Katie to hear Catherine McNeur talk about her new book Mischievous Creatures. The title was enough to draw back to the city – and my homeschoolers are up for most adventures. Catherine, Margaretta, and Elizabeth’s stories were full of magic and wonder, local history and mischievous creatures! The erasure of these two women scientists came undone through Catherine's excavation, as one unexpected finding after another revealed their story.
Mischievous Creatures by Catherine McNeur on my desk! Catherine’s Desk Caddy from Peg and Awl, which she’s had for a decade(!), on her desk. Come Visit Our Barn Shop!
Come Visit Our Shop!Come say hey and pick up a treasure if you are in the ar...
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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.
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
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.As always, if you have any questions, just comment below!–Margaux“I Will Draw in Class!” Back to School | Biggering and Smallening!
Back to School! “I will draw in class!”Søren and Silas have always been dra...
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“Little by little, a little becomes a lot.” –Tanzanian Proverb
My friend Katie and I started writing a poem a day on the 25th April of this year. I’ve been filling my Orra notebook with them. We have well over 200 poems between us! Each day I put an envelope in my mailbox and lift the flag, feels like a solidly good start. As always, there is so much magic in the little things!
On My Desk, Potatoes!A little On My Desk for this weekend! I usually use an Almond Mini Sendak, but today I borrowed spice – a new one – crispy clean and on my messy desk.
“Little by little, a little becomes a lot.” –Tanzanian Proverb
My friend Katie and I started writing a poem a day on the 25th April of this year. I’ve been filling my Orra notebook with them. We have well over 200 poems between us! Each day I put an envelope in my mailbox and lift the flag, feels like a solidly good start. As always, there is so much magic in the little things!Potato Dreams
In my dream,
there were potatoes.
Not in my dream, too.
Potatoes.
I moved the dirt,
and found a potato.
Red. Red. Dirt. Potato.
Red. Yellow. Dirt. Potato.
Abundance, from old,
forgotten potatoes.
Under the horseradish,
potatoes.
In the sea of dirt,
and slugs,
and roots,
potatoes.
Red. Red. Dirt. Potato.
An endless abundance
moves into dreams,
like Tetris.
Potatoes.
I wanted to write about
death,
grief,
illness,
but instead,
I write about potatoes.
Sometimes we must follow the current is all.
We can’t always make waves.18 August 2023
Shop Our Shop!
Solvitur Ambulando Ring The Saver Pouch Iris Painter’s Palette Orra Sketchbooks Keep your notebook next to your bed for midnight scribbles!
Autumn Colors: What Remains!
After a sweltering summer, we are feeling the cool of Autumn near – near you?Fog
What’s Left: Autumn ColorsThe Classic Tote
The Keeper Pouch The Marlowe Carryall Red Maple
The Small Hunter Satchel
The Maker Pouch The Finch Satchel Birch
The Seaside Tote
The Hunter Satchel The Mini Tote
Everywhere, Astonishments!This Chestnut Delight was left in our Philadelphia building with other delicious pieces of old furniture in various states of over-use and decline. This one was missing her bottom rails, and the drawers drifted down, heavy with neglect. I scrubbed her clean and Bartram-Balmed her, whilst Walter chiseled out broken tenons and sistered antique oak and chestnut in place.
How I love Frankensteined objects, and how they live on! Hoorah!
And whilst celebrating potatoes, I am reminded of the chapter celebrating them in Michael Pollan's The Botany of Desire.
As always, if you have any questions, just comment below!–MargauxOn My Desk, Potatoes! Little By Little, A Little Becomes a Lot.
On My Desk, Potatoes! A little On My Desk for this weekend! I usually use a...
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We’ve returned home from a summer of endless on-the-going to bountiful messes. I look forward to being here for a while, to making sense of the mayhem, to writing about our adventures, and to making new treasures. I welcome walking, gardening, and autumn cleaning, and all of the head clearing that they bring! It feels a lot like our early days again!
Settling in at Home, after a Summer Full of Adventures!We’ve returned home from a summer of endless on-the-going to bountiful messes. I look forward to being here for a while, to making sense of the mayhem, to writing about our adventures, and to making new treasures. I welcome walking, gardening, and autumn cleaning, and all of the head clearing that they bring! It feels a lot like our early days again!
