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Leyden Glen Sheep Farm

March 02, 2015Ben Ashby

Tucked away in the rolling hills of western Massachusetts is a place so unique and beautiful that it seems like it was pulled straight from a fairytale. I remember the very first time I drove down the windy and desolate dirt roads leading up to the Leyden Glen Sheep Farm. Spring was in full bloom and my good friend Sarah was behind the wheel. I kept thinking to myself, where is she taking me? Talk about the middle of nowhere!

STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY: RIKKI SNYDER

When we finally pulled up to the farmhouse we were greeted by eager sheep dogs, so full of energy and ready to play. Sarah had told me how beautiful this place was and as soon as I got out of the car I fell in love with everything. The wooden swing tied to a tree in the front yard, tufts of wool covering the ground in certain spots, grass greener than any I’d seen before and sheep by the hundreds feeding on it with enormous, tree covered hills as their backdrop.

Kristin Nicholas came out from her charming farmhouse to greet us and I was first introduced to the incredible woman who calls this place home. Kristin is a true and talented artist best known for her knitting and stitching patterns. But it doesn’t stop there, her tremendous talents include knitting, crochet, embroidery, dyeing, painting, decorative and interior painting and pottery. She lives in this picturesque 1751 Antique Cape Cod farmhouse with her husband Mark and their darling daughter, Julia. Together they run their Leyden Glen Sheep Farm which now consists of over 300 sheep, 20 chickens, 10 cats, 3 border collies who work the sheep, 1 Great Pyrenees Guard Dog, a Guard Donkey and a Guard Llama. Kristin explains how when you live on a real working farm, the farm becomes your life. The animals are in need of constant attention, food, water and are always being moved around from field to field. “I talk to animals more than I talk to people!” she says.

The reality of Kristin and Mark’s unique lifestyle as sheep farmers is this: long days and intense labor. The lambing begins in January and lasts through March. During this time lamb upon lamb is born and in need of constant care. March is the mud season which Kristin describes as pretty awful! “No one is happy- humans or lambs.” The grass starts to grow in April and weaning lambs starts when the pastures are dry and ready. When May rolls around different flocks of sheep are moved to different pastures and are continually moved throughout the grazing season. Sometimes the sheep are moved by truck but sometimes Kristin and Mark move them many miles by foot depending on the location and traffic on the roads. Harvesting hay soon begins in June and lasts until October when the grass stops growing. Mark cuts and bales all of the hay that their sheep eat during the winter. In November, after the harvest, the sheep are ready to be moved back to their winter quarters where they are kept in a couple barns for cover. And then...it starts all over again.

Kristin and Mark sell their lamb meat all year long at local Famers Markets as well as the vegetables from Kristin’s garden in the summertime. The sheep’s wool also proves to be invaluable as Kristin uses it to make yarn. She learned how to hand spin wool at a night class during her time in college at the Oregon State University where her and Mark first met. They both grew up on the east coast, Kristin being from the suburbs of New Jersey and Mark, ironically enough, grew up on a dairy farm only 5 miles from where they now live. They bought their first 4 Romney sheep in 1980 before they were married. As Kristin’s mom said, “Some people get engaged; Mark and Kristin bought sheep!”.

Just before their daughter Julia was born, they found their current farmhouse. It was love at first sight; they gave a full price offer and it was accepted in a matter of 5 hours! Kristin started telecommuting instead of going into her job at the time, as the Creative Director of Classic Elite Yarns. “It was a chance for us to build our farm and our family,” she says. In 1998, their daughter Julia was born with a life threatening condition, hydrocephalus. Kristin became the primary caretaker and in her words she, “..decided to ditch the full time gig and go freelance.” She started writing knitting books, then stitching books and was even asked to illustrate a couple of knitting books. She used gouache, a technique of painting with opaque watercolors and soon realized that she could draw or paint anything.

