April 1, 2025

April is Stress Awareness Month. Did you know that there is scientific data that demonstrates the mental health benefits of crafting? Besides improving hand-eye coordination and focus, engaging in craft activities like knitting, woodworking, weaving, pottery and basketmaking raise serotonin levels while decreasing cortisol (the stress hormone) levels. Crafting is one of the rare activities that use both the right and left hemispheres of the brain, relying on learned skills and technique (right) but also demanding creativity in choice of materials, colors, forms and overall vision (left). Several studies have shown that crafting is an ideal antidote to tech fatigue as it engages underused senses. For those of us who sit at keyboards much of the day, or who work in the world of metals and plastics, the texture of soft yarn, the feel of wet clay, and the smell of freshly carved wood can transport us to a place of richness, enliven our dulled senses. This month, why not indulge your creativity and try a craft? Classes are always wonderful–there is a special camaraderie that emerges when we learn in the presence of others–but you don’t need to take a class to experience the benefits to your mental health. Rock painting, scrapbooking, even knot-tying can be low or no-cost options. It’s a tough world out there right now. We owe it to ourselves and each other to stay centered and cultivate a sense of calm. Learning and practicing a craft can be a wonderful starting point on that journey towards less stress. ~ Melinda Thomas

March 25, 2025

At Tear Cap Workshops, we specialize in hands-on learning. Craft and creativity are in evidence everywhere. When you arrive at our millyard, you see a garden burgeoning with flowers and vegetables, many varieties of trees and a pond. You see old buildings of the former sawmill that look a little rough around the edges, but go inside and you will discover art and craft in the making: fine furniture sanded as smooth as satin, guitars made from scratch, oil paintings that emerge like magic from canvas, and items crafted from wood that inspire you to pick up a planer yourself. If you come during a class, you will see students energized by their own inherent creativity–much of it newly discovered.

What we create at Tear Cap Workshops stands in homage to traditional American craft–not the object but the process, the making. In class, you will find camaraderie, calm and creative problem-solving. It’s about appreciating the tools and materials that further your own vision. While we may use the same techniques and the same materials, there will always be a unique quality to our work, something that connects deeply to our own sense of history, environment and meaning. In that way, a crafted item is never purely utilitarian; it is emblematic of the human need to use our hands to shape things, and the satisfaction that comes from saying, “I made this with my own hands.” Melinda Thomas

March 1, 2025

Hands-on learning, creativity, collaboration . . . it’s more than you get from a YouTube video.

At Tear Cap Workshops, positive collaborations happen almost minute to minute: an artisan sharing techniques with another artisan, a teacher sharing skills with a student, or a customer sharing ideas about a furniture piece with the artisan who will create it, knowing that it will be like a garment favored for its perfect fit.

If a belt breaks in your clothes drier, it’s a good idea to view a YouTube video about the steps needed to disassemble the parts, replace the belt, and reassemble. It’s a purely technical exercise.

If you want to see a little magic happen, try one of the many craft ideas we explore here at Tear Cap Workshops. You are likely to find many things, not all of them anticipated, but delightful in myriad says. Henry Banks