History alive in stencil studies

University of Maine art education students Jessica Andresen and Emily Morris recently culminated an art education seminar course this semester, under the direction of Dr. Laurie Hicks, when they conducted a stenciling workshop at the Page Farm and Home Museum on the UMaine campus.

“We wanted to focus on Early American and New England decoration,” said Morris.

Neither Morris nor Andresen had ever done stenciling before.

“It was another art form to work with,” said Andresen, who also is studying studio art.

The women’s study centered on the museum’s stencil collections, one donated by Ellen Jacobson Loring, formerly of Eastport, and the other, the collection of Emilie Underhill, donated by the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland. The two collections number more than 1,000 stencils. The stencils are for use on chair backs and other furniture, and tin containers, trays and other items in common use in households in the early to mid-1800s. Some of the stencils are Loring’s original designs and others are stencils she traced off antique items owned by individuals living in the Eastport area and towns in the midcoast area.

Stenciling, Andresen and Morris agreed, proved to be more complex and intricate than they initially realized. At their workshop, they demonstrated how to trace stencil patterns from the ones in the collections, how to cut the stencils and how to stencil an object participants brought to the workshop.

Both women said they had gained an appreciation for the art and like being a part of the process to keep the craft alive.

As part of their study, they filled in gaps about the history behind the stencils.

Ellen Jacobson Loring was born in the Netherlands and emigrated with her parents to America in 1940. The family settled in Eastport, where Ellen married Allison Loring in 1946. Ellen Loring developed an interest in early American decoration and in the 1950s studied with Evelyn Morrison of Wilton. Loring, who lives in Florida, donated her stencil collection to the museum in the 1980s.

Emilie Underhill of Long Island, N.Y., began her study of early American decorating with Esther Stevens Brazer in 1945. Underhill became a certified teacher of stenciling and country painting and eventually earned a master craftsman designation.

Brazer, born in Portland in 1898, studied art at the Swelt Memorial Art Museum in Portland and interior design at Columbia University. After her marriage, she lived in Long Island. She devoted her life to researching, documenting and teaching the art of early American decoration. She is the author of “Early American Decoration” published in 1940, which helped revitalize interest in Early American decoration.

Andresen plans to teach art at the high school level after graduation next year. Morris, who also will graduate next year, is interested in teaching art to kindergarten and first-grade pupils. Both say they will use stenciling in their classes.

“The creative possibilities [of stenciling] are endless,” Morris said.

The Page Museum’s stencils are available for study and use by the public by calling museum director Patricia Henner at 581-4100.

Snippets

. The Blue Hill Congregational Church will display the work of visual artist Patricia Wheeler until May 29. Wheeler’s work, “Embedded Quilt” and “Occupied Territories,” explores the issue of occupation of one nation by another. To obtain more information, call 359-2278.

. Handmade May baskets are now available at Frank’s Bakery in Bangor.

. Care Development of Maine invites scrapbook enthusiasts to a Care to Crop scrapbooking event 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday, May 1, at the ballroom, University College of Bangor, 201 Texas Ave., Bangor. Ten 30- to 45-minute classes will be held between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Preregistration with payment is required by April 28. The cost is $30 for a full day, or $20 for a half-day. The event will benefit Care Development of Maine’s ADAM House, a residential treatment program for teenage girls. Call Martha Ward at 944-9356 to learn more about the event.