Douglas Volk and the arts and crafts in Maine

Although some Sabatos rugs exhibit an oriental influence in their design, others were inspired by American Indian motifs. "These," the Volks wrote, "not only furnish opportunities for broad color effects, but have a character and interest which appeal to most of us." (35) Wendell Volk, who like his sister Marion became an accomplished weaver, made a particular study of Navajo weaving and design. At the age of eighteen he had been appointed an instructor in weaving in the domestic art department of the Teachers College at Columbia University in New York City. During the summers at Hewn Oaks he offered classes in weaving; for an extra charge he would teach the Navajo method.

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Several very long, narrow wool weavings (see Fig. 16) from Hewn Oaks have hand-sewn geometric motifs, and one bears Wendell's initials and an S mark for Sabatos (Fig. 16, left). Too long to be useful as table runners, these may be "strip portieres," a form shown at the 1901 exhibition in the town hall in Center Lovell. The Volks and their fellow artisans also made a handwoven fabric of linen and wool, which they considered "very effective for portieres, window hangings, table covers, etc" (see Fig. 17). (36)

"Thorough in workmanship, artistic in design, and honest throughout," (37) the Sabatos rugs and weavings were not meant to be more than "a result of local possibilities," (38) yet they were acclaimed as works of art, and in 1904 a rug made by Marion Volk won a medal at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in Saint Louis (Fig. 18). (39) Orders were plentiful, but Volk and her neighbors could not meet the demand. In 1904 she told Lord that she and another woman worked five or six hours daily for five months to create a rug four-and-a-half by six feet; that she had only made seven rugs entirely by herself; and that fewer than forty rugs were produced in four years. (40) When Lord visited Hewn Oaks again in 1912 she reported that rug making had ceased several years before, chiefly because Marion Volk "had not the health and strength to give to make it a success, and partly because of the difficulty in obtaining enough workers among the people here to guarantee a profitable output." (41)

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While Douglas Volk worked hard to make the Hewn Oaks handicraft movement a success, he remained primarily devoted to his painting throughout this period. The Maine woods were a constant source of inspiration for him, and many of his figural subjects were set in the surrounding landscape. Some of his models, like the young girl who posed for The Woodland Maid (whereabouts unknown), spent a summer at Hewn Oaks. (42) In 1904 Volk painted the full-blooded Sioux Indian Dan Hashorns and had him living in a tent on the property. (43) During the summer of 1903 the artist Marsden Hartley (1877-1943), who had discovered the attractions of Center Lovell the previous year, occupied a shack at the entrance to Hewn Oaks, hoping he would somehow benefit from the artistic environment. Although Douglas Volk apparently paid little attention to his painting, Hartley continued to work in the region for a decade. (44)