Living Heritage Podcast Ep115 Mentor & Metalsmith - the metal art of Wesley Harris and Arthur Brecken,

Wesley Harris began silversmithing under his high school Art teacher, Arthur Brecken. Both this gentleman and his subsequent instructor at Cranbrook Academy of Art allowed Wesley to learn by trial and error. The underlying inspiration in Wesley’s work is Nature. He lives in ruggedly beautiful western Newfoundland and his studio overlooks the ocean where he creates high-end hollowware and jewellery. In 2015 Wesley was inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA), and we are delighted to feature him on this episode of Living Heritage.

This episode is part of a series of programs in partnership with the Craft Council of NL, to document craft traditions in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Image: Mustache comb by Wesley Harris, 2002. 

Download the mp3



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The Living Heritage Podcast is about people who are engaged in the heritage and culture sector, from museum professionals and archivists, to tradition bearers and craftspeople - all those who keep history alive at the community level. The show is a partnership between HFNL and CHMR Radio. Past episodes are hosted on Libsyn, and you can subscribe via iTunes, or Stitcher. Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Online resources for understanding tombstone symbols

Grave marker at the United Church Cemetery, Lower Island Cove.

People often ask "what does this particular symbol mean on this tombstone" but there is not always a clear answer. It isn't always possible to know why a particular symbol was chosen for a grave marker or memorial. Sometimes people picked symbols from a catalogue, or went with a motif seen on another family member's stone.

Symbolism is the practice or art of using an object or a word to represent an abstract idea. Tombstone carvers used (and continue to use) symbolism to hint at ideas or refer to larger stories, without having to explain those stories or ideas in detail.

Meanings of symbols shift and change over time, and motifs on gravestones often reflect the culture which created the work, and can have multiple meaning. Similar symbols may be regarded differently by ethnic groups or religions.

Having said that, if you want some general ideas about what tombstone designs might mean, here are a few websites to get you started:

http://www.graveaddiction.com/symbol.html

https://stoneletters.com/blog/gravestone-symbols

http://www.thecemeteryclub.com/symbols.html

http://www.gmct.com.au/media/720756/gmct-information-sheet-_cemetery-symbols_lr.pdf

Behind the Counter at Pelley's #FolklorePhoto

Photo courtesy Joyce Clouter. 

This week's #FolklorePhoto is of Viola Greening behind the counter at Pelley’s in Port Blandford c. 1960. Daniel Pelley, the owner of Pelley's, established his first store in Southwest in 1920. In 1936, he moved locations. This building is still standing in Port Blandford but is not currently in use.

Grave of Phillip Louis, The Mount, Lower Island Cove

On a cold and wet Friday, June 15, 2018, I visited Lower Island Cove, Conception Bay North, with Judy Rogers as my guide. While there, Judy took me to one of the oldest burying places in Lower Island Cove, a section of the community on a hill close to the water, which is locally called The Mount.

The cemetery sits in a windswept, barren spot, overlooking the community, and wild grasses have largely obscured the majority of the rough-stone grave markers. There is only one visible carved tombstone, marking the grave of Judy's fourth-great-grandfather, Phillip Louis. The inscription reads:

--- 

IN

MEMORY OF

PHILLIP LOUIS

A NATIVE

OF THE ISLAND OF JERSEY

WHO AFTER A RESIDENCE

OF MORE THAN FIFTY YEARS

IN THIS PLACE

DIED ON THE 19TH NOVEMBER 1821

IN THE 78TH YEAR OF HIS AGE

RESPECTED AND ESTEEMED

FOR HIS HONESTY

AND

INTEGRITY

He came to his Grave in a Full age

like as a Shock of Corn cometh in

in his season

_____________

Be not Slothful,

but Followers of them who through Faith

and Patience inherit the Promises

---

The stone, reset in a more modern concrete base, also features a well-carved hourglass and scythe motif, surmounting a crossed arrow and trumpet. The scythe can be seen to represent the reaping of life and the hourglass representing that earthly time has run out. The hourglass has also been interpreted as a memento mori, reminding we visitors that we are one hour closer to our own deaths. More cheerfully, the ivy (or vines, botanists feel free to weigh in on this) on either side of the stone could be interpreted to represent memory, immortality, friendship, fidelity, faithfulness, undying affection, or eternal life.

Workshop: tips and tricks for a quality audio recording.

Audio Equipment and Tips WorkshopTuesday, June 26th, 2018
7pm-9pm
1 Springdale Street, Newman Building Boardroom, 1st floor

Registration $20
So, you are ready to do an oral history or folklore interview. You have a digital recorder, but maybe you don’t know that much about how it works, or about how to adjust settings. We have the workshop for you! Professional audio engineer Lee Tizzard will guide you through your audio equipment, and provide you with the tips and tricks you need to make a quality recording.

The workshop will cover:

- Voice recorders versus hand held high def recorders.
- Odbfs and the db scale, and what is it?
- What is the optimum level ( gain setting ) for recording?
- What is a bass rolloff?
- Mic power/ powered mics
- Stereo versus mono recording.
- Compression /limiting, what does it mean?
- SD card file storage and USB data transfer.
- Bit rates / sampling frequencies what does it mean?
- Using external microphones, why use clip on lav mics?
- Recording apps for smartphones, tablets etc.
- Various audio formats
- The recording environment
- The law, as it applies to recording people in Canada.

Participants should bring any recorders that they have, including earbuds.

