A Witch for Every Kitchen
Halloween Art and Travel
Grab your broom and journey to the enchanting world of Kitchen Witches to uncover their cultural significance. Join the movement to revive their popularity. This episode features insights from various creators and collectors, shedding light on their enduring fascination. Thank you to all of our content contributors: Anna Allen, (Aw Shucks Annie Dolls): and Jennie Hepler-Takens (My Dearest Witch): Kris Gurky (Dark Moon Salem): Mary Lynn Cudejko (Bewitching Peddlers of Halloween Fan and Owl Collector) Lauren Demers-Windom (Witches for Kitchens): ...
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Marion Held: A Passionate Collector Opens Her Home
Halloween Art and Travel
Meet Marion Held, the creator and curator of the Devil-ish Little Things Museum in Vancouver, WA. Marion shares her passion for collecting whimsical devil, Krampus, and satyr objects. Marion’s collection is brightly colored, mostly from Europe, and is based on fairytales and folklore. Her collection began 26 years ago when she fell in love with the Devil and Cards ceramics by Royal Bayreuth. Marion is dedicated to inspiring others to appreciate and collect art. Her collection exudes a playful European charm that reflects her upbringing in her native Germany. She loves the...
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Anna Allen: Keeping Appalachian Traditions Alive
Halloween Art and Travel
Meet Anna Allen, an artist who blends traditional cornhusk craft with her Appalachian heritage. Anna creates cornhusk dolls under the name Aw Shucks Annie Dolls. Her dolls feature vibrant colors with a special focus on witches and the magic of Halloween. She also enjoys creating dolls showing traditional Appalachian clothing and activities. Growing up in Ohio, Anna was surrounded by her creative and self-reliant family. Her childhood includes memories of her grandparents making their own lye soap and family gatherings filled with joyful bluegrass music. Anna collected dolls...
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Kymmburleigh Clark: Uncovering Furniture Secrets
Halloween Art and Travel
Meet Kymmburleigh Clark, upholstery teacher, designer, and restorer of furniture. When her dogs destroyed two of her chairs, she taught herself how to restore them. This started her on the path to learning the craft of upholstery. As a co-owner of a furniture fabrication shop, Kymm learned about the dire state of the upholstery field. Demand far exceeds the number of people with the skill. After their successful business closed due to a lack of skilled labor, Kymm made it her mission to teach as many people upholstery as possible and Lullco was born. Today you can find Kymm teaching...
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Iva Wilcox: Building Up Nostalgic Creations
Halloween Art and Travel
Meet Iva Wilcox of Iva’s Creations, a talented artist who creates vintage style folk art. Iva is well known for her spun cotton. When the muse strikes, she also works in mixed media and watercolors. Her pursuits in music, costuming, cooking, and dance also stand testament to her creative drive. Iva instantly fell in love when she saw spun cotton ornaments for the first time. They invoke the charm of a bygone era and provide limitless opportunities to create many kinds of shapes. Working with cotton is a process of building up, which Iva finds to be more pleasing than carving away...
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Kaf Grimm: Dolls Stitched with Heart
Halloween Art and Travel
Meet doll maker Kaf Grimm of Grimitives. Every doll born in her studio has a stitched heart. That’s Kaf’s way of putting a piece of herself into every creation. “Grimitives are my grim children, and each and every one is different. So, it's hard picking my favorite, and it's also hard letting them go when I'm finished with them,” said Kaf. Kaf is passionate about preserving history, which is evident in her choice to collect and use vintage materials. Her studio, built on top of a historic foundation, is full unexplained happenings. Where are strange voices coming...
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Deven Blackwell: Old Techniques – Modern Context
Halloween Art and Travel
Meet Deven Blackwell, the creative force behind House of Blackwell, a gathering of her limitless artistic endeavors. Some of her current offerings are spooky decor, tutorials, and patterns. Her diverse set of experience includes graphic design, art, writing, hair styling, and sewing. Deven is especially known for her spooky cornhusk creations. She loves to create phobia-inducing creatures such as bats and spiders. While she learned cornhusk crafting as a child in Texas, her talent remained dormant until 2020. Bored and unable to celebrate Halloween in the traditional way, Deven...
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Stephanie Tiongco: Art Imitating Life
Halloween Art and Travel
Meet artist Stephanie Tiongco of Stevi T Fiber Art. Stevi’s needle felted animals look so real, you’ll swear they are breathing. In this episode, you’ll hear how Stevi creates anthropomorphic dolls and her unique approach to incorporating antiques into her artwork. She discusses her involvement with doll organizations, giving valuable insight into the world of doll making and collecting. Stevi’s artistic journey has taken her from making dolls for her daughter to showcasing her work on national television and art shows. Her creativity and tenacity knows no bounds – from dying her...
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Jorge de Rojas: A Wonderful Life of Halloween
Halloween Art and Travel
Meet paper mâché artist, Jorge de Rojas of HohoHalloween. Halloween has captivated Jorge since childhood and was a key influence in helping him adapt to his new country. His career journey has taken him from make-up and costuming, through a detour in nursing, and then back to art due to a fateful life event. The common thread in Jorge’s diverse career is the desire to make people smile. His world includes everything from devilish ornaments to mischievous goblins. His inspirations include 1930s cartoons and his vintage Halloween collection, especially the die...
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Jana Seven: Stories Drive the Dolls
Halloween Art and Travel
Jana Seven's journey into doll-making is a captivating tale of passion and creative drive. From her early childhood days spent doodling on office paper to her illustrious career as a children's book illustrator, Jana's art has always been a part of her life. The transition from illustration to crafting one-of-a-kind Rag and Bone Dolls stemmed from a burning desire to create something tangible and to exercise bringing the sweet beings that live inside her head to life. Jana uses the rawest materials, like twine, sticks, clay, wood, and antique fabric to involve a feeling of...
info_outlineMeet Anna Allen, an artist who blends traditional cornhusk craft with her Appalachian heritage. Anna creates cornhusk dolls under the name Aw Shucks Annie Dolls. Her dolls feature vibrant colors with a special focus on witches and the magic of Halloween. She also enjoys creating dolls showing traditional Appalachian clothing and activities.
Growing up in Ohio, Anna was surrounded by her creative and self-reliant family. Her childhood includes memories of her grandparents making their own lye soap and family gatherings filled with joyful bluegrass music. Anna collected dolls before she started making her own. One day, along with her mother and a friend, she decided to bring to life her own. She laughs now at how “ugly” her first try was. Through exploration and determination, she grew into the skilled artist she is today.
Anna does twist up tradition by putting faces on many of her dolls. She enjoys making witches with two or three heads. She loves knowing that her collectors put their own narratives on the dolls once they adopt them.
“... it's an honor and a privilege to share my Appalachian roots and heritage through the creation of my cornhusk dolls.” - Anna M. Allen
Mentions:
- Anna singing Moonshine Ridge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWXLQw7Gqjk
- Circleville, Ohio, Pumpkin Show: https://www.pumpkinshow.com/
- Halloween in July Market (Circleville, OH): https://pickaway.com/event/halloween-in-july-market-2/
- Peggie Kilgore Corn Husk Dolls (Search the internet for pictures)