Okay, to finish up on Fraktur! What in the world does that odd word mean? Fraktur actually takes its name from the type of lettering that was used in making it... the old German text, or "black letter" text has a broken or "fractured" appearance, and thus the name! The actual words on the fraktur inspired the name of the art. Most fraktur were made up of words, and the words were illuminated like medieval manuscripts, though being folk art, the majority of fraktur artists were everyday people such as schoolmasters or clergy. Gradually, the pictures in fraktur began to take precedence, and a stylized form of art began to be called "Fraktur." One thing I find interesting is that the fraktur made by Protestants tended to be more "word" oriented, since the written Word was of great importance to their religious heritage, and fraktur made my Catholics and other more liturgical denominations tended to be more "picture" oriented, since those denominations leaned more heavily on visual expressions of their Faith.

Another reason I enjoy historic Fraktur art is that it was "art with a purpose" to the utmost degree! Fraktur had many purposes, but the main reason it was made was to document important events... marriages, births, and baptisms. In a day when the government did not keep these important records, someone thought it important enough to memorialize the event on paper. Not only did they record the events, they added beauty by embellishing the lettering and drawing symbolic pictures. Fraktur was also used to make house blessings, reward school children, and immortalize important people such as "Excelency George General Waschingdon." (I think that's the exact spelling on one example of fraktur!) An interesting note about the spelling of names... usually the local schoolmaster or clergyman made fraktur for those born, baptised, or married in their area... and how they spelled the names became how a name was spelled! Which most likely explains why our last name, pronounced "Fry" ended up with an extra letter... FREY. Our cousins in the next town could have been Fry's or Frye's or Frei's or... well, you get the idea!

Just like scherenschnitte, symbolism was an important part of fraktur. My favorite example of symbolism is the heart. The heart in fraktur symbolizes the love and protection of God, and when names are inscribed within a heart it symbolizes God's protection over the newlyweds or the newlyborn. Fraktur is also full of scriptures and poetry about the Lord. It truly is a beautiful and God-honoring art form.

Household items... baskets, clocks, boxes, chairs, pottery, quilts, blankets, linens, coverlets, hooked rugs, blanket chests,

Artistic items... watercolors, theorems, scherenschnitte, fraktur, silhouettes, portraits, tole painting, faux-graining, miniatures, samplers, crewel, trade signs, scrimshaw, Spencerian penmanship, copperplate penmanship, schoolgirl art

Entertainment items... dolls, game boards, toys, "Sunday toys," banjos, dulcimers, fiddles

Carved items... ship figureheads, cigar-store Indians, gravestones, whirligigs, decoys, weathervanes

Many of these categories can be further broken down. "Pottery" can include redware, yellow-ware, salt-galzed, creamware, mochaware, pearlware, delft, stoneware, ironstone... one could study folk art for a lifetime and still learn new and exciting things!

We can learn a lot about our history and our ancestors by looking at these art forms and asking the "5 W's"...

WHO made this? What type of person were they? What lifestyle did they live?

WHAT is it? What was its use?

WHY did someone take the time to make this item? Why add decoration? Why not just go buy one?

WHEN was it made? Was it made by hand for centuries or just for a short time period? How long did it take the artist to make it? Was it a result of the fashion or thoughts of the time?

And then, as homeschoolers, we always like to ask "HOW"... how can we make it today? There's nothing like hands-on experience to drive home a lesson. Learning about the material culture of our past brings the past to life. It is also a wonderful way to connect with another generation. There may still be grandmothers that tat delicate lace, grandfathers that carve decoys for hunting, and elderly ladies in nursing homes that would love to teach a child to knit. Taking advantage of this past wisdom helps preserve our heritage.

Anna-Marie has inspired me to begin some educational-type posts. I'm not planning on making these an actual class, partly because I'm not sure of all the workings of Blogger at this point, and partly because I don't want to bite off more than I can chew right now. What I thought I'd attempt to do is to take an in-depth look at several different forms of American folk crafts... probably one a month... and perhaps offer some try-it-at-home projects.

For the remainder of August, I thought we'd just talk about what "Folk Art" means and the purpose of crafts in America. Here is a great quote from "Discovering American Folk Art" (OK, I have to ask Jo how to italicize in html... it is a book):

"'Discovering American Folk Art' takes us back to earlier centuries, when Americans led a more rugged existence, making with their own hands the objects they used in their daily lives. there were few machines and no factories.. In those early days, Americans made a wide variety of objects so skillfully created and so imaginatively decorated that they deserved to be ranked as art. These works, most of which were made by people whose names are not known to us, are classified as folk art."

Many folk artists were self-taught. Some were apprenticed at trades or were taught skills at home. Those that I consider folk ARTISTS took an ordinary craft and added an artistic flair such as color or unique design. They turned the ordinary into something extraordinary. Those that I think of as folk CRAFTERS reached a level of perfection within the traditional boundaries of their craft... such as the beautiful simplicity of Shaker boxes. I consider both to be just as artistic, and think learning about our folk craft heritage an important part of discovering American history. It's part of who we are.

Any thoughts? Ideas? Interest?

Kim