Art Reviews by Barbara Burns

When I was a kid, my great aunt would sit and crochet lovely lace doilies … I remember one doily in particular was quite spectacular … it was white thread with a variety of rainbow colors in the strands here and there … the result was a marvelous work of art that was beautiful on a table for decoration but to also protect it from scratches. Aunt Nancy would work on her doily collection for hours and days and weeks it seemed … she always had her needlework in her hands when she was sitting … idle hands were not something that happened for her, her older sister, my Aunt Dot or my Grandmother, her younger sister Orpha. Aunt Dot and I used the hand loom to make hot pads … weaving hot pads was just something that I did as a kid … I never thought about it as work .. it was just something that had to be done in the winter … my grandmother crocheted rag rugs … they were all over our house … if you were not careful … they slid and knocked you down on waxed linoleum floors! She recycled old clothes that were worn out into quilts as well as rag rugs … and those same rag pieces became hot pads too … A doily on a table was a sign of elegance and refinement … every home needed to have those touches, no matter how poor it might be … Aunt Nancy would have loved Ebay, Etsy or online markets to sell her doilies … she used to make gorgeous throw pillows as well … I’ve never seen any like hers anywhere either.

Black Doily 1 by Heidi Panelli

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