The Barn
We are slowly making space and (too) quickly piling up possibilities inside and out. It all reminds me of one of those plastic number games – move this here, so that that can move there...
Shop Our Shop!Our palettes! Charming old systems. Lots of Scout Plein Air Boxes! Classics remain! Last Chance Bags!
With our recent move from our Philadelphia Shop to our West Chester Barn, we have discontinued many of our classics. What remains is in stock and ready to ship.
Our bags are always the first to leap off of the shelves, so despite making a large inventory of Weekenders and Rogues before leaving our Philadelphia workshop, the numbers are dwindling!The Rogue Backpack The Weekender What’s Left in Our Home Collection!
We started Peg and Awl with so many of these home goods meant to amplify the small spaces in our Philadelphia row home. When we moved to the Five Acre Wood, we brought everything with us, as they are timeless and work in a variety of spaces. Click through to see what remains and pick up something you've been contemplating – once something is sold out, we will not make more!
Many, but not all, of the the wood products are on sale.Mess Hall Knife Rack Baguette Board Cutting and Serving Boards Apothecary Caddy
We have some Mystery Boxes left!The Essentials Kitchen Silas sorting treasures for Mystery Boxes!
We launched our new ring!Solvitur Ambulando: “It is solved by walking.”
We thank you for the warm reception and delightful emails – we've already started to make a second batch of rings!
Our Solvitur Ambulando ring is inspired by the endlessness of walking’s cures. I am ever in awe of how walking helps bring forth thoughts thought to cure idea-lessness, and conversely, how it distills abundance into a place to begin. How it settles listlessness, dulls irritation, and softens anger, and how it extracts tears when needed – walking always knows. Most of all, I am delighted daily at walking’s ability to illuminate the magic in everyday things!
Also, Gold is back! Now that we are settling into the new workshop at the barn, we are making gold jewelry again! All gold jewelry is made to order, which may take up to 4 weeks before shipping.Solvitur Ambulando waxes. This cozy basement jewelry studio is a dream. Walter is wearing our Franklin Maker’s Apron.
Everywhere, Astonishments!Since moving to the 5 Acre Wood, I’ve been going to local plant swaps*. I’ve learned so much and have traded a variety of plants. These Black and Brown Eyed Susans, which have now replaced thousands of Day Lilies, came from an incredibly rainy swap weekend in early Spring. *I’ve had to partake in Facebook for this – a worthwhile sacrifice.As always, if you have any questions, just comment below!–MargauxReturning to Home and Studio After a Summerful of Adventures!
Settling in at Home, after a Summer Full of Adventures! We’ve returned home...
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Movement brings words to life, ideas to life, and life to life! It clarifies and distills and cleanses. It extracts and then magnifies the magic. How different I would be without all this walking! How different would you be? Pray tell.
Here at Peg and Awl, we celebrate the little things – we always have. We celebrate stories, craftsmanship, materials, old things, fragments, movement, thought, wondering and wandering. Everything we make has a story; we hope you enjoy this one!
NEW Solvitur Ambulando Ring!
“It is solved by walking!”
I am a walker. I’ve always been a walker. My mom was a walker, too. We walked to get groceries (Monkee’s walk there, awkward schlep home), we walked through the woods on road trip adventures, laughing uncontrollably, and we meandered through our neighborhoods. I put miles on my legs before that, walking back and forth betwixt my parent’s homes – my grey, pointy-cornered, double-cassette player bruising my thighs and knees as I walked and sang with The Ramones, The Cure, and The Violent Femmes. Later, I’d uncover that walking whilst reading would make me a better reader. How I’d gulp down volumes and laugh and cry and talk out loud to my books having discovered details that stayed with me as I read, unlike before when I’d drift... I simultaneously strengthened my other senses, becoming hyper aware of obstacles as I ambulated. I know which books I’ve read in the rain, or whilst traveling, as they are swollen with the experiences of movement and weather. When Søren was a baby and Walter was in Iraq, Søren and I walked for miles together as I read out loud, Søren’s little face betwixt mine and the book.