Since then, Kristin has taken her art to a new level. Her home is a blank canvas that she has transformed into a work of art with her numerous free-form wall murals that she hand paints. The mural in the dining room is dressed with chickens, birds, flowers, leaves, guinea hens and peacocks. A second one can be found in their TV room that Kristin created by cutting shapes out of FedEx boxes, layering these shapes on top of each other and hand painting each one. Her beautiful oil paintings can be found hung throughout the house as well as other handmade items such as her colorful pillows that are displayed on the window bed between the kitchen and living room.

“I think every art or craft I learn adds to the others I know,” Kristin says, “They all ‘inform’ each other. The common thread of my work has always been color. I love color! Working with color, mixing color together when I paint or dye, and then combining colors in a canvas or on a piece of fabric or in a knit wear design is such fun and joyful.” Kristin has also taken inspiration from her grandmother who was from Germany. She was always making something with her hands which fascinated Kristin and when she was 9, her grandmother taught her how to crochet. After that, she never looked back. Ten books later, Kristin is still going strong with her artwork and is constantly creating. She also writes a blog called “Getting Stitched on the Farm”, which is a way for her to communicate and connect with the outside world. It allows her readers to enter into her crazy yet captivating lifestyle that is always satisfying and never boring and shows a little slice of what it’s like living on a working sheep farm.

It’s been two years since that first day I stumbled upon the Leyden Glen Sheep Farm and after many visits back, through each season, I have fallen in love with this place even more. The beauty of it all continues to amaze me as does Kristin’s artwork. Never have I found such inspiration with color and pattern as I do when I’m in Kristin’s home. I’ve had the pleasure of sitting down with her for lunch on those colorful chairs with her paper lanterns swaying above our heads and the view of the pastures outside the windows where subtle baa’s can be heard from the grazing sheep. They’ve become some of my most memorable days and I always look forward to my next trip back where I travel off the map and step into their unique world once more.

Leyden Glen Website http://leydenglenlamb.com

Kristin’s Blog http://getting-stitched-on-the-farm.blogspot.com

Kristin’s Website http://www.kristinnicholas.com

tags rikki, lifestyle, blogvault, storyvault

Cinnamon Hot Chocolate

March 02, 2015Ben Ashby

Before we go any further there is one thing that I must confess, I have a huge sweet tooth. And I mean huge. However, if there was one flavor that I could ever love more than chocolate it would be cinnamon. And so, you can imagine my excitement when the two are combined. This hot cocoa is nothing short of delightful and is a great drink to sip on a cold winter evening. It will warm your bones, and liven your taste buds.

Cinnamon Hot Chocolate

BY: RIKKI SNYDER

3 ounces semisweet chocolate

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

A few drops of almond extract

Whipped cream, chocolate shavings and cinnamon sticks for garnish.

Cut chocolate into pieces and place in blender or food processor. Add sugar and cinnamon. Cover and blend or process until finely ground. Cook and stir chocolate mixture and milk in a large saucepan over low heat about 10 minutes or until chocolate melts. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in vanilla and almond extract. Beat with a rotary beater until very frothy. Serve in mugs. Top with whipped cream, chocolate shavings and cinnamon sticks if desired. Makes about 4 (8-ounce) servings.

tags gather, foodvault, rikki, winter, recipe, drink

Tastemaker | "Sweet" Paul Lowe

March 02, 2015Ben Ashby

Sitting in a teahouse in New York City, Paul Lowe shares the story of his childhood while mulling over his cup of rooibos. Paul tells each story of his youth with a mix of candor and humor, recalling experiences he had with his animated and loving family. Paul was raised Paul Lowe Einlyng in Oslo, Norway by two little old ladies, his great aunt, Auntie Gunnvor and his grandmother, who he lovingly referred to as Mormor — Norwegian for grandmother. Paul is the Editor-in-Chief of Sweet Paul magazine—we'll get to that name later—a magazine devoted to the beauty of cooking, crafting, and entertaining. Today, though, we are getting to know the man behind that magazine, and the little boy from Oslo.