Pre-registration required:

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/audio-equipment-and-tips-workshop-tickets-47067254425

Presented by Heritage Foundation of NL

Living Heritage Podcast Ep114 Setting Newfoundland Language in Stone

Erin Callahan St. John is a full-time professional artist working in clay. She initially learned her craft from Isabella St. John of Blue Moon Pottery – her aunt, and potter of 45 years. Later, Erin attended the Textiles Studies program at The College of the North Atlantic as well as the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University, where she majored in Ceramics with a minor in Art History.

During the 15 years she has been working with clay, Erin has apprenticed, graduated and received funding to create one of a kind pieces and developed production lines. Today she is an active member in the local art and craft community, and from her studio in the Quidi Vidi Village Plantation, makes work based on the wildlife and folklore of Newfoundland.

In this podcast, Erin talks with Wyatt Shibley about how she came to be a potter, the history of studio pottery in Newfoundland, and the process of setting Newfoundland language in stone.

This episode is part of a series of programs in partnership with the Memorial University graduate course Folk 6740 - Public Folklore, and the Craft Council of NL, to document craft traditions in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Download the mp3





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The Living Heritage Podcast is about people who are engaged in the heritage and culture sector, from museum professionals and archivists, to tradition bearers and craftspeople - all those who keep history alive at the community level. The show is a partnership between HFNL and CHMR Radio. Past episodes are hosted on Libsyn, and you can subscribe via iTunes, or Stitcher. Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Tuesday's #FolklorePhoto: Knitting in Bird Cove

Annette Myers poses with her knitting, Bird Cove. Photo by Lisa Wilson. 2010.

Today's Folklore Photos come from The Straits collection on Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative. The Strait of Belle Isle is a geographic region on the northwest coast of Newfoundland's Great Northern Peninsula. Colloquially know as 'The Straits,' this coastal strip runs from the community of Plum Point in the south, to Eddies Cove East at the northernmost tip. 

Between these two locales, several small communities dot the coast. Families first arrived at The Strait of Belle Isle in the 1880s, to exploit the salmon fishery and perhaps set up a base for the fur trade. Early inhabitants were there seasonally, but by 1884, permanent settlers arrived and began fishing for cod, herring, and began sealing practices as well. Although resources may have shifted in value, abundance and importance, over the years, the local drive to work the land and sea has remained consistent. While the cod fishery ultimately saw its demise in the 1990s, forms of this industry continue to fuel the local economy today. In Anchor Point, for instance, many of the residents continue to work as fish harvesters, or alternately in the shrimp plant, which employs upwards of 150 people each season.

The Straits inventory is part of a founding collection for the Great Northern Peninsula Textiles Archive and Learning Center. This project, based in Conche, NL, is an on-going initiative to document and preserve the textile-based crafts that are being created on Newfoundland's Northern Peninsula. The items in this collection were gathered between May and July of 2010 and include photographs of textile craft objects such as sealskin boots, Newfoundland Quilts, knitted socks, and embroidered cloth. This inventory also includes audio clips of craftspeople discussing their particular textile-based skills and practices. Straits communities present in this collection include Green Island Brook, Pines Cove, Bird Cove, Black Duck Cove, Eddies Cove East, Anchor Point, Sandy Cove, and Flower's Cove. Flower's Cove, due to its comparably large population, has been given its own community inventory on the DAI.

If you want to learn more about this collection click here and if you want to listen to an interview with Annette Myers about life in Bird Cove, knitting, crocheting, and selling textiles click here.

A sweater Annette Myers made for her husband, Bird Cove. Photo by Lisa Wilson. 2010.

Dark pink winter hat made by Annette Myers, Bird Cove. Photo by Lisa Wilson. 2010.

Living Heritage Podcast Ep113 Piece by Piece - The Mosaic Art of Terry Nicholls

Terry Nicholls is a mosaic artist living in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. In this episode, he chats with Alina Sergachov about his personal background and how it brought him into the field of the mosaic art, the process of making a mosaic, materials, and describes how the experience of working in marine and freshwater environments influences his interpretation of the natural world through mosaics. Terry talks about translating an idea into an object and being inspired, and the time it takes to create his art.

This episode is part of a series of programs in partnership with the Memorial University graduate course Folk 6740 - Public Folklore, and the Craft Council of NL, to document craft traditions in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Download the mp3




###

The Living Heritage Podcast is about people who are engaged in the heritage and culture sector, from museum professionals and archivists, to tradition bearers and craftspeople - all those who keep history alive at the community level. The show is a partnership between HFNL and CHMR Radio. Past episodes are hosted on Libsyn, and you can subscribe via iTunes, or Stitcher. Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Have folklore, will travel: Notes from Glenwood!

I'm on the heritage trail this week, holding some heritage planning and oral history meetings in central Newfoundland. Last night I had a very positive meeting with the newly-formed Glenwood Heritage Society (above), whose mandate is "To protect and promote the heritage of Glenwood and surrounding area" (yes, Appleton, that means you are invited). 

We had a good discussion about how community heritage groups can get involved to help safeguard living heritage in their areas, and the kinds of programs and activities other heritage groups across the province are running. 

The group is on facebook, and their first event is the Glenwood Heritage Society Annual Trout Derby -- coming soon! Below, a photo of the Glenwood railway station in its heyday, and a very very sweet Ford Thibault vintage fire engine the town currently has on display.