(pleasant music) - [Narrator] On this episode of "Postcards."

(soft music) - I went to Scotland and did a kilt making workshop.

I absolutely fell in love with it.

Everybody needs to go to Scotland.

- I was writing songs all throughout like middle school and high school, and just, like, could never really figure out how to say what I wanted to say in words.

- So with art, you can do what you want, like there is no rules.

(upbeat inspirational music) (light music) - [Announcer] "Postcards" is made possible by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

Additional support provided by Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies, Mark and Margaret Yeakel Jolene on behalf of Shalom Hill Farms, a retreat and conference center in a prairie setting near Windom, Minnesota, on the web at shalomhillfarm.org.

Alexandria, Minnesota, a year-round destination with hundreds of lakes, trails, and attractions for memorable vacations and events.

More information at explorealex.com.

A better future starts now.

West Central Initiative empowers communities with resources, funding, and support for a thriving region.

More at wcif.org.

- I really wasn't interested in kilt making per se.

(playful music) I just really loved the Scottish culture.

And then I went to Scotland and did a kilt making workshop.

I absolutely fell in love with it.

Everybody needs to go to Scotland.

(rocking bagpipe music) My name is Sheila Tabaka.

I'm the costume designer in the theater program at the university at Southwest Minnesota State University.

And so, I design and make the costumes for all of our theater productions.

And so, being a kilt maker is not really too far off from what I already do.

(playful music continues) I did some investigation online and I found a few kilt making classes that were taking place in Scotland, when I was gonna be on sabbatical.

And I applied to one at the Kiltmakery outside of Edinburgh, and so that's the class I went to.

I've had a lot of people saying, "So are you gonna do a show where you need kilts?"

And, well there's "Brigadoon."

(Sheila laughing) You know, there's not a whole lot of shows where you'd be making, you know, a lot of kilts, but you know, whatever.

I mean, I'm excited to see where it all leads.

So, there's a website called Heritage Crafts outta the UK, and they have a listing of all the endangered crafts in the UK.

And so, there are things like tinsmithing on there, things like cricket ball making, by hand.

And one of the endangered crafts is kilt making, which sounds really strange, in Scotland, that it'd be an endangered craft, but it is.

And so, the Kiltmakery is very interested in continuing that tradition.

And one of the ways you become a kilt maker is that you have to take an apprenticeship.

And so that's what the Kiltmakery does.

It's a two week intensive.

And you go in basically with nothing, knowing nothing at all.

The people that were in the class with me, we all are seamstresses or tailors in some way, but not for kilts.

So we go through the whole process.

We build a kilt while we're there, and then we can transfer those skills.

Every kilt you make is the same, it's just the measurements are all different.

(playful music ending) So one of the things that we did at the Kiltmakery, (light music) is before we even started anything with making the kilts, is we talked about the history of the kilts.

And it's really kind of simple.

Basically, there weren't any.

(light music stopping) It's not like if there's this big long history of the McLeods and the Buchanans, and things like that.

There was a big festival going on, and there were a couple of brothers who thought that they could make a buck.

And so, (light music) they decided to go into this tartan making business.

So all these families just picked, something that they liked.

So the tartan is really the print.

So this tartan is called a Copper Haze, one of those, kind of designer tartans.

It's not tied to any... You know, it's not the McAllisters or the McDougalls or anything like that, it's just a tartan.

You can make them out of different kinds of things.

They can be made out of polyester, they can be made out of wool.

Most of the time they're made out of wool.

And the traditional historical ones, they would've been made out of wool.

Kilts started out as functional clothing.

It was really used as something that was utilitarian because you could use it as clothing but you could also use it as a blanket.

You could even use it as a tent if you needed to.

Today, what I'm gonna show you, is I'm gonna rip the wool, and then I'll start talking about how to pleat different kinds of tartans.

One of the first things you need to do when you make a kilt, is you need to decide how long it's going to be.

And there are definitely rules on how long a kilt is.

If it's above your knee, you are a boy.

If it is below your knee, you're wrong.