Paul remembers being in a kitchen or crafting constantly as a child. "Ever since I was small, I’ve been obsessed with cooking, crafting and decorating. It’s in my blood. Both my grandmother and great aunt were excellent cooks and crafters with impeccable taste," he recalls. Hearing the loving way Paul describes his family and his time spent with them, it's no surprise that he would carry that creativity and tenacity for design and cooking into his adulthood. When asked about the kind of things that made with Auntie Gunnvor and his grandmother, Paul jokes, "They were not perfectionists. Their cakes tended to be a little lopsided and their craft projects definitely weren’t up to Martha's standards."

The one thing that Paul does recall about the projects was that they were always fun. "I’ve adopted my grandmother’s motto, 'fullkommenhet er kjedelig' which means 'perfection is boring,'" says Paul, "I have incorporated it and her sheer joy of creating into everything I do." In October of 2007, Paul was living in New York City as “Paul,” a successful craft and food stylist. "I unwittingly transformed myself into Sweet Paul when I chose the name for a little blog that I started to highlight some work I was producing for my clients," says Paul. "My godmother named me 'Sweet Paul', she had lived in the US for years and when she moved back to Norway she kind of looked like Peg Bundy. She had a large chest and wore tight clothes, she always called me Sweet Paul, maybe becuase of my Shirley Temple blond curls," he laughs. In order to carve out his own niche online, Paul expanded his blog posts to include new content featuring what he loved, food and crafts filtered through the lens of his seasoned stylist’s eye. Paul used his inspiration from his grandmother to form the magazine and blog, using the ideas of simple recipes and presentation. "I did not intend the blog to garner 200,000 hits a month or give rise to an online magazine," says Paul, "it has become something of a phenomenon."

By 2009, Paul's friends and colleagues in the magazine industry were lauding his work and asking if they could contribute to the blog. Paul created his own magazine, naming it the only thing that made sense, Sweet Paul. Incorporating his own years of experience, and showcasing the work of his talented food-geek, photography-obsessed, and craft-genius friends, Paul created the lifestyle magazine that illustrated the life he lives as an expert in the field. "I wanted Sweet Paul magazine to be an anticipated quarterly that readers could use to sweeten their everyday life. I strive to put out a magazine that is as creative and visually stunning as mass-marketed lifestyle magazines but without being weighed-down with impossible recipes and projects developed for expert chefs and crafters," explains Paul.

Sweet Paul magazine is the source people all over the world turn to for inspiration in easy and beautiful crafts, simple yet elegant recipes, and entertaining ideas for any crowd. "When I’m on a shoot with a client, I always seem to have several people pull me aside to tell me how much they love my Sweet Paul magazine for its creativity, beautiful photography and unexpected ideas," says Paul. In Spring 2012, the first print edition of the magazine was launched in Anthropologie stores nationwide. Paul is now working on distribution in Anthropologie UK and specialty stock lists worldwide. Like the magazine’s tagline, Paul is continually “chasing the sweet things in life.”

From the timeless recipes and crafts, to the charming and simple entertaining ideas it is easy to see the passion and history Paul has in each area of Sweet Paul Magazine. Paul is committed to keeping his family traditions and heritage alive through the pages of the magazine. Taking another drink of tea, Paul begins another story about his days spent in his grandmother's kitchen, the place where all of his passions are rooted. "Even if she passed away years ago, I feel that my grandmother is with me everyday."

To learn more about 'Sweet' Paul Lowe and Sweet Paul Magazine, check out his website at http://www.sweetpaulmag.com/.

Portrait: Rikki Snyder. Photos: www.sweetpaulmag,com

tags maker, makervault, rikki, gather, createvault

Authentic Lives | Dusty St. Amand + Eric Pietrangolare

February 27, 2015Ben Ashby

I have followed Dusty and Eric for some time. I absolutely love each of their photography styles and I was beyond excited when I found out these two New York based photographers are a couple. Recently I sat down with them to ask each of them about being photographers, being a couple, their dream cameras, and about their dream shoots. Lets begin with Eric...

