Zoe Eleftherio

Back in 1940, Zoe Eleftherio became a member of an ambitious group of wood block designers known as The Folly Cove Designers in Gloucester, MA. The group was started in 1938 by Virginia Lee Burton Demetrios for a group of her friends and neighbors. (Virginia most known as an acclaimed illustrator and author of children's book, wrote and illustrated seven children's books, including the Caldecott Medal winning The Little House.) The group she founded at Folly Cove consisting of craftsmen and designers operated like the old medieval guilds, each person working on their own design, carving it on linoleum block, inking and printing it on fabric, carrying the process through by herself. The group consisted of 43 designers, many of whom were married women raising children and with block printing a home industry they could pursue careers and take care of the family. Many in the group were of Finnish origin coming to the area because of the granite quarry industry. The group organized formally, electing officers and forming a jury of senior members.

Zoe explains, "Jinnee's philosophy was to take an idea from nature: animal, vegetable or mineral and draw it hundreds of times in various positions, sizes and tones repeating the motif. Before actually coming up with the drawing, the artists had to complete Jinee's course on design. Preliminary designs were done on scratchboard and shown to the jury.  In the early days they stamped on the inked block but in 1943 several members had hand-operated presses. At the end of the course when we had produced our first block print we were given a print of Jinee's work called The Folly Cove Designer (shown left) as our diploma. "  

The group received recognition and their products were shown at major museums and sold at department stores throughout the country. They became popular in this time because of the revival of the Arts and Crafts movement. Dorothy Norton was hired to manage the business affairs and in 1948 it opened its headquarters in a barn on Washington Street in Folly Cove from June until October with fabrics for sale and demonstrations on the large printing press. The group prospered until 1969 at which time Jinnee passed away. The designers decided to disband with the admonition to not sell their prints after this time. The entire collection is in the Cape Ann Historical Museum in Gloucester.

Zoe became involved with the group because her father was a close friend of the Demetrios family. She explains,"My father suggested I take George's drawing class one summer. I boarded at an Inn next door run by Mrs. William Shakespeare. While I was there I became fascinated with the design group and joined. I always loved to draw horses and because I had recently seen the Lippizan horses perform, I chose them as my subject (above). The design group, made up predominately of women, was so delightful and inspiring that I loved being included, working on my design and block at home and attending the monthly meetings on Cape Ann. Jinnee was a disciplined artist closing herself in her studio and coming out only for lunch until 4 or 5 to go for a swim off the rocks at Folly Cove. I was a designer for two years after which I married and dropped out of the group."

"Orders would come in from shops all over the country. Back then, we all took turns manning the shop, which was a barn owned by the Demetrios family right on  the route to Rockport.. We would explain the process, showing how we drew our design on the battleship linoleum, mounted onto a plywood block the size of a place mat, cut into it with a sharp tool and later inked the block with a special printer's ink from Boston after mixing the ink with a spatula onto a large sheet of glass and rolling it with a gelatin brayer. The cloth was usually cotton without sizing. After inking the block, it was laid ink side down carefully onto the cloth and a large arm of the press was pulled to roll the bed under the press. Another handle was pulled to lower the press down on the block exerting even pressure. It was not all work. On hot days, we would leap off the rocks of Folly Cove and swim in the cold water and on Fridays we took a sauna in the little shack nearby. There were many Finnish families in the area. Occasionally George would host a party, a cookout on his property and there would be Greek dancing and Finnish hops and many songs echoing throughout the night. In August there would be a big open house event at the Folly Cove barn and coffee and Nisu (cardamom spiced Finnish bread) would be served."

'After I left the group, I made three or four blocks of my own and set up the Franklin Press I had bought in the red barn on Rt. 119 in Groton where MRM is now. It was an import gift shop at that time. One of my blocks depicted the Devon Horse Show and one antique cars. The press was later moved to our first house on Main Street by three hefty men from May and Hally oil company. It is still there today in the basement on Main Street where Nashoba Vision resides. "

Zoe's collected samples of many of the other designer's work and recently shared them with the Harvard community in an FAS exhibit in the old Library. This month samples of her blockprints are on display in the upstairs gallery at the Harvard General store. Zoe has always been an avid fan of the arts. When her children were young, she gave art lessons in her garage to friends and neighbors' children. When the classes got too big, the Groton Center for the Arts was spawned with the hard work of friend Irene Buck. Today Zoe enjoys watercolor painting and all things handmade by artists. To contact her, send email to zoe.eleftherio@gmail.com.