And if it's at your knee, it's at the right spot.

And so, once you have that measured out, then you have to rip the fabric.

And if it's a wool, you can snip it and rip it.

And so, I've already snipped it here, and then, it'll just rip right on its line, (fabric tearing) right there, it'll be perfect, when I start to put it together.

If you have about eight yards, each kilt takes about eight yards, then you can start pleating it up.

The front of the kilt is a straight flap, and underneath it is... And that's called the apron.

And the under-apron is also straight, and then everything else is pleated into the back.

And you have to take the measurement from the waist to the hip.

You have to take that measurement when you make your pleat.

Most of the time it's about eight inches, but if somebody's got a really long backside or something like that, maybe it's gonna be a 10-inch rise that you're gonna have.

Or fall, it's called a fall.

Hmm, fifteen.

That's my front of my apron, and this is all gonna be the back of the apron.

And so I have to pleat it up.

And if you look at this particular tartan, it's all symmetrical.

(Sheila clearing throat) And so, you can either pleat to the line, which means you have all these lines going down, or you can pleat to the set.

Do you want me to show you on this one?

So on this kilt, you can see that this is the apron in the front.

And then, if you lay out the back, you can see it's the same design here as here.

If you look at just that and that, it looks the same, but this is all pleating.

So their inside here, are these huge pleats, that are able to be kicked up while you're dancing, or for all your movement.

(rocking bagpipe music) And then we've got, these are the size of the pleats.

So this goes to here.

And then this goes there.

So you can see, all of my pleats are the same size as my pleat marker here.

The other thing you get with a kilt like this is you get human error.

And so you can see where people have left a stitch.

It's kind of like looking at vintage garments, you know, before we had, you know, sewing machines.

Before that, you could see where people would make a mistake or they would miss a stitch or the stitch would be too long or something like that, because hands are actually making the garment.

The Kiltmakery teaches you (playful music) how to make a kilt the traditional way, the historical, traditional way, which is through hand-sewing.

So everything on the kilt is hand-sewn.

And I have really wonderful memories of sitting with these five other seamstresses and myself hand-sewing.

And hand sewing's a really lovely kind of communal thing to do because you can chat while you're doing it.

And as long as you've got everything marked out, you don't have to keep relying and re-measuring and things like that.

And just talking, just having a chat.

I mean, that group of people, I tell you, two weeks.

(Sheila scoffing) You think two weeks, I mean, and it's like they're part of you, you know?

How can that happen in two weeks?

I don't know.

But it was really, it was really great.

I think the idea of technology creeping into handcraft things is really, really dangerous.

That idea of touching something and creating something, and the communal aspect of being together and making something is really...

I mean that's one of the reasons that I do theater, live theater, you can't do it by yourself.

You have to have other people and you have to do it.

You can't sit in front of a box and do it.

You have to, it has to be with other people.

On the in-structure, inside structure, there's horse hair to kind of keep it in place, and then there's a lining.

And you can do lots of different kinds of things with that because nobody's gonna see it except for you.

It's made me wanna be an actual kilt maker.

And I've made two, I made one while I was at the workshop for my son, and I made another one after the workshop just to keep those ideas and the process, you know, in my head.

And I fell in love with it.

And I really, really love it.

I really love doing it.

Don't you love it?

I love it so much.

(videographer laughing) (Sheila laughing) - [Videographer] It's pretty cool.

- It is pretty cool.

(rocking bagpipe music) - So this one's "Kate."

- [Videographer] Oh, you got a hair.

(Jacob gasping) - Where?

Here?

- [Videographer] Other side.

It's kind of just going wild on the one side.

Yeah, it's better.

- [Videographer 2] It's composer hair.

- [Videographer] Yeah.

(videographer laughing) - [Videographer 2] Mm-hmm.

- Did I get it?

- Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

(videographers laughing) (soft piano music) - So I'm Jacob Pavek.

I'm a musician, composer, pianist.

My dad was a musician.

So, I grew up in a household of just music all the time, guitars everywhere.

