In a world that wants us constantly available and informed, taking the time to step away from our devices and spend hours over days or months making something slowly and intentionally can feel revolutionary. For these creators in Boulder, it's also an opportunity to show love and appreciation for the community around them and oftentimes provides a foil for their “day job.”
Trevor Hall, Weaving
For years, Trevor Hall has been inspired by Kabir, a 15th-century Sufi and Brahmin saint known for composing songs and poetry while weaving. He felt drawn to the artform but didn’t know where to start.
Right before his second child was born, Hall decided to buy a class online and slowly taught himself the basics, weaving a few lines here and there between nursing and naptime. Like so many of us, he was looking for a way to get off his phone and do something tangible, but what he didn’t expect was all of the other benefits it would bring.
“I wasn’t prepared for all the things it would teach me,” says Hall. “I view it as a rebellious act in this day and age, because it's so extremely slow.”
Each piece takes hours upon hours to create, and every time he gives away one as a gift, he sees it as giving a loved one his time. It’s a way to express his gratitude and to process his inner thoughts.
“When I'm weaving, I'm thinking about so much,” says Hall. “When I'm done, and I take it off the loom and release it, I feel like I've let those thoughts or emotions release from my body.”
He’s always used music to express himself, but at the end of the day, it's also his job. Weaving lets him step away from the studio and keep being creative. He especially enjoys creating alongside his sons, who will hop in his lap and help him at the loom.
Matt Braun, Letterpress Printing
In 2008, Matt Braun acquired a small printing press and a few select fonts. This analog shift provided a creative outlet away from the screen to experiment with the fundamentals of typography, composition, and visual hierarchy.
“In a world of infinite digital options, it's rewarding to work within the rigid constraints of the press and the available type you have to make something,” says Braun.
Over the years, it has changed from buying and restoring 100-year-old presses to selling his own prints to making posters for charities to running a project to convert physical type into digital fonts.
His current project focuses on identifying and archiving his collection of nineteenth century American wood type. During the transition to offset printing, a lot of this old type was discarded or used as firewood, so his goal is to preserve the visual history of these typefaces.
While this is mostly a solo endeavor, there are a few other letterpress printers in the area, including Brian Wood, who provides space to house Braun's larger press and additional type at his shop, Dogs and Stars. Steve Matteson also runs the Book Arts League at the Groundworks Art Lab, which is a fantastic resource for anyone interested in trying letterpress.
Cori Hinton, Crocheting
Crafting and DIYing of any sort have always come naturally to Cori Hinton, but for the last few years, crochet has become her favorite creative outlet. Knitting has too many rules for her liking, and with crochet, she can visualize the pieces before she makes them.
Hinton often gets a spark of inspiration from a garment silhouette, color palette, or a gap in her wardrobe. She sees it as a way to express and challenge herself, meditate, connect with the community, and bring joy to everyday life. She also loves that she can create anywhere.
“I work at home on the sofa, in the car on long drives, outside at parks in the summer, and on my lunch breaks at work,” says Hinton. “The world is my oyster!”
Hinton manages the Home Store at Cedar & Hyde Mercantile and is inspired daily by the incredible artisans they carry. She loves to help people curate their homes with beautiful linens, ceramics, and textiles—and she also sells a collection of her crochet pieces in store.
“Now most of the sales have been from customers who have become friends,” says Hinton. “They'll see me wearing a piece or working on something and ask if I'm willing to make one for them. I always say yes!”
Harvey Hine, Jewelry Making
Back in college, Harvey Hine had a decision to make: become a jeweler or an architect. For those familiar with his firm, HMH, it’s now very obvious which path he chose and found great success with. But what you may not know is that he’s also been creating jewelry all this time.
When he chose to pursue architecture, Hine was worried about getting stuck in mass jewelry production. He realized that by keeping jewelry as a hobby, he’d be able to be more creative and has seen the jewelry-making process as the perfect complement to his architecture practice all these years.
“An architecture project takes years in the office and takes a long time to come to fruition,” says Hine. “Jewelry I can make in a weekend, and I can try different things and experiment.”
He’s never sold his jewelry—it’s always been a gift or a donation for fundraising. That way, he’s in full control of the design and process. One of his other hobbies is working on his 1969 Jaguar XKE, which he sees as not dissimilar from jewelry.
“It’s all banging on metal, yeah?” says Hine.