Open Studio

Memorial Day Weekend might be my most favorite weekend of the year. All over Vermont, craftspeople open their studios to the public for two days. We've been visiting studios for five years now and have met blacksmiths, woodworkers, rug hookers, sculptors, painters, and many others. It is so fun to follow the signs up winding dirt roads, down long driveways, to discover little studios like this one.


Sometimes the studios are massive post and beam barns that house glassblowers. Sometimes they are little sheds tucked away by a beaver pond. It is fun to see how these various artists are inspired by their surroundings both inside and out. We hear amazing stories as well. Once we ended up in the living room of a woman who had escaped Nazi Germany and was hooking her story into a rug. We stayed and listened to her talk for a long time.

We have driven all over Vermont. We stop along the way for yard sales and library book sales--it's opening weekend for these events as well.

We stop when we see something interesting such as this marble quarry--the first in the United States. There were actually people diving in. BRR.










It's a lot of driving, but we all love it. We pack a picnic. The girls usually bring along a walkman and book on tape. I knit. N drives. Odin sleeps and barks. The girls have an "Open-Studio Journal Kit" they created which includes glue sticks, scissors, pens, and a journal which they've been keeping for years now. It's basically a scrapbook of business cards from the various artists. It keeps them busy and interested even when the studio is a furniture shop--LOL.

Occasionally they will pick up a tidbit of yarn, a shaving of wood, or a splint scrap from a basket to glue in. Sometimes they pack knitting needles, thread, and needles in case they get inspired to make something from materials they buy. That didn't happen this year, though.

So, if you're ever looking for something to do on Memorial Day Weekend and you love craft, come up to Vermont. We'll see you on the road.