Summer slipped by very quickly, but we are now enjoying reports about various activities. The 100th Independence Anniversary festivities in Lithuania took place in July and were covered by the Lithuanian press during the summer months.

♦  In mid-September a Lithuanian Folk Art weekend was organized at Neringa Camp in Vermont by Jana Motivans and Reggie Jagminas, together with Neringa administrator Dana Grajauskas.

Jana reports the weekend was a great success! Nearly 40 people participated in workshops onn weaving, embroidery, Easter eggs (margučiai), straw ornaments, amber bracelets and necklaces, woodworking, and “verbos”. Most participants attended several sessions and made many beautiful projects. There was also wonderful food (kugelis, home-made cheese, etc.)  Two very interesting evening presentations were also well-attended. On Friday Aldona Rygelis spoke about the LTFAI National Costume online Archive project, and on Saturday Danute Mileka presented the flax/linen process complete with all equipment.

Although they say it was a one-time event,  we hope the organizers will be motivated by their success and plan another Folk Art weekend.

♦ New LTFAI member Vilija Boguta of Michigan sent photos of her children making sashes (juostos) and gave us permission to post them. She writes:

My children (Sigita – 9, Darius – 7, Neringa – 6 and Vasara – 3) and I took an interest in weaving last winter and began learning to make sashes. We have a friend living in Ann Arbor who knows about weaving so we learn with her as well. I have been to the Art Gallery in Lemont and the World Lithuanian Center many times, but because we now live in Michigan, I couldn’t learn to weave there. We’re eager to learn more about Lithuanian folk art, especially straw decorations. We have strung together quite a few “sodai” and made small decorations as well. In mid-October we went to the Lithuanian Days in Los Angeles, where my children had a were selling the sashes they made!

Aš su savo vaikais  susidomėjome audimu pereita žiemą ir pradėjome mokintis kaip austi vytines (card-weaving) juostas. Ir tada užsidegėm! Audžiame vytines ir paprastas rinktines ir labai norime išsmokti kaip sudėtingestnes juostas austi. Turime drauge (Audrą Venclovaitę), kuri gyvena Ann Arbor ir kuri labai daug žino apie audimą, tai mokinamės iš jos irgi. Esu daug kartu buvus dailės muziejuje Lemonte, Pasaulio lietuvių centre, bet deja, kadangi dabar gyvenu Michigan, neteko progos ten mokintis audimo.  Mes bendrai labai domimės lietuvių tautodaile,  ypač šiaudinukais. Esame surišę nemažai sodų is šiaudų ir pagaminę daug šiaudinukų. Vaikai labai mėgsta išmokti ir gaminti, tai visi mokinamės kartu. Ką tik grįžom iš Lietuvių dienų Los Angeles – mūsų vaikai mugėje pardavinėjo savo juostas!

Thank you Vilija! We encourage all members to send us photos and descriptions of your folk art projects and endeavours!