When my parents offered to take us to the Historic Carousel and Museum in Albany I was so excited. I love carousels! The artistry, the colors, the details, the romantic magic that are all part of these timeless beauties. Unfortunately for me, I inherited my mother’s motion sickness (luckily I’m not as bad as she is) so actually riding a carousel is out of the question for me. I must enjoy them from a distance…when they’re stopped. You have no idea how sad this makes me.
The magic of the museum begins with whimsical door handles…
…leading directly to the wonder inside.
All of the creatures are handmade and hand painted, the craftsmanship blows me away. Following the tour guide to the basement, we were able to see historic animals…
..as well as the varying stages of current projects. From drawings of how future animals will look, to the rough cut outs, to ones further along the finishing process. We learned that these magnificent beasts take years to carve and paint, though they do offer wood carving lessons to those who are interested. If I only lived closer. The museum is staffed by volunteers so it’s easy to understand why it takes so long for the critters to come alive.
The mere couple of hours we spent here flooded my brain with wistful crafting wishes and inspiration. How amazing would it be to have a carousel beast on the typical backyard swingset? Thinking about that jogged loose some old memories of the metal horses which were once found on playground swing sets in my youth. We have an old metal swing set in our backyard and I thought one of these would be great for repainting in the vibrant style of carousel horses would be really cool. My search for these mighty steeds revealed they are no longer in production and the few I found were questionably safe, more nostalgia pieces than usable. Still, the artistry and playfulness of the carousel makes me search for a way to infuse its joy into my backyard.
Todd Franklin’s Neato Coolville Flickr Page
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