Free*Hand*Salon

Intellect and salve for those seeking pleasure and education for making things by hand.

photograph of a woman viewing the a large wallhanging by artist willie cole
Free*Hand*Salon host Rachel Tayse, contemplating Willie Cole’s Patriot at the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Haley Gallery, February 2026.

Manual Making Is Being Human

Ask a chef, an artist, a body worker, a writer what their best tool is and many will answer their hands. Our flexible fingers, warm palms, and sensitive touch are primary to creating.

Creativity is a direct path to the human striving for making meaning and freedom.

In the model of the literary and arts salons, hosted gatherings for the purpose of an exchange of ideas, the Free*Hand*Salon will share inspiration, critique, and encouragement for the manual life.

You are invited to the salon experience by subscribing to the newsletter.

Un-MFA, in-person salon gatherings, virtual opporunitites forthcoming.

“Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possible can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.” – Kurt Vonnegut

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