Isabel Natti in the doorway of The Sara Elizabeth Shop where she been created for decades.
I’m not sure how to express how fortunate I feel to have been able to capture the interviews with Isabel and document so much of what it is that makes our community special.
These videos belong in an archive somewhere.
Video 1- Isabel Natti At The Sara Elizabeth Shop
Video 2- Isabel Natti At The Sara Elizabeth Shop Part II
Video 3 Isabel Natti at The Sara Elizabeth Shop Part III
Isabel Natti Squid Factory Print At The Sara Elizabeth Shop
Isabel Natti Cape Ann Postcard At Alexandra’s Bread
Good Morning Gloucester 
Such an amazing talent — a very great loss.
LikeLike
Joey, thank you, thank you, thank you for documenting Isabel’s work and interviewing her. This is a huge loss for Cape Ann and would be an even greater one if you hadn’t captured her and her work on film. I keep going back to these interviews for reference as no doubt many others do. Thanks again.
LikeLike
I just feel lucky. There’s a lesson about blogging here. You have a camera, you’re passing by or there’s a story all you have to do is pull over and capture it instead of letting it all pass you by. We have a voice here with the 25-35,000 people a day we reach to document these special people, special places and special events.
LikeLike
Thank you for this !
LikeLike
I’ll never forget the first time I met her. I was 15 years old and she was 23 and she owned a station wagon. She was home from college staying up at the Manships with her Grandmother. She gave a bunch of us a ride to Gloucester High from Lanesville. John Ahonen, Paul Jeswald, Scott MacNeil, and myself. She completely blew my mind in our very first conversation which was about organic food, gardening, and biodynamics. I used to visit the Manships house a lot in the 1960’s along with the Lane girls and assorted other kids…and when it was mushroom gathering season, everyone would gather these mushrooms and sit in the kitchen and look up the ones they weren’t sure of and have these unbelievable conversations. I would sit at the long wooden table surrounded my Mrs Manship, Isabel, Her Dad, Mom, Aunts, Cousins, and Uncles completely mesmerized. If that wasn’t enough Mrs Manship would talk about her years living in Paris with her husband the artist Paul Manship. In fact, I remember watching the Moon Landing in their living room after a quarry swim. There was a rule there with Isabel’s Dad. Anyone could swim in the quarry as long as they asked nicely and respectfully first. I always came and asked nicely and loved to hang out with Isabel who was the first person I knew who had an organic garden and from whom I learned an enormous amount which has stood me well as I have had my own organic garden for most of my lifetime. Later when Isabel lived in the TeePee and ran for City Council in the 1970’s, there was probably not a more colorful local person. She was an interesting, honest, and direct person. I am very sorry to hear of her passing. A Unique person who had a touch of radical within her. I remember her in my youth fondly and although have not been close to her in recent years, certainly always treasured the friendship we had when we were young.
LikeLike
Thank you for posting your interviews with Isabel. My mom was Sarah Elizabeth. She and Isabel were true American craftswomen who produced a unique and beautiful series of block prints celebrating Cape Ann as well as their artistic talents. My mom passed away in 2009 and now Isabel……
LikeLike
I just had a lovely conversation with her 2 weeks ago; this makes me so very sad.
We used to talk quite a lot on the weekends in her shop and I always found her to be very personable and interesting.
This is such a sad loss for the Cape Ann community.
Thanks for the posting!
LikeLike
I am just now sadly hearing about Isabel’s passing. I originally went to school for design and then worked with books and children’s books for years but somehow didn’t hear about Folly Cove Designers until a few years back. After some digging, I made the trip to the Cape Ann Museum to see the archives and then to the Sarah Elizabeth shop where I had a lovely chat with Isabel about the carving/printing process. She was generous with her time and information and I am feeling really glad that I had the chance to meet this amazing person who was continuing an art/design legacy and clearly a big and memorable part of the Gloucester community.
I would really love to see another show at the Cape Ann Museum (or elsewhere) about Folly Cove that includes Isabel’s work.
Thanks for sharing all the videos over the years. They’re fantastic!
Anne
Boston
LikeLike