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Studio B.log
Welcome to the new Studio B Knits website and the Studio B.log! If you've visited my previous site, one that I maintained for almost 14 years (!), thank you for your support and for now checking out this new one. If this is your first visit, thank you as well. The hope is that everyone will find something of interest, be it through words or images. Or both.
As I got ready to bid farewell to the old site (change is HARD, right?) I struggled with how to introduce the new one. And then I went back and discovered the very first post I entered on the OLD site. And what do you know? The sentiments I expressed there, the feelings that led me to create that first site, are not that different from what I'm feeling now. So... it feels somehow karmic to have gone back and discovered that post and to repeat a good portion of it as a way to close the door on the old and begin anew.
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04.10.2012
While in the past I have occasionally “lurked” online, I’ve felt no need to establish a presence of my own on any of the myriad social media sites. I often confess that I am a natural recluse, happy to spend time alone, be it knitting in my studio, reading a book, cooking, going for a walk, whatever. I don’t understand the word “bored.” There is always something to do that interests me. When I venture out, it’s my choice – to spend time with friends or family, to share my love of knitting with others by teaching, etc. I’m in control – just where this left brained girl is most comfortable.
With the launch of this new website, however, it has been suggested to me that I should think about entering the brave new world of social media. “Don’t be afraid,” people say. “Everybody’s doing it.” Sigh… so confusing.
Lucky for me, a trusted friend has advised me that my site doesn’t have to be social media “driven,” it just has to be social media “friendly” and I like the sound of that. This way I can start slowly. It’s the left-brained thing to do.
Baby steps? Maybe… But moving forward. And that’s always a good thing.
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I've also brought forward a few other blog posts below from the "What's New" section on the old site. As with the post above, in addition to being dated, these older posts will show in italics to help distinguish them from any new content I'll add to provide needed context for the older posts. They speak to my creative history, thoughts I still find meaningful today, regardless of age and/or some posts that include images of older work that still resonate for me. Until new posts appear, especially for new visitors, I hope you find that these older ones provide a window into the artistic journey that brings me here today. Still writing, still creating, still evolving. My studio mantra still inspires me. Play.Knit.Create.
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Paper Petals Bracelet
"Paper Petals" Bracelet
05.16.2026
When a potential customer is looking at my work, I am occasionally asked if I have a bracelet to “go with” a particular necklace. Or vice versa – a necklace that “goes with” a desired bracelet. I’m not sure why this is so. Could be one of several reasons. No judgement implied. But I almost never think this way about my work. I think I once made a pair of earrings to go with a necklace and that was to accompany a commission done for a very good buyer (and no, I rarely do commissions either…I’ll explain that too.) I’m not someone who looks to coordinate my own jewelry wearing choices. I prefer to let individual pieces stand on their own. I will choose multiple pieces to wear that to my eye work together, but not because they were created to wear together. So I guess that’s why I don’t engage in what I’ll call “Matchy – Matchy” design.
So when, Bruce Hoffman, the Artistic Director of Gravers Lane Gallery (and someone to whom I probably owe my fiber career) asked me if I had a bracelet to go with the Paper Cascade Necklace I had just brought to him (see the previous post), I had to stop and think. The truth was, being so inspired by the rolled paper beads I used in the necklace, I had already begun thinking about other ways to use them. And no sooner than the word “bracelet” left his lips, the idea for this bracelet sprung to mind. I came home, did a little R&D, and this Paper Petals bracelet was done in a week. Matchy matchy? Maybe a little, but only because the primary material is the same. Design-wise, they are very different.
And my feeling about commissions? I did them earlier in my jewelry knitting career but always found myself having to design to someone else’s taste and color palette. I found the process very confining and unsatisfying. So, call me selfish if you will. But at this point in my creative life, I prefer to create what pleases me first. And fortunately I’ve found that while the occasional piece stays with me longer than others, most eventually find another person who loves them as much as I do. Patience grasshopper. In all things.
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"Paper Cascade"
This necklace is a perfect illustration of how an unusual component can inspire a design.
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04.20.2026
Sometimes you just get lucky. Such was the case on my last visit to Material Culture, an eclectic gem of a warehouse store in Philadelphia. I always seem to find unusual beads or objects there, things that delight my eye and often serve to jumpstart a new design. This time I found a 60’s era (I think…) beaded door curtain, the kind of hippie, beatnik chic I remember from my teenage years. Except the beads in this curtain were all individually rolled paper and had been treated in some way that makes them hard and much less fragile than a plain paper bead. VERY stringable. This necklace is just the first of what I hope will be a series of designs that showcase these beauties. My left brain creativity is a hummin’ !
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Here I provided the link to my interview with Valerie Hector. Want to see and learn more details about my work? Valerie, bead weaver and educator extraordinaire presents it in her inimitable fashion.
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04.22.2024
Exciting news! I’ve recently had the great privilege to be interviewed by Valerie Hector as part of her new series, Beading Globally, that appears on her You Tube Channel. Called “Bead Knitting Now,” it is a recorded visual interview with Valerie about my work, interspersed with a slide show of images. The interview has gone live HERE (There may be a skippable ad prior to the interview’s start.)
As time permits, I hope you will check out at least some of it. (Fair warning: it’s two hours long!) This is kind of a big deal for me. ;-) No actually, it IS a big deal for me.
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"Gone Viral" Necklace
Nothing provides greater opportunity to gain perspective than coming through trying times. On New Year's Day 2021, as the Covid pandemic was winding down, it felt appropriate to take stock in one of my longest posts ever. So much to consider. What had happened. What might be coming. And what I had learned. The necklace shown above was created in recognition of a deadly virus, mourning those who passed and grateful for those who survived.