But somehow, in our country, it still feels like a secret only a few of us are in on. As a family, we walk to ease our full bellies and ramble on about the day’s explorations or discoveries, and we bicker. For all the homes we pass, we see the same few movers wandering about: there are the dog walkers who are most abundant, the couples who’ve been walking together for decades, the rapping runner, and the lone walkers. There are bikers and joggers and mothers with babies in strollers, too, who pass by now and again, but they change.
Movement brings words to life, ideas to life, and life to life! It clarifies and distills and cleanses. It extracts and then magnifies the magic. How different I would be without all this walking! How different would you be? Pray tell.
Here at Peg and Awl, we celebrate the little things – we always have. We celebrate stories, craftsmanship, materials, old things, fragments, movement, thought, wondering and wandering. Everything we make has a story; we hope you enjoy this one!
This is long – over two years – in the making! Be it reminder, celebration, both and more, our Solvitur Ambulando ring is finally here in recycled Gold, Silver, and Bronze*.*Gold: (14K yellow gold)
Silver: (hypo-allergenic 925)
Bronze: (an alloy that can give your hands a flair with tinges of green, less in cooler months)
Shop Solvitur Ambulando!Working through the art and the lettering for the ring. My walking companion finds her way in, of course. Shop Solvitur Ambulando!
Our ring is made by hand – carved from wax, engraved, cast, and finished in our Barn Studio. Each ring and size has different nuances giving them the feeling of having been dug up after centuries underground!
We are making all of our jewelry in our Barn Studio now!
Shop Our Jewelry!
This ring comes in a Muslin Bag with belly band... ...or inside an engrave-able jewelry box! The silver tree coming out of casting with the investment ready to be fizzled away! A tree of Solvitur Ambulando rings ready to be cut away and finished! Gold is Back!
Now that we are settling into the new workshop at the barn, we are making gold jewelry again! All gold jewelry is made to order, which may take up to 4 weeks before shipping.
Everywhere, Astonishments!Night Walks: The ring works! I put one ring on Claire, an aspiring walker, (mine was already on), and we were off for a 3 mile night walk! These photographs are from our summer night walk — misty and even coolish, despite the day's sodden and heavy heat. I didn’t capture the creature sounds, which were perhaps even more astonishing!
Book: The Walk by Robert Walser
My Dad: Though I didn’t walk with him until this decade – my dad, who will be 80 this year, is also a walker. Or has become one – walking 50 miles a week!Our NEW Ring is Here! Solvitur Ambulando – “It is solved by walking.”
NEW Solvitur Ambulando Ring!“It is solved by walking!” I am a walker. I’v...
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The pileup is usually an effective way of moving us into high speed. We will open our barn doors tomorrow, for the first time, as a Peg and Awl storefront! It will also be filled with our art, which is most often squirreled away under our rounded bodies as we scribble, cut, or swish with whatever materials are at hand upon our pages.
Smudge and Other Pandemic Pages“If you like to write or draw or dance or sing, do it because it’s great: as long as we’re playing around like that, we don’t feel lonely, and our hearts warm up.”
–from The Woman Who Killed the Fish by Clarice LispectorI’ve been making books and filling them for as long as I can remember. The books pile up – a slow and steady drip of ink on paper that may someday push us out of our home. One of the gifts of the pandemic is a clear time frame. I’ve decided to go back into my journals – specifically, into the pandemic pages, to see what I could find. I found the patterns of our lives on repeat, everything obsessively documented as if we wouldn’t live without record of it. I found Pearl, and plants, grief and illness, disappearance and disappointment, homeschooling, camping, movement, and details so small I needed the quiet of a pandemic to experience them. It is a strange vocation, to be this kind of capturer of the quotidian.
“What is the conversation?” asks Claire, a few times. Conversation? I don’t know how to answer that. The conversation is on the pages, extracted from life, fragments rearranged, stories imagined, reimagined. Patterns, tatters. Is there ever an actual anything, or is everything imagined? There isn’t a conversation – there are infinite conversations and there are no conversations. It depends on who stands in front of what, and where. It depends on who is next to them. How engaged they are. How curious. It depends on what I say here, if anything, and whether you read it. Will you?
