For those who don’t know, the Quahog is a clam. Traditionally, Quahogs are harvested in the summertime; their meat consumed, leaving the shells empty and to be used in various ways. Known as Wampum to the Wampanoag Tribe, these shells were once used as currency or a representation of value through exchange and crafted into incredible jewelry.
It’s no secret that Quahog shell jewelry has evolved but the intention and tradition remains the same. As Islanders, we consider it sacred; a craft that’s taught time and time again, passed down from generation to generation and worn with respect to the Wampanoag people.
Martha’s Vineyard is home to many makers, one of which specializes in Quahog jewelry. Meet Sherri Church! Born and raised on the Island, Sherri has a very special appreciation for Quahog shell jewelry, a craft that was taught to her in high school and encouraged ever since.
As a daughter of a local fisherman, Sherri is familiar with Quahog shells. She knows the season in which they become available, the hard work that comes with digging them up, harvesting them and even cooking them––all of which has made her jewelry making that much more memorable.
For years, Sherri was known as Indian Hill Wampum. A name that came from her home on Indian Hill Road, but since then she has dropped the word Wampum out of respect to the Wampanoag people and rebranded to Clammer Creations. As for Clammer Creations namesake? Sherri says it was her grandchildren that came up with it in 2021.
Although she started her Quahog jewelry business in 2016, Sherri has always had ties to the local artisan scene. She and her daughter successfully opened Driftwood, a local jewelry store in Oak Bluffs. The space displayed over a dozen local jewelry makers, from gold, silver and brass to stones, shells and more. Since then, it has closed but Clammer Creations doors remain open.
When asked what inspires her the most, Sherri said it’s the shells. Her intention is to create what she sees in each variation; if she sees a feather, she’ll carve out a feather, so on and so forth. Like the shells, her designs come in all shapes and sizes. From hearts and seahorses to simple ovals and triangles. Some pieces are bezel set in silver, others fastened to thin chains, twine and more.
Sherri also creates pendants which can be worn any way, keychains, earrings, upcycled milk bottles and more. What makes Sherri’s Clammer Creations so great is that they’re locally made, locally sourced and affordable!
If you’re looking for a Mother’s Day gift Mom will love, you can find Clammer Creations both in-store and online at Martha’s Vineyard Made!
]]>While some of us honed into our sourdough making skills in 2020, Paula took a sweet escape and began making delicious, small-batch craft candies and founded Vineyard Confections.
Paula was born in Madrid, Spain and says it’s where her initial inspiration came from during a visit. Unlike store-bought, mass-manufactured candy, Vineyard Confections is quite simple––Paula uses high-quality ingredients that most of us can pronounce and chooses them very carefully. Some of her first candies were inspired by delicious violet ones she found in Spain!
Some of her seasonal candies include Pumpkin Cinnamon Spice lollipops in the Autumn, handmade Easter Eggs in the Spring, Mango Habanero for those hot summer days and others. What makes Paula’s sweet treats so special is her knack for different flavor pairings and the creativity behind crafting them. Each treat is unique, some bearing bold shapes, designs and colors. She also makes fabulous cashew brittle and Sea Salt Caramels which can always be found year round!
A fun fact? She even makes delicious dog biscuits. Available in-store at Martha’s Vineyard Made and online at www.vineyardconfections.com.
Paula resides in Edgartown, making fantastic confections in her own kitchen. Every now and then she can be found dropping by Martha’s Vineyard Made with a tray full of her sweet treats ready to be put on display and sold. We anticipate her Easter haul, which will include her signature, handmade Easter Eggs and other Vineyard Confections Spring specials.
Paula and Vineyard Confections will be hosting an Island-wide egg hunt! The exclusive event will be held the weekend of April 2nd and 3rd. Clues for each egg hunter will be sent out each morning throughout the weekend. This year, there are over 100 eggs that will be hidden! There will also be Doggie Eggs filled with dog treats––those locations will be released soon. For those who didn't find an egg, a limited amount will be available for purchase at Martha's Vineyard Made over Easter Weekend and on Vineyard Confections website! Follow VC on Instagram and Facebook for more information such as clues and locations!