You know, being a kid, I didn't really care for it, just like what my dad was doing.

I wanted to do something else.

So I, you know, skateboarded or you know, did something totally different.

And then as I got older, I just started to respect it a lot more.

He taught me how to play guitar, and then it just kind of went from there.

(soft piano music continues) I was writing songs all throughout like middle school and high school, and, just like could never really figure out how to say what I wanted to say in words.

I think I'm just a bad lyricist because I'm not good at telling a story, in particular, or like, focusing on a certain feeling.

And then, once I discovered, like, instrumental music, I could really, like, show my true self.

And then I like it all as well because then I can... You know, the listener can attach whatever meaning they want to it as well.

So, I don't have to explain what it means.

Everyone can just interpret it as they want to.

So I went to UW River Falls for Music Composition and Theory.

After I graduated, I just wrote a bunch of solo piano tunes.

So I released my first record, "Bloom."

And then I discovered that there was a whole, like, modern classical scene, like Nils Frahm, Olafur Arnalds, Johann Johannsson, bringing modern influences of, like, Radiohead to instrumental piano, maybe bringing in like a synth, strings, things like that.

And that's like, I got super passionate about that.

(soft piano music ending) I own probably 12 different pianos and keyboards.

Half of 'em are here, half of 'em are at home.

It's just the worst.

So this is CP-70, a little synth, I have that organ from the grandfather, this guy, (tapping on piano) that piano's not mine.

Yeah, I got this piano from my dad's friend who produced our band's records, and it's the exact piano I was looking for, Kawai US50.

It's got this nice felt, like I just did with this really like, soft and intimate, (piano notes playing) but then it's like a big grand.

(piano notes playing) So it's got the best of both worlds.

Yeah, gave me a deal and I'm happy, she's my baby.

But I have a couple of other pianos at home.

And I have a bad habit of buying like old niche keyboards, like this guy.

So like playing live, especially solo piano, you don't wanna do just by bringing like a digital keyboard, like that's so lame, if you're like doing stuff.

So, I got this one, that came out in the seventies, and it's like a...

It's a real piano, has real strings, comes in two pieces, and then it has pickups in it, so you can plug it in and put effects on it or whatever.

It weighs so much, and like my friends hate me for like having to help me bring it to gigs and whatnot.

But once we get it there, it's a lot cooler of an experience 'cause it's a real thing.

This is from the eighties.

You've heard it in all sorts of things, including Justin Bieber's "Intentions," the ba-ba-boom, ba-ba-ba-boom.

But it's like the most simple synth you can get without like...

It has like, you know, all the "Stranger Things," sounds like they use that all the time.

So it's like somewhat easy to use, and just as super versatile.

But it has a lot of character, so like, it'll like just short out or like buzz or something and I have to, like, turn it off, turn it back on, or like, give it a day.

And this is my pedalboard.

You just got volume, tuner, boost, delay, reverb, boom.

(upbeat synth music) Like, I just kinda like do it all at the same time.

And you can like, just pretend you know what you're doing because it, like, just does everything for you.

So you're just like, "Cool."

Yeah, that's fun.

It's fun, it gets overwhelming sometimes for sure.

So sometimes you just gotta play a piano.

(emotive piano music) So the new album, "Nina," just released it a couple weeks ago.

And it's been a long time coming.

I think it's been four or five years since my last one.

But, different inspirations on that one, like, there was one song called "Remedy," and I remember when COVID, like, first hit, and I just got super anxious about it, and like, sat down at the piano and just whatever came out, and it was "Remedy."

And it like, just for some reason made me feel a lot better, and just like a remedy to like my anxiety at that moment.

So that's one of my favorite pieces I think, on the record, that I could like pinpoint where it came from.

Been in Saint Paul for... Coming up on 10 years now, I think.

And then, yeah, moved in with my wife for a couple years and then we bought a house in 2017, and we've been there ever since.

I have to give a lot of credit to my wife because she understands how much music means to me.