Just before the pandemic, I chose a word for the year, for 2020: The word was lightness. I wrote:
“My word for the year is lightness. I love this idea of finding a word to live alongside. So far, (so early but so far), it has freed me from the fear of not making the right marks. It has led me to say yes to a wintry adventure at the seashore where with wet knees and raisoned fingers, we searched for Cape May diamonds with the enthusiasm of children whilst the actual children played with drones, dipped their feet (and pants) into the frigid water, gathered a few specimens, and made their way back to the warm car. These are things that I love, but the weight of obligation and difference and the world’s expectations make it difficult to be so light. The more I forget this, the longer I sit. The longer I sit, the heavier I get – the weight of the dust settling upon me. Lightness. The word, my companion, reminds me to hover and to float – to move and to keep moving.”
It was the right choice, this word, and it came just in time.
From A Tear and A Seed A sneaky peek! The Things That I remember Are Not in These Photographs SMUDGE! Left-handed (non-dominant) hand drawings. A Tear and A Seed... drawings from a book I didn’t illustrate. A stack of my smudge journals! Our First Storefront!
“...the impeded stream is the one that sings.”
–from Our Real Work by Wendell BerryThe pileup is usually an effective way of moving us into high speed. We will open our barn doors tomorrow, for the first time, as a Peg and Awl storefront! It will also be filled with our art, which is most often squirreled away under our rounded bodies as we scribble, cut, or swish with whatever materials are at hand upon our pages.
We are still scrambling, but hope you come by and say hey! Email us for the address or find it at the Chester County Studio Tour website. Parking is limited – if ours is filled, park in the nearby neighborhood! If I have time, I’ll mow some roadside invasives for side-of-the-road parking.
Pouches! We have a new batch of A Rural Pen ink! Seaside Tote, Caddies, &c. Some of our Last Chance waxed canvas bags are in the storefront! New Prints from A Tear and A Seed (coming soon to our website, maybe...) We will stock our jewelry in this old treasure! Walter, Søren, and Silas!
We are still working and will share updates on Instagram!
Søren has been working on this gigantic map for months! Come see it in progress or on Instagram @sorenscoutkent
Everywhere, Astonishments!County Studio Tour 2023 | Peg and Awl
Smudge and Other Pandemic Pages “If you like to write or draw or dance or s...
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Becky Tregear Art shared this wonderful video of her father painting en plein air with his Scout Plein Air Box, along with another very thoughtful video review!
Becky Tregear Art shared this wonderful video of her father painting en plein air with his Scout Plein Air Box!
Becky also shared this very thoughtful review of her father’s watercolor Scout. I love hearing her perspective as she walks through and discovers the features of the Scout, after watching Walter’s walkthrough video. Enjoy!
Press: The Scout Plein Air Box – Youtube Reviews by Becky Tregear Art
Becky Tregear Art shared this wonderful video of her father painting en plei...
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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!
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 CarrollI 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 RollShop 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 RollSendak Artist Roll
in Red MapleI 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 We are nearing the end of our adored, but limited, Red Maple Sendaks!
And, of course, our classic colours are here to stay!The Mini Sendak Artist Roll
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
“The Sendak Mini Artist Roll is attractive, functional, clever, rugged, and very well made. My wife was thrilled with it and immediately stocked it with with an array of items for impromptu sketching and watercolor painting while out adventuring. It holds a good number of pens, pencils, brushes, erasers, watercolors, tubes, etc. This is our third Peg & Awl purchase and we have been delighted each time. These items are obviously made to last, to be used and cherished for many years as they get more and more attractive with the patina of age. They are very well made and definitely worth every penny! Thank you for making such great products.” –Matt C.Shop the Sendak Mini Artist Roll
Photograph by Maryse M.
Almond Mini Sendak for CrochetersPhotograph by Alice O. Slate Mini Sendak for Knitters
We love to see how you fill your Sendaks!These two photographs are from reviews – we so appreciate little glimpses into your worlds...
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.
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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.
@sorenscoutkentOh, the Ways to Fill a Sendak Artist Roll!
A Ramble About Clay and My New Moss Sendak! We designed the Sendak for dra...
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