Heart & Hand: Meet Nii Addico, Master Drummer & Woodcarver

Meet Nii Addico, a renowned artist and woodcarver originally from Ghana. Together with his wife Bronwyn they run Creation Africa, a small company based in waterloo, created to showcase Nii’s work and raise awareness for the rich African culture here in Canada. Visit www.creationafrica.com to learn more about Nii, his process and his works.  

Nii will be joining us for Heart & Hand 2012 at Joseph Schneider Haus as both a carver and a drummer, demonstrating his traditional carving techniques as well as displaying and selling his beautifully hand carved pieces. Nii will also be leading two dynamic drum circles on the day. Join in between 10:30 and 11 a.m. or from 3 to  4 p.m. Bring your own drum or borrow one of the many instruments Nii will be bringing along with him. It’s fun and therapeutic, you won’t want to miss!

Heart & Hand: Minature Painting with Debbie Thompson Wilson

Joseph Schneider Haus Folk Artist-in-Residence 2012, Debbie Thompson Wilson demonstrates miniature painting and tells us a little about the history of limners and miniature portraits. Before photography, facetime and Skype miniature portraits were the next best thing to being with your loved one.
Visit the Joseph Schneider Haus galleries to view Debbie's tiny works of art. The Medieval World Illuminated, opening Sept. 15, will highlight the labours of the months in medieval times, feature a modern replica of a Book of Hours and include illuminations of popular medieval saints and aspects of medieval life over the course of the seasons.

In the lower gallery The Illustrated Alphabet: Everyman’s ABC takes an intimate look at the alphabet from A to Z through illuminated letters, printed ABCs and other early educational aids.

Visit Debbie at the Heart & Hand Festival, Sept. 22, where she will be demonstrating calligraphy, get your name written in fancy fraktur!

Heart & Hand: Storytelling with Mary McCullum Baldasaro

Heart & Hand 2012 is very happy to announce that many talented storytellers from the Baden Storytellers guild will be coming back to join us for this years festival! We will be featuring a number of these storytellers on our blog.

Meet storyteller Mary McCullum Baldasaro who joined us in the back garden of the Joseph Schneider Haus to share a short story about a very big dog! She also discusses the role of the listener in storytelling; we have a very important job you know!

 

Heart & Hand: Philippe Elsworthy Cabinet and Violin Maker

Cabinet and violin maker Philippe Elsworthy tells us all about the miniature schrank/wardrobe he made for the Joseph Schneider Haus. 

It is a 1/6th scale copy of the schrank found in the downstairs bedroom of the haus. This piece is an exciting example of Pennsylvania-German furniture-making because it comes apart for ease of transport.

Watch as Phil demonstrates with the miniature schrank just how all these pieces come apart…and luckily…how they go back together again.