So, like, we have designated nights where I can, you know, come here and just spend the night and create music.

We had our firstborn, Sonny, in 2021.

He's the funniest, weirdest human I've ever met.

I'm very grateful for him.

He's just over three years old now.

And then, we decided to go for round two and ended up having twin, identical twin boys.

So, we had three under-three for a while there.

(emotive music continues) I had a friend once say, when my wife Katie was pregnant with Sonny and I was just talking about kind of my anxiety around it, you know?

You know, it's natural.

And he said, "If you think music is beautiful now, just wait until you have kids."

He's like, "Everything just sounds better."

And, like, 100% it does.

So like, all the time I have, like, music running in my head.

Catchy song, I'm like whistling constantly, or just like making up stupid songs, like, improvising words or whatever.

Drives my wife absolutely nuts.

But my first born, Sonny, he's three years old now, hates when I play music, hates when I play guitar, (indistinct) just annoys him.

I don't know if that's totally fine.

He'll probably be a lawyer, not a musician, that's okay.

But I started like just making up a kid song about a chicken in the sky.

And, now we just lay down in bed when I put him down and he's like, "Papa, sing chicken in the sky song."

And he like sings it with me, and it's, you know, bonding, finally, over one of my passions.

But it's a really silly song.

But, let's see.

♪ I was walking by and saw a chicken in the sky ♪ ♪ Why oh why is there a chicken in the sky ♪ ♪ When chickens cannot fly ♪ ♪ I was walking by and saw a chicken in the sky ♪ ♪ Why oh why is there a chicken in the sky ♪ ♪ Flying so high ♪ ♪ When chickens cannot fly ♪ ♪ I'll ask this man riding by ♪ ♪ Why oh why is there a chicken in the sky ♪ ♪ Flying so high when chickens cannot fly ♪ ♪ My oh my I don't know why there's a chicken in the sky ♪ ♪ Flying so high ♪ ♪ When chickens cannot fly ♪ ♪ I guess I'll never know ♪ ♪ Why oh why there's a chicken in sky ♪ ♪ Flying so high when chickens cannot fly ♪ So dumb.

(Jacob laughing) But he loves it.

Maybe I'll make a kid's record.

(Jacob laughing) (piano note playing) - [Videographer 2] Love it.

- Yeah.

(paint burbling) (upbeat music) - Hey, my name is A'ja Marie Nauden.

I am an artist and a painter.

I dabble in different mediums, so, acrylic, spray paint, and texture paint.

Look at me go.

I had been to an art museum and there was just this one line, this one red line on a white canvas.

And I was like, "Bro, this painting is selling for like 13 K. It's just a line, like, what is this?"

And one of the curators was like, "No, that's more than just the line."

Like, "That's her story, that's her life."

And, as I'm reading the description, I'm like, "Wow."

Just one line can mean so much, and that's how I kind of took my art and was inspired to create abstract art.

I do abstract art a lot, just because I feel like it has no boundaries.

I make sure through my art that there were no boundaries.

- [Interviewer] Let's start with your life.

- Yes, ma'am.

So, I grew up on the south side of Chicago, on the 115th and Pulaski.

Growing up was hard for me.

It was kind of like a rough childhood growing up.

(brush clinking) Our parents were around, and they were very supportive, but they were having their own battles and struggles too.

When I got to kindergarten, that's when we moved from the inner city to the south suburbs, 'cause my parents didn't think we were gonna make it.

(soft music) When I was in kindergarten, I entered my first art show, and I won.

As I started growing up and realized what my skills were, I just dove into 'em.

I used to sell little drawings and paintings when I was like 10 or 12, but people were very, like, shocked.

I did sports my entire life, so I ran track, and I did volleyball, I did basketball, soccer.

They saw me as an athlete, not an artist.

So I struggled with knowing how to be an artist and be an athlete all at the same time instead of just picking one or the other.

So I took a lot of art classes, but I never felt comfortable in them because I felt I'm not an artist.

And I kept denying, "I'm not an artist, I'm not a real one."

