Morning all,

Many thanks to the friend and subscriber who reminded me of the women's art twitter feed. This is what inspired, but does not entirely explain, today's Fem Fri. Today's Fem Fri is about women with highly specialised skills that are also very satisfying to watch. There are a range of video lengths as well to suit all of your needs. Enjoy.

Let's start with the video that kicked this whole thing off – Masayo Fukuda and her kirie (papercutting).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_HkldnGJNM

Here's Masayo Fukuda talking about her work:

I stick to the eyes and the expressions of living things. In the constantly changing natural environment, wild creatures do not show anger or sadness against it. Nature accepts the way you are, and draws the line of evolving creatures that will continue to thrive. I am glad if anything is felt in the mind’s eye when such creatures look at you.

https://xray-mag.com/content/masayo-fukuda-portfolio

Right, here's a question for you – do you want to watch a two hour video of a woman making a glass penguin. I really hope you do because that's what I have next from Catherine Labonté and her team:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZEubvr8Z-c

I'm going to finish with a video that is almost impossibly soothing. Ashley Harwood is a woodturner, and in the following video you can watch her making a spherical box on her lathe. It's so satisfying. I'm actually just watching the video in a slightly hypnotised state rather than writing this newsletter to you. Okay here you go:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8L-xw_IlJk

Ashley talks about her work here. Originally she wanted to be a glassworker!

When I make a bowl, I’m very particular about the curve. It has to feel perfect. Our hands can pick up on subtleties that our eyes miss, so I am constantly running my hand inside the bowl to check that the curve is flawless—it should be uninterrupted, fluid, and totally smooth. I think that the feel of the wood is so much a part of what people fall in love with.

https://theartmag.com/the-arts/ashley-harwood/

Hope you are looking forward to the weekend,

A xx.