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01.01.2021
LOOKING BACK:
Personally: Every day in this past year of so much challenge, I have tried to be grateful for what I have while remaining mindful of the losses endured by so many. Reaching out when I’m able to offer sympathy and support. But somehow it never seems enough. But we do what we can and encourage others to do the same. What else can we do? If you can think of it, try to do it.
Professionally: So many “Thank you!”‘s owed…
…To everyone who found their way to this site in the last year and especially in the last two months. Many as a result of my participation in CraftBoston Holiday Online 2020 and others who found their way, regardless of how you got here. More visitors than I’ve ever had. So many pieces going to forever homes. May they bring you as much joy in the wearing as they have to me in the creating. So grateful!
…To everyone at The Society of Arts & Crafts, sponsors of the CraftBoston shows and so much more. As I saw them pivoting from live shows to virtual ones, I was blown away by the amount and quality of work done by such a relatively small staff of individuals devoted to the advancement of fine American Craft. So many opportunities for artists to share both our product and our process. I’ve learned so much. I’ve “met” and connected with other artists in ways that a live show doesn’t always afford. I am in their debt.
… To the staff at Gravers Lane Gallery in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Bruce, Barbara, Boin. Not sure you will ever know the extent to which your ongoing support is invaluable to me. I will never take it for granted.
LOOKING FORWARD:
What to say? Hope is a word I can now use and really believe in what appears possible. There IS real light at the end of this pandemic and politically corrosive tunnel. But there are still weeks and months (and years?) of continued strength required. Let’s not give up when we are so close. Let’s do what is asked of us. Wear a damn mask. If at all possible, stay home. Respect the fact that the health of one can affect the health of many. We can do this. Please do this. So we can be together again. It is my fondest wish.
Happy New Year everyone. This year, let’s work to make it more than a hackneyed expression. Thank you.
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The Covid-19 pandemic affected everyone, albeit in different ways. These were my feelings at the start, when none of us knew how long these dark days would last and who would be there when they did finally come to an end.
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03.30.2020
These are challenging days. My heart breaks for such loss of life and financial hardship for so many and I send out heartfelt sympathies to those who are struggling. By comparison, as the gallery opening and two juried shows I was looking forward to have been either canceled or postponed, losing the opportunity to share my work in person feels like just a temporary inconvenience. It is absolutely the responsible thing to do. I am, however, an eternal optimist. So I choose to believe that, mindful of the extraordinary personal loss for so many, the world will eventually return to some semblance of normal. And when that time comes, I hope to be back sharing my work in a manner more personal than on this website or on Instagram.
We all need to find some source of light in days that can feel so dark. Personally, pictures and videos of my children and grandchildren are the last things I look at before going to sleep and they give me the happiness and peace to rest. Professionally, I am spending lots of time in the studio. But for the first few weeks of self quarantine, I found that I needed to return to “mindless” knitting – a scarf, a baby sweater – the kind of soothing knitting I have done since I was a child. The urge to get back to my knitted jewelry is slowly returning. Ideas have once again begun to bubble up and it won’t be long before those creative voices will not be denied and I’ll return to “work” knitting.
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Click here to start customizingThis post is my reflection on the decision I made several months prior to this post to stop teaching and focus on studio time, on the creation of new work, like the Myra necklace, seen above. It was a seminal decision. While I loved teaching, this was a decision I've never regretted.
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05.25.2017
Yes, I miss my students, my colleagues and the markets of my teaching days. But given the results from these months of sustained, productive time in my studio, I am more sure than ever that I am on the path that is meant for me at this time of both my personal and professional life. As evidence, I’m offering some samples of the work that has me so invested and energized. Why do these the pictures look different from the others in the Gallery? Well, given that I am preparing to start submitting my work to some juried craft shows, I have put on my “Big Girl” pants and begun to work with a professional photographer. I have taken my own photos in the past and while they have done the job in adequately displaying my work for the website and for class examples, jurors for these shows expect a different level of image. I’m pretty excited by the first results from this new partnership. I’ve continued to shoot some of the latest work just to have a record of it for now but some of the newest pieces will also eventually be shot professionally. I have to be selective as it is NOT an inexpensive enterprise.
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PS Still working with the same photographer today! Shout out to Larry Berman Art.
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Having begun this creative journey at the tender age of 52, the topic of creativity as we age was of unique interest to me when I was approached to be interviewed on just such a subject at the age of 63. It really made me think...
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06.19.2013
I was recently interviewed by a woman named Judith Zausner who writes a blog about creativity, explored within the context of aging. The subtitle of the blog is “Topics that address creativity in the landscape of our lives today and as we age.” This is a bit of a mouthful but an accurate reflection of her POV (as they say on every reality competition show – Point Of View) and I am enjoying reading what she is bringing to her audience. It also has me thinking about my own POV with regard to aging and how in truth I have never felt limited by my age in whatever I have chosen to pursue. Except maybe just a little when I shop for clothing… Thankfully, I have a VERY honest daughter who keeps me from embarrassing myself. But I digress. I have to say that most likely I owe my ability to not feel limited by age issues to familial role models. My maternal grandparents were married for 75 years. That’s not a typo. Married for 75 years! My grandmother was still painting and swimming at the YMCA well into her 90’s and my grandfather decided that 92 was a great age to start learning to speak Russian. My amazing mother is now 87 and still searching out additional places to volunteer, taking an 8-week mindfulness meditation workshop and is the star of her Silver Sneakers fitness class. So I guess that compared to them, at age 63 I’m a spring chicken and just getting started. Good to know, don’t you think?
Start reading the Creativity Matters blog by clicking here:
http://agingandcreativity.blogspot.com/search?q=Betsy+Hershberg