Like, I'm no Picasso or I'm no Van Gogh, you know?

I never felt like all of my work was real until I kind of got to college.

I made a piece for one of my roommates, her dad.

He bought it for his birthday and I thought that was super cool.

And something in me was like, "No, you can do this."

So my experience moving from Chicago to Minnesota was tough.

I never thought in a million years this is where I would move.

I ended up working in a hospital that... You know, it was nice at first, but I just knew that's not why I moved here.

And I started to open up to people more and here I am today, and it feels good now.

- [Interviewer] Oh, okay.

Tell me about the painting behind you.

What does that mean?

- Hold on, I gotta look at it again.

(interviewer chuckling) Okay, yeah.

So, that painting was kind of one of the first ones I did when I got here to Minnesota.

And to me, it expressed my confusion, of whether me really liking it here or me really hating it here.

And with the colors that I chose, brown is, for now, one of my favorite colors.

And I feel like it has become my staple, in who I am and my own representation of myself, me being a little brown girl.

(A'ja chuckling) And, I just really just used my hands.

I didn't use any paintbrushes for that.

I used my hands 'cause I really wanted it to be authentic.

And with my hands, I was like, "Well, what story do I want to tell?"

I want to tell my story of how I started.

And when you do look at it, it's like you can see a whole bunch of things, but if you look closely, you can see flowers, like, where I did my thumbprints.

You can see different images of however your eyes see.

So to me, when people look at that painting, they see me.

So, this is one of my paintings.

I call this one "The Golden Child."

So these are my hand prints, and each one represents my past, my present, and my future.

A'ja's corner.

I made this one here in Minnesota.

This is probably the most perfect representation of how I feel on the inside.

(A'ja chuckling) And then this is another one of my paintings.

I call it "Smack Talk."

Me and my sister made this one on our little sister-date.

This one, I made in Chicago.

I think this one is like one of my favorites.

It's called "Dancing Soul."

And, my, oh, it's upside down.

(A'ja chuckling) - [Interviewer] Do you wanna talk about your love for dancing at all?

- Oh, sure, I'll take it a little bit.

(A'ja laughing) So, I was a little dancer back in Chicago.

(slow inspiring music) I found it as a passion though, like, it really helped me express myself in a different way too.

Like, I learned a lot of new things, not even just like physically, but emotionally and spiritually.

I felt like I got to express myself in a way where not a lot of people really see it as like appropriate, but it made me feel good as a woman.

It really did.

It made me feel like dancing is a part of who I am.

To me, it was art.

I felt like even though it may not be on a paintbrush or a canvas, it felt like a real art.

It felt like this is something I can express myself with and there's no rules.

(water rushing) I think... Not "I think," no.

I know, art has really opened me to a lot of avenues, where it has allowed me to be comfortable in who I am.

I never was confident or comfortable.

I always felt like I had to be somebody else or I had to be like somebody else to feel accepted.

So with art, you can do what you want.

Like, there is no rules.

Like, you can, if I wanna splatter on the canvas, I can just, boop, and that's it.

Like, I don't have to add anything else if I don't want to.

And to me, art is fun, it's not hard.

It's not hard as people make it seem.

You know, you don't have to be anybody spectacular to create art, you could just be normal.

My advice to people out there in the world, take the chance, you'll never know what happened.

And if it happens, it happens.

And if it doesn't, it was never meant to be, so... - [Interviewer] Yeah.

(slow inspiring music continues) (slow inspiring music ending) (upbeat music) - [Announcer] "Postcards" is made possible by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

Additional support provided by Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies, Mark and Margaret Yeakel Jolene on behalf of Shalom Hill Farms, a retreat and conference center in a prairie setting near Windom, Minnesota, on the web at shalomhillfarm.org.

Alexandria, Minnesota, a year-round destination with hundreds of lakes, trails, and attractions for memorable vacations and events.

More information at explorealex.com.

A better future starts now.

West Central Initiative empowers communities with resources, funding, and support for a thriving region.

More at wcif.org.

(pleasant music)