http://blip.tv/good-morning-gloucester/isabel-natti-at-sara-elizabeth-shop-1409121
http://blip.tv/good-morning-gloucester/isabel-natti-demonstartes-the-acorn-press-1409717
Click The Picture To View The Video
Originally Posted October 29, 2008-
Isabel Natti’s Herring Factory Print is incredible on many different levels. One is that it is visually gorgeous, but what the casual observer may not understand is how much detail and how accurate the entire scene is to how we actually did things back in the day. Isabel worked for Wally Maggot, a guy who rented a pier that no longer exists on our property. They did the same type of whiting, squid and herring packing that my Grandfather Captain Joe, and Father and Uncle’s company did.
Isabel Natti Herring Plant Print, originally uploaded by captjoe06.
If you look at the photo up in the top right corner she tells the entire story starting with the two pair trawlers catching the herring.
Next in the middle, the boats are offloading at the dock where the herring get weighed and go up a conveyor into the pen room. From the pen room they would travel down on conveyors down the packing lines where they would get packed into 45 pound cases. Then they would get covered, weighed and then placed on big freezer racks. Next along you can see the person making up the boxes on the same box stapling machine that we used where you would press down with your foot on the pedal and it would swing the arm to staple the corners of the cardboard boxes. Lastly they get loaded on the truck to head off to the freezer.
I can’t believe she captured the entire scene in one frame. It is all there- the story of many many people’s day on Gloucester Harbor. I can see it all and it will live on through her work even though the piers have long fallen into the ocean.
Part II of our interview will be posted at 9:00AM
Good Morning Gloucester 
Absolutely, unbelieveable print of herring processing and a fine tribute to Mrs. Natti for her artwork.
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Still a marvelous post and indeed the herring print tells a great story in and of itself. Love seeing the archived posts! Thanks so much!
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One of my first of many posts about Lattof Farm Monkey Bread was photographed on original placemats that were made on that press that we received as house warming presents.
https://goodmorninggloucester.wordpress.com/2010/07/06/lattof-farm-of-rockport-monkey-bread/
A great treat is to go to the shop and ask what the story is behind one of the colorful prints on the wall. Each one has a story well worth hearing before you buy.
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Awesome creations! Wow! ~ so sad ~ too young!
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Fantastic. Thank you for sharing
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It was certainly a shock to read in this mornings Times that Isabel had died. When my mother (Sarah Elizabeth Holloran) passed the shop on to Isabel several years ago, it was her hope that the “young blood” would keep the traditions of the Folly Cove Designers going for years to come. Sadly, Isabel only lived two years longer than Mum.
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I heard of Isabel Natti from a friend from Madison, Wisconsin, who enjoyed reading about the history of the artists group and Natti’s own work and her role in keeping the shop going. It’s been a long loop from hearing about her to seeing her, and I’m sorry to not be able to meet her. But, in a sense, I have, thanks to your story.
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