Martha’s Vineyard Made is so excited to be a part of this event! We will be opening our doors for the weekend beginning Friday 10-5, Saturday 10-5 and Sunday 11-4.
Interested in ordering online for Easter? We suggest doing it sooner than later! On Island? Don’t forget to visit us in Vineyard Haven where you can find Vineyard Confections just in time for the holiday!
Jeremy who’s originally from Chevy Chase, MD first picked up a camera at age 7. At 15 he was enrolled in high school photography classes, using an old Minolta SRT-101 camera given to him by his father. Inspired by human emotion and interaction, he honed into his craft here on Martha’s Vineyard, capturing the faces and places of the Island.
If you’ve ever seen Jeremy’s photography, you’d know it evokes emotions and captures the spirit of our Island. He has a unique eye for candid shots where that makes you feel as if you’re right there in the scene yourself.
Some of his photography can be seen plastered on the walls of the Ritz Cafe in Oak Bluffs, spread across social media of local musicians and more. More recently, he’s compiled his own photography book Vineyard Noir that features bold black and white shots from events such as Beach Road Weekend, Taste of the Vineyard and more. Jeremy has also been featured in publications such as the New York Times, Boston Magazine, Vineyard Style Magazine and Martha's Vineyard Magazine.
Although the Island could be considered his studio, he primarily works out of his home in Oak Bluffs. When he's not the man behind the lens, he's drumming and producing events, two other passions turned careers of his. When asked if he wanted to include anything else, he nonchalantly replied “nah”.
Find Jeremy’s Vineyard Noir online and in-store at Martha’s Vineyard Made. Visit his website and follow him on social media for more!
]]>If you ask him, he’ll tell you that he started painting as a child; bringing color into his world and sharing it with others. What began with finger painting (like most of us) has turned into a remarkable talent and artwork one could only dream of.
Walker, a West Tisbury native often finds his inspiration closest to home. “I’ve recently been deeply inspired by just watching the seasons change. I walk through a field near my house frequently, it was full of waist high dry grass until the first heavy snow laid it all down. I'd never made that connection before and it made me wonder what else I was missing in a place I thought I knew everything about.” He says curiously.
Other times he’s inspired by music and thinking about how harmonic theory overlaps with his understanding of color––he’ll admit it’s a bit more intense but nonetheless inspiring.
If you’ve ever seen one of Walker’s paintings then you know it's easy to get lost but then feel found. His landscape paintings often include Island settings, offering a familiar feel that truly brings it to life. One includes Departure III, a beautiful, serene scene of a steamship ferry (which most of us know all too well) departing the docks. It’s a piece that can instill hope or maybe even sadness whether one is coming or going.
Other paintings include scenes from Lucy Vincent Beach, local Martha’s Vineyard farms and more. His prints can be found both online and in-store. But as for the originals? There’s so much more to them!
When asked about his medium, Walker replied “my landscape work is all done in oil paint on hardwood panels. I'm very particular about the painting surface I prepare so I build them myself. I use a specialty waterproof plywood, the same material old highway signs used to be made of before they switched to the modern aluminum ones.”
But has he always done it this way? Nope! He says “my earlier work used to employ many different mediums into the paint. Boiled oils to make the paint stingy, waxes to make it paste like, resins to create gloss etc.”
In recent years Walker has pared materials down to paint from the tube and some mineral spirits which he says keeps the paint body consistent which allows him to be more familiar with its handling and use it more proficiently.
Like many artists and creatives, his tools have changed over time. “I used to have dozens of fancy art brushes, each shaped for a particular type of mark. Now though I use a lot of cheap chip brushes like you'd find at a hardware store, but even with those I'm picky. I've also added in lots of squeegees, rubber rollers, and spatulas as they make very irregular marks and are less predictable than a brush.”
For Walker, he knows a painting succeeds when “it brings me beyond what I had intended” and for him, he likes paintings that are done, not finished.
Martha’s Vineyard Made carries a wonderful selection of Walker’s artwork, available in prints. Interested in an original? We’re happy to reach out to him and inquire!
Find your favorite print here!
