Because this was a surprise visit to Virginia, of course Chuck would have golfing plans on a Saturday. Since our Waterford Fair tickets were good for three days, after breakfast with my nephew, we returned to a much cooler, equally delightful, day in Waterford.
After lunch, we spent time meeting the artists. "All artisans who demonstrate at the Waterford Fair are juried by professionals in their field. Their work must be made with traditional methods and display the highest quality of their craft. You can watch these artisans and interact with them throughout the village during the Fair as they demonstrate their craft." High quality, kind people, beautiful art... All was on display. It was very impressive.I was drawn to the "Jail" and Laurel Dabbs' work. Crudely fashioned or exquisitely detailed, decoys provided a means of luring migratory waterfowl close enough to be an important staple in the diet of the Colonists, whose early years were harsh before crops became established.This isn't just ogling art, this is an incredible history lesson. Laurel shared her process. Decoys start as eight-foot planks of white cedar, winter-cut and air-dried for at least two years.While sitting on a carving bench, she demonstrated every technique in a step-by-step process that shows a decoy’s progress from start to finish. Using antique hand tools (a hatchet, mallet and gouge, spokeshave and carving knife), the head is doweled for strength before being attached to the hollowed-out body. Durable house paint assures a sturdy finish that stands up to the rigors of field use, and inletted lead makes sure the decoy self-rights in choppy water or sits nicely on a mantel. The tradition and history of the work are as important as the style and form of her carvings, as each decoy must be seaworthy and durable, as well as beautiful. She is so talented.
I was quite impressed with the very sweet and talented Marie-Helene Grabman. According to Marie, "Using surgical scissors, I create cut paper designs from a single sheet of black or white paper, creating the dramatic effect of light versus dark with small bits of color (painted or cut paper) for focal points. A few of my designs have added layers of cut paper over the base cutting to create a dimensional effect."
The art is called scherenschnitte–or scissor cutting, a very old art form that developed in Switzerland and Germany in the 1500s. The process is like woodcutting: you start with a blank resource and create the art by cutting parts of it away. Precision is paramount and it demands full concentration. Many of the cut lines are no thicker than thread-width. The paper is attached to the base mat with only small dots of glue so that the cutting floats within the frame, creating shadows. I feel this is an important part of the composition and it also works to identify the paper cutting from a pen and ink work or print."
She said that growing up, her grandmother would tell her stories with scherenschnitte illustrations. She thought everyone's grandmother did that. How cute. I really wish I could share the complexity of her work. Even Steve was amazed and that doesn't happen often. Wow.
Waterford's Second Street School is one of the older one-room schoolhouses in Loudoun County and may be the oldest African-American house of worship. Quakers here provided crucial support for the education of African Americans, helping establish literacy and schooling despite restrictive Southern laws before and after the Civil War.Virginia outlawed teaching enslaved people to read and write in 1819, and extended this ban to free Black people in 1831 following rising abolitionist pressure. Despite these bans, local free Black residents learned literacy skills through informal arrangements, apprentice contracts, or with the assistance of sympathetic local Quakers.Built in 1867 just two years after the Civil War, this one-room schoolhouse was established for the Black community under the Freedmen’s Bureau with financial backing from the local Quaker meeting and the Friends’ Association of Philadelphia.Early classes were large. In 1868 it was recorded that 63 were enrolled, with an average attendance of 42 (many had to work). Twenty-eight were older than 16. By the early 1870s the school became part of the county's new public school system. Schools for white children in Waterford remained private for another decade.The new building served from the beginning as church as well as school. African Methodist services were held here until a separate place of worship was built in 1891.Black children from the village and nearby farms attended the school until its closing in 1957.Tent Talks are a free, yet ticketed, event that allows for a deeper history lesson. We had tickets for two very different topics.
With the cooler temperatures, today's visit made it feel like a Fall Fair. We are so glad our Virginia visit has worked out so perfectly. One more full day left.
"While there are a lot of fall festivals,
there is just something special about this one.
I think it is the picturesque,
storybook quality of Waterford itself."
– Travel Reviewer
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