Ben: Eric good afternoon! Tell us a little about yourself, what you do, and who are you.

Eric: I’m Eric, I’m 26 years old, originally from Queens, New York – I work in HR/Legal and I love Sailor Moon, photographing handsome men, gymnastics and being a hermit in our apartment.

Ben: Where do you and Dusty live?

Eric: We live in Bronx, New York.

Ben: How long have you been doing photography?

Eric: I started shooting my sophomore year of college in 2007 for my Art Education degree.

Ben: How long have you two been together and how did you meet?

Eric: 1 year as of February 17, 2015 – we met on a photo shoot of mine. Dusty, was modeling for this magazine feature I had gotten. Dusty was the kindest person I had met in such a long time and he just grabbed my attention as soon as I met him.

Ben: What is your photography "specialty"?

Eric: For me it’s more commercial/fashion. I consider my work marketable for brands and everyday people. I have always been more business minded and geared toward agency style work.

Ben: Who inspires you?

Eric: Before photography I was a fine artist and I have always liked pop-art. I don’t care for studio photography as much as I do for outdoors. A big open sunny space on the streets of NYC is the most inspiring thing for me, getting out in the elements is always a fun way to change it up and get a lot of character and story in your image.

Ben: What is your favorite shoot that you have done?

Eric: My favorite shoot was my shoot with Alex Minsky – He was someone I said I was going to shoot when he started to model a few years ago and randomly it just fell into place when I was out in California with some friends. It was also my first photo shoot outside of New York and to shoot such an amazing person with a great background story made me feel very accomplished.

Ben: What limitations or advantages are there with both of you being photographers?

Eric: Wardrobe! We both like to style our shoots in simple ways and Dusty always steals my clothes before I can use them! The advantage is having someone who has a completely different style/eye then my own to give me a new perspective or idea on what my ‘best’ shot is. Sometimes you get into a rut and keep shooting the same thing and picking the same style of image out of safety – it’s nice to have someone tell you something you wouldn't normally like or pick is actually your greatest shot.

Ben: What do each of you shoot with?

Eric: Cannon 60D – we share the camera!

Ben: What is your dream shoot:

Eric: Dream shoot would be to photograph an episode of America’s Next Top Model! ANTM was one of the first times I ever saw photography as an art-form in such a large perspective and I just loved seeing all these crazy styled photo shoots with some reality TV in the mix. I've seen every season, photographed some contestants and I also just love Tyra Banks.

Ben: What is your dream camera?

Eric: The technology isn't what's important to me. I like keeping it simple, the more advanced the camera is and the more buttons you fiddle with the less you tend to focus on your subject – you lose the connection if you’re too involved with your lights and cameras sometimes. There are tons of famous photographers who use point-and-shoots to make beautiful work because they are focusing on the moment and the special person they chose to work with.

A peak into Eric's photography is below. For more of his work visit his website.

I then asked Dusty the same series of questions.

Ben: Dusty how long have you been doing photography?

Dusty: About a year.

Ben: Wow you are quite accomplished for just having a year under your belt!

Ben: What is your specialty?

Dusty: I focus on sensual, male portraiture.

Ben: Who inspires you?

Dusty: I’m inspired by the voyeurism of social media. When we see the mundane or private moments of people across the planet, it helps us to feel like we’re not alone in our quirkiness.

Ben: What is your favorite shoot you've done?

Dusty: Since it’s what motivated me to start this venture into photography, capturing Eric at my old apartment in New Jersey would have to be my favorite. He’s such a sexy little thing.

Ben: What limitations or advantages are there with both of you being photographers?

Dusty: We use the same camera!

Ben: What is your dream shoot?

Dusty: I aspire to capture really motivational and progressive leaders in their homes. Less for the photos and more so I can just pick their brains and watch them be human.

Ben: What is your dream camera?

Dusty: One that can retouch, email clients, and massage my neck. A few additional shots from Dusty are below. To see more of his work visit his website.