ART, A Good Prescription for Sanity: The Isolation of Sailors
From March 2020
Don’t think I have seen that particular headline in my self limiting news perusing the last couple of days and contrary to what social media might say, it is not the first time we have dealt with such things. Our collective memories are short. Our collective level-headed-ness is usually nonexistent, but our collective leaning to craziness is more contagious than any virus…war…natural disaster… or economic upheaval we have ever experienced.
What to do? Pray, highly recommend chats with the Lord above, along with taking a breath, yoga, long walks, good wine and ART. Because, since the beginning of time, Art has been used to steady and center the populace. In other words, help us not lose our collective minds!
In this time of uncertainty, I am turning to what I love most in this world after my husband and my children and probably my dog depending on how annoying she is being. Luckily, this topic is too long for one little post and if nothing else will keep me occupied for a while and if I can provide you with twenty minutes of a departure from the crazy, all the better. (Actually, my goal is to pack these posts with links to other mind lifting source you might enjoy as well)
First off, well first off- a glorious Winslow Homer illustration. Zoom in bigger on all the painting, if you're looking at this on a phone (then wash it…and your hands)
Can I just take a moment to say….”Oh My! What an illustration!”. The dynamic scene of a sailor rescuing a woman is made more powerful with the red scarf covering the unidentified hero’s face. The power of his legs, his arms… Do click on the blue highlighted title above for a link to the Khan Academy, a great online resource to learn something about well many things. But I digress. Throughout history, sailors have combated isolation by making things with their hands.
Yes, believe it or not, Big Burly Sailors made arts and crafts and Highlanders knew how to knit, but I digress again. Documented way, way back when whaling, the unsavory but necessary for much of history harvesting of whales for their fat and their oils…
Sailors had to leave their loved ones and sail to the ends of the known world, in an organized industry as far back as 875 AD, according to HERE . With the “harvesting” areas a great distance from where the sailors lived and being out for months at a time, the sailors carved renderings of ships and scenes of home into whale tooth and bone, then rubbed black ink into the scratches to pass the time…
Authentic Scrimshaw , is an art form from an era and an industry that is responsible for the near decimation of many species of whales and is being debated today, but are fine examples of using what you have literally “on board” to pass the long hours of downtime. Such harsh voyages are captured beautifully in Ines Thorns, THE WHALER, (both in e-book and audible),
The novel, translated from German into English, tells the tale of a girl who is forced to join a whaling expedition to settle a debt with the tyrant of a captain. I have found great solace by sticking my earbuds in my ears, and blasting both fiction and nonfiction audiobooks until my brain stops over thinking and can still make art or walk around and wipe down every surface in my house with Clorox. Plus, when I wake up at two in the morning and well can either lay there thinking of all the “what ifs”, I’m trying to first…have a conversation with God then listen to a Not so great novel to fall back asleep. For some good listening recommends, also about those in times when they had little choices, go HERE.
Back to Man Crafts…although there were sailors on navel ships who carved away the time with a knife, there were also, wait for it, those who stitched away the hours with needle and thread, no joke… No judgment really and not surprising, since sailors, having to fix sails, were already expert sewers…
Called “Woolies”, check out some on pinterest.com HERE
More info go to… Veranda.com
Mostly British Empire burly sailors made woolies and the idea could have come from the influence of Chinese silk-work according to HERE when trade opened up with the East. Jane Austen had it wrong, true “Accomplishments” were never just reserved for the “weaker sex”….
Not only did the sailors confined to long voyages seek solace in crafts, but also the ones stationed close to home. Off the coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the sea is so fierce…
Yes! I did post it again for no other reason then well need I explain. Actually, if you didn’t listen to the video on Homer’s Lifeline, the illustration actually depicts a ship to shore rescue. I digress again, but there are places on the coast where Lightships , ships with beacons moored off some distance from the coast warn approaching ships of danger, like around Nantucket Island where there are shallow waters between the island and the coast. The first lightship was built in 1853 and the sailors on board kept their sanity amongst the thrashing of waves by weaving baskets, creating a style known as Nantucket, Sometimes scrimshaw lids and bone accents were added and today antique Burly Sailor Nantucket Baskets, not their official name, sometimes sell in the $100,000 range.
Other art and craft have been created by sailors including handcrafted and detailed wooden ship models, shell art and nautical paintings and all are much prized today, though the sailor’s original intent was to pass away the hours and keep one’s sanity.
Now is also the time to keep the hands busy, for as science has proven, keeping the hands busy help ward off negative thoughts in the mind. Weaving, stitching, knitting, anything that can rest that side of the brain that worries, is good for the soul. There is a reason, arts and crafts is used in mental hospitals and in therapy….don’t knock it til you try it! Doubt there is a run on yarn, crochet hooks and knitting needles right now in the stores like there is on other items. And besides, I’d bet in most houses there is already a stash of forgotten craft and art supplies, if not some unfinished projects.
Youtube.com, MasterClass, pinterest.com, and even google.com are all good places for searching for what might interest you, just keep it on the ARTS topics for your sanity!
Not convinced? Next time, how ART has kept the sanity of those through long winters, homesteading and mud season when no one could get to town or wanted to….
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