Stuff We Like

soulful tables

claudiaMarch 5, 2014Friends, Inspiration, Stuff We Like

Bookmark this wonderful site: Catherine’s Table. Created by Maureen and Mark Goldman, this family enterprise was inspired by warm, loving moments experienced around the dining table. “When I think about comfort, soul, expressing love through craft, I think about the table. It is absolutely the place for us to be,” Maureen explains. All of the “comfort crafts” featured on Catherine’s Table are made by American artists and meant to be used as part of our everyday lives. Mike and I visited Maureen and Mark’s home in December and came away with probably more than our budget really allowed, but most importantly we came away with two new friends. One of our favorite finds was this bread/cheese board made from a reclaimed slate shingle gathered from an old barn that’s long since gone. Watch a video on the artist T. Michael here.

Easter, Mother’s Day, Graduation Day, Father’s Day – there are many reasons to gather in the coming months. Here’s to celebrating all those special moments and more at your own family table.

Are you a two-sided southerner?

Summer Angel is ‘WildSweet’

‘Our Consistently Surprising Alabama’

Mod Birds

an endangered craft

claudiaFebruary 6, 2014Inspiration, Stuff We Like

Corn basket

Basketmaker Billy Ray Sims of Indian Springs, Ala., is keeping an old tradition alive: the making of Appalachian, hand-split white oak baskets, inspired in part by the old Gullah tradition. Two of his creations were on display at the Smithsonian recently – an egg basket and a creel basket used to hold fish – and Sims collaborated with the museum on the making of “A Measure of the Earth” film project. “Making baskets helps me stay balanced, and real, and connected to the earth, literally,” he explained in a Garden & Gun feature last year. “I feel like I’m connected to old souls.”

Into the Light

Are you a two-sided southerner?

At Heart, A Rural Poet

New Discoveries

‘pastoral life long gone’

claudiaJanuary 29, 2014Inspiration, Stuff We Like

Le Cousin Jules, a look at the simple farm life of Jules Guiteaux and his wife Félicie in rural France, told through a mesmerizing film shot over 40 years ago and now lovingly restored for contemporary audiences.

Read Film Journal’s review.

Into the Light

Are you a two-sided southerner?

At Heart, A Rural Poet

New Discoveries

alabama proud

claudiaJanuary 11, 2014Family, Stuff We Like

Capturing the cultural heritage of Alabama, Journey Proud is a new show on Alabama Public Television hosted by folklorist Joey Brackner. Here’s an episode from last fall on gourd houses. While watching it, I had a small epiphany. Our mom used to have gourd birdhouses strung up outside (and inside) our childhood home — usually painted or decorated with one of her own kooky designs. We all just thought they were tacky. Well, Joan Brooks was an Alabama native, mind you, born in Mobile, so we think we now know where her gourd house attraction came from!

New season of Journey Proud starts this month.