The Striking Corn-shuck Dolls of Anne Freels
Seven years ago, while working as a writer and editor for a
magazine, I met artisan Anne Freels and fell in love with her
wonderful corn-shuck dolls. Being from the South, I’d of course
seen corn-shuck dolls before. They’re a favorite craft to
demonstrate and display at fall festivals and living-history
sites. But those dolls were usually simple in design and
appearance, as they would have been in those long-ago days being
depicted. Anne’s dolls, however, are striking — in color, in
design, and in theme.
Using pre-dried, natural corn shucks, commercial dyes that she
mixes herself to achieve vibrant colors, and a wealth of
materials from nature (think feathers, acorns, twigs, herbs,
leaves and seashells), she creates a vast array of dolls with
names like Appalachian Shaman, Herbal Lady, Victorian Father
Christmas, and the popular Flying Kitchen Witch.
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Appalachian Shaman and Woodswoman
dolls |
Victorian Father Christmas doll
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“I’m an earth person,” Anne says. “Working with things that grow
comes naturally to me. I like to use raw materials and put them
together to create a whole new entity. That excites me.”
Anne’s own love affair with making corn-shuck dolls began when
she had the opportunity to attend a short-lived optional high
school where students could pick their own curriculums. She
chose Appalachian Studies.
“A requirement of the class was to make several traditional
Appalachian crafts,” she says. “We learned how to make a broom,
churn butter, weave a basket and chair bottom from oak splits,
and then my favorite — how to make a corn-shuck doll. I’ve been
making the dolls ever since.”
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Stand Witch in black |
Like many artisans, Anne put her craft a bit on the back burner
as she went to college then worked in the field of
communications. But even though she had limited free time, she
kept making dolls and attending a few craft shows. In 1997, she
left her community-relations position and devoted herself full
time to her business, Wingshuck Corn Shuck Dolls. The name of
the business seemed destined considering how it came about.
“I was looking in a bag of shucks for an angel wing-sized shuck
for a friend,” Anne says. “Both she and I said ‘wingshuck’ at
the same time, and it sounded right.”
A few years ago, Anne converted her den into her workshop, and
it’s a constant riot of color, materials and dolls in various
stages of completion. The variety of the dolls is fascinating.
“I do a series of the four seasons (collect all four!), clowns,
‘wingshuck’ angels, herbal angels, and have begun doing more
vignettes with more than one doll,” Anne says. “For instance, I
have an Appalachian version of the ‘American Gothic’ with my own
spin on it, as well as gardening ladies and brides with grooms.
Also popular is my dancing bride, but the biggest sellers are
still the kitchen witches, Halloween witches (holding a
pumpkin), Father Christmas, and Herbal Ladies, with the
Woodswoman and Appalachian Shaman being the next most popular. I
still make the traditional-style doll and haven’t discontinued
any particular style. If I get a request for a specific style,
then I will do my best to make it for someone, regardless of
whether I sell it to shops. Custom work is welcomed.”
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Summer Doll
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Autumn Doll
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In addition to nature, Anne is influenced by folklore, whether
it be that of the Appalachian Mountains she calls home or that
of older civilizations. For instance, her popular kitchen
witches hail from Scandinavian folklore. The multi-colored skirt
is eye-catching as she rides on her broom, driving away evil
spirits and bringing good luck.
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Colorful flying kitchen witches |
Anne has come a long way since those high-school years when she
was learning to make her first corn-shuck doll. Now she’s a
member of several prestigious craft guilds, including the
Tennessee Association of Craft Artists, the Foothills Craft
Guild and the Southern Highland Craft Guild. She does four to
five retail shows a year, but most of her work is sold through
shops, galleries and mail order.
If you’d like to meet Anne in person and perhaps take home some
of your very own dolls, there are several opportunities to do
so. She’ll be at the John C. Campbell Folk School’s Fall
Festival Oct. 6-7, in Brasstown, N.C., and at WinterFair, a
unique gift fair at the Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church in
Louisville, Ky., on Friday, Nov. 30, and Saturday, Dec. 1. She
also hosts an open house in November, at which she sells not
only her dolls but also many other natural products.
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Anne Freels at a craft
show/demonstration |
“I make herbal soaps and natural body creams as well as candles,
and enjoy making skin-care and other products for the home and
bath,” Anne says. “Most of these items I make for my Fall Fete,
my annual open house and sale held on the Saturday before
Thanksgiving in my home (Nov. 17 this year). All of my
aromatherapy products are scented with pure essential oils, and
this includes my candles. The Fall Fete is a good time to shop
for gifts such as these, and most are under $10. I also sell spa
bags and other containers with an assortment of my products
including massage oils, bath salts, body silk (creams), eye
pillows, potpourri, anointing oils, candles and soaps. These
gift bags have been very popular.”
For more information about the Fall Fete or to receive a
postcard, you can e-mail Anne with your address and she will
mail you an invitation. Her e-mail address is
wingshuck@comcast.net and can also be used if you’d like to
make a special order. She doesn’t have a Web site of her own,
but she does have a
member page at the Southern Highland Craft Guild site.
Anne feels very fortunate to be able to make a living doing
something she loves and to showcase her love of the natural
world in her creations.
