Harrisville, NY, Mar 06, 2013 — March is the start of another busy season of exhibits, fairs and road trips for artisans across the region. Over the next few months, we'll bring you some of the voices of the many folks in the North Country who make a living in their own workshops, basements and spare rooms. It might sound charming - setting your own work hours - but the artisans we've talked to say full-time art is not an easy decision and a lot of hard work. Finding space, commissions, marketing, moral support, and reserving uninterrupted creative time are some of the challenges.

Today, a trip to the woods near Harrisville, in the northwestern Adirondacks, to visit a couple who gave up jobs in marketing and at the post office to devote their attention to all things fiber, from woven rugs to knitted sweaters. Lis Barsuglia-Madsen and her husband Michael moved from New Jersey to the North Country twenty years ago. The new environment offered a chance to focus on following a dream -- spending time together as artisans inspired by the mountains, deep woods and solitude.  Go to full article

Shelburne, VT, Jun 22, 2012 — Quilt making is traditionally associated with women, but a new exhibit at Shelburne Museum in Vermont focuses on quilts made by men. Quilts on display include some made by soldiers who were injured in the Civil War, and from boys who were ill in childhood and learned how to quilt from their mothers. The quilts in the exhibit include some from the 1860's and contemporary innovations.

Todd Moe talks with Shelburne's chief curator Jean Burks, and Joe Cunningham - aka Joe the Quilter - who'll give a lecture at the museum next week.  Go to full article

Potsdam, NY, Mar 09, 2012 — The Potsdam Museum recently rediscovered an historic War of 1812 officer's uniform in its archives -- just in time for bicentennial commemorations. Museum officials say the dark blue and red wool uniform is in "very nice" condition for a 200-year old garment.

It's thought to have belonged to Shubel Clark, a soldier from Canton who was assigned to the New York Detached Militia in Ogdensburg. The heirloom was donated to the museum in 1953 by Clark's family.

Todd Moe stopped by for a closer look yesterday. The story behind the old coat is today's Heard Up North.  Go to full article

Apr 27, 2006 — Debut broadcast of NCPR's new monthly regional arts program. Todd Moe hosts. Live music with Piquant; an Adirondack arts activist takes lessons to Russia; hooked picture rugs that detail life along the St. Lawrence River; new music from flamenco guitarist Maria Zemantauksi; Vermont poet David Budbill on tour with jazz musicians Hamid Drake and William Parker, and much more.  Go to full article

May 11, 2005 — Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is the author of a book called At Knit's End, Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much. She also writes a funny web blog for people like her who are obsessed with knitting. Pearl-McPhee is a mother in her mid-thirties, a Canadian, who has found echoes of her OWN fixation in the hearts of knitters across both Canada and the US. She'll be at Kaleidescope Yarns in Essex Junction, VT tomorrow from 3 to 6. She took time out from her book tour to talk with Martha Foley.  Go to full article