A Woman of Letters
She was the last of the great letter writers.
Violet Hickok, better known to us simply as Grandma Hickok, lived her entire life on the Illinois prairie, where she and my grandfather (pictured) started farming during the Great Depression,…
A Prairie Artist in a Prairie Town
It was a fitting location for a fitting tribute.
In the final four years of a career that would be cut short at the age of 51 by pancreatic cancer, Midwestern artist Grant Wood turned his attention away from his rich, colorful oil paintings…
A Wash Out
Not every well-planned journey turns out like we had hoped.
On paper it played out perfectly.
Get up early on Saturday morning, catch a flight that would drop me in Baltimore at noon, stop by the studio to check on the props I had shipped…
An Army of Imitators
After a week on the road, I returned home to the first of several warm spring days and a farm sprouting as many vicious brambles and thorny locust saplings as dainty daffodils and timid crocus buds. Despite my irregular attempts this…
Father, Sons and Road Trips
I have often told any father who has a son or daughter in high school that my most memorable experience with either of my sons was not on a ride at Disneyworld, not on a family vacation, not sitting on wooden bleachers watching an athletic…
About Us
ArtsandCraftsCollector.com is a website dedicated to exploring the works, artisans, historical origins and the contemporary revival of the American Arts & Crafts Movement. The historic movement started as a response to the country’s Industrial Revolution and encouraged simple design paying tribute to the natural world over the intricate design of the Victorian era.