“I still experiment with the things I gather,” she says.
“There’s beauty everywhere. I’m in heaven. I can do whatever I
want.”
Trish Milburn
can’t make a witch corn-shuck doll, but she has written about
them as well as a world of witches in her Golden Heart-winning
manuscript, Coven. She recently made her first book sale,
another young-adult title, tentatively titled Heartbreak
River. It should hit bookstore shelves sometime in 2009.
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Crock-Pot Recipes
Old-Fashioned Rice Pudding
Contributed by Karen
Potter
2 cups cooked rice
1 1/2 cups fat-free evaporated milk
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons margarine
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup fat-free, cholesterol-free egg product
1 cup raisins
Combine rice thoroughly with all other ingredients in slow
cooker sprayed with non-fat cooking spray. Cover. Cook on low,
stirring after first hour. Stir again one half-hour later. If
the pudding is beginning to firm up, unplug the cooker and let
the existing heat finish the cooking. Makes 8 servings. Ideal
slow-cooker size: 2 1/2 quarts.
Note:
If you like a creamier rice pudding, you may want to add another
1 to 1 1/2 cups fat-free evaporated milk before cooking, halfway
through cooking or just before serving. A little spritz of
whipped cream on top is optional, but yummy.
Karen Potter
writes short contemporaries for Silhouette. Her search for the
perfect rice pudding has now ended.
Diane’s Easy Pot Roast
Brown the meat and place it in a Crock-Pot® with chopped
potatoes and onions. Add a can of beef gravy and another can of
water. Cook on high at least 4 hours; on low at least 8 hours.
Couldn’t be easier!
Crock-Pot® Chicken Stew
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 carrots, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup apple juice or white grape juice
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
Optional:
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup cold water
Heat the olive oil in a skillet, and brown the chicken. Put the
onion and carrots in the bottom of a Crock-Pot®. Place the
chicken on top of onions and carrots, and sprinkle with thyme,
salt and pepper. Pour in the juice and broth. Cover and cook on
low for 8 hours.
Optional: At the end of the cooking time, drain the liquid into
a saucepan and bring to a simmer. In a small bowl, blend the
flour and cold water to make a smooth paste then stir it into
the liquid in the pan. After the mixture thickens, pour it over
the stew and serve.
My Mom’s Gaston Stew
This stew is particularly good for a winter meal. Toss a frozen
(or not frozen) hunk of roast in the Crock-Pot®, add 2 cups
water, 2 or 3 cloves of garlic, a bay leaf, and salt and pepper.
Cook it overnight (7-8 hours) on low. Turn off the Crock-Pot®
the next morning. When the contents are cool enough, skim off
the extra fat, but save about 2-3 tablespoons of the fat along
with about 3 tablespoons of the broth for Yorkshire pudding if
you’d like — see additional recipe below). Refrigerate the meat
with the rest of the broth until you’re in the mood to make the
stew.
To make the stew, cut the cooked meat into cubes. Mix together 3
tablespoons flour,
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, about 1/4 teaspoon of salt and a
shake of pepper. Sprinkle the mixture over the meat, and turn to
form a thickened coating.
Meanwhile, in a large, heavy skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive
oil and add:
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 large, chopped onion
2 cups of the juice the meat was cooked in (Add water to make 2
cups if there’s not enough broth.)
One (14 ½-ounce) can tomato sauce
12 peppercorns
4 or 5 whole cloves
Bring to a boil, add the meat with its thickened coating, and
simmer for about a half-hour. Add 1/2 cup wine (dry white is
recommended, but use what’s handy).
At the same time, cook separately for about 20 minutes 6
potatoes, peeled and quartered, a couple stalks celery, cut into
2-inch pieces, and 6 carrots, peeled and diced. After the meat
has simmered for its half-hour, add the vegetables and cook
another 10 minutes. Add a little of the vegetable broth if the
stew is too thick. Serves six people.
This is good with YORKSHIRE PUDDING:
Note: Yorkshire pudding is made the same as popovers, only
pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. Have the rack in the upper
part of the oven. Put the 2-3 tablespoons fat and 3 tablespoons
meat broth in a 9-inch skillet or a square or round cake pan.
Set on a stove burner, but don’t turn it on yet.
In your blender, (or use a mixer and bowl) add:
2 or 3 eggs
1 cup flour (NOT SELF RISING — you don’t want any leavening at
all)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
Blend these ingredients.
Heat your pan of fat and meat broth on a stove burner until it’s
hot. You want it simmering but not burning. Add your Yorkshire
pudding batter, turn off heat, and use potholders or oven mitts
to transfer to your oven. Bake 25-30 minutes. It should be well
browned on top and be all hills and valleys. Serve at once with
your stew and a salad. Like a soufflé, it’ll fall quickly. It’ll
probably stick to the bottom of the pan, unless the bottom is
Teflon®, but it’s good anyway. Serve warm with butter. Serves
six, but barely. You might want to make an extra pan’s worth.
For metric conversions of the measurements above, consult any
of the following sites:
http://southernfood.about.com/library/info/blconv.htm
http://www.thatsmyhome.com/recipes/conversion.htm
http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/conversions.htm
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