Don’t forget to give him a follow on social media to learn more about his creative process, inspiration, artwork and more.
It was the Winter of 2003 when Portland, Maine had the 5th coldest season in history. Anyone from New England knows our winters here can be bleak, frigid, freezing––a time to hunker down and find some hobbies!
It was also that Winter when Pamela Harwood (a California native) found her love for knitting while undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. At the time, Pam, whose head was bare, began looking for a hat that not only kept her incredibly warm but also didn’t itch or wasn’t uncomfortable. It was then when a friend introduced her to Alpaca and she was happily hooked!
Shortly after in 2004, Pam, who was given a clean bill of health, her husband and two sons started a farm in Maine where they raised Alpaca for their beautiful fiber. The name, Longwoods Alpacas originated from the dense woods that bordered their long meadow. After taking some time to perfect the art of Alpaca fiber and farming––learning the ins and outs and how to create yarns that didn’t pill, shed or itch––Pam was selling her handmade products locally.
In late December 2017 with both sons grown and living out of state, Pam and her husband made the decision to move to Martha’s Vineyard. Although they had sold their home and farm in Maine, there was one thing Pam wouldn’t move without: her huge “stash” of yarn so she could continue dyeing, knitting, weaving and selling her Alpaca products on Island.
Like many Martha’s Vineyard Makers, Pam’s studio is in the comfort of her own home, between her kitchen and her living room where she dyes fibers by hand (in her crock pot and oven!) and knits her incredible creations.
When asked what inspires her the most, Pam replied with “The colors of theVineyard have inspired my recent yarn dyeing: quahogs, sunsets and sunrises, walking the paths along creeks, beaches, and ponds. The yarns I helped to create through our (recently closed) national fiber co-operative, Natural Fiber Producers, are as lovely to work with as they are to wear. Each of my hats, scarves, shawls, baby pants, etc is unique—I never want to get bored by “cranking out” the same thing over and over, so I’ll change colors, add a different design, or combine elements of several patterns to keep things interesting. Many of my hat patterns are in my head— often I have no idea what the end result will be when I cast stitches onto my needles. I am inspired by trial and error!”
While in Maine, Pam spent over 2 years learning to become a certified fiber sorter and joined the National Fiber Producers, a co-operative that collected, graded and sorted fiber from members across the US. As part of the production team, Pam worked with spinning, knitting, and weaving mills located mostly in New England, but all were US companies, to create the best possible yarns and finished goods.
As her craft expands, Pam has had a hand in production of most of the yarns which she dyes and uses in her knitting and weaving. “Best of all, my beloved alpacas contributed their fiber to these yarns, so they are still with me, even though we sold the farm,” she says with a smile.
It’s not quite spinning straw into gold, but it sure is beautiful and oh, so soft!
You can find Longwoods Alpacas products in-store and online at Martha’s Vineyard Made. We have a wonderful assortment of hats, scarves, blankets, baby items and more.
What better way to stay warm this winter than with locally made, handcrafted Alpaca products?
Shop the Longwoods Alpacas collection here!
Meet our first Maker of the Month, Lucy Cox of Madkel Designs!
Flannel season is upon us and Madkel Designs is our favorite. With a little bit of bleach and a lot of embellishments, Lucy Cox is turning an Island classic into a contemporary necessity. But that’s not where she stops; Lucy also creates timeless jewelry that features beautiful stones, vintage coins and more.
For as long as she can remember, Lucy has loved to create; from sewing andneedlepoint to painting, always keeping her hands busy and expressing her talents. For over 15 years Lucy has been working out of her West Tisbury homestudio, setting up shop for Madkel Designs at the Chilmark Flea Market (until 2020). Madkel Designs namesake comes from Lucy’s two daughters, Madeline and Kelsey, both of whom inspire her creativity and craft.
Each piece of jewelry Lucy makes is original and features personally selected stones while each flannel she makes is sourced and upcycled from Detroit, Michigan but embellished and bleached in her studio in West Tisbury. Her entire collection is ever changing with the seasons and reflects the inspiration she finds around her.
Madkel Designs can be purchased both online and in-store, with something truly for everyone! Shop her entire collection here.
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