Vermont’s “Spiderman” Creates Incredible Art With The Help Of His 8-Legged Friends
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Most people’s reaction to spiders is to scream and grab the nearest heavy book. We also tend to destroy or completely ignore the intricate, one-of-a-kind designs of their webs. One Vermont gentleman by the name of Will Knight has decided to give these creepy, crawly arachnid artists a place of honor at Knight’s Spider Web Farm in Williamstown.
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Mr. Knight is an artist who specializes in woodworking and collectibles. Back in 1977 he noticed that there were an abundance of spiders on his farm. He and his wife found themselves fascinated with the beauty and intricacy of their webs, so Knight devised a plan to create lasting art from them.
After studying the spiders, Knight came up with a method of encouraging his eight-legged friends to weave just for him. He then paints the delicate, colorless webs to ensure that they can be seen, transfers them to wooden plaques and applies a fine furniture finish to ensure that the one-of-a-kind artwork lasts a lifetime.
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Knight has been a spider enthusiast for years. The web tattoos on his elbows were obtained when he was just 18 years old. Like any fine New Englander he loves having visitors stop by the farm to see what he does and share a chat. His sign reads that the spider farm hours are “9 AM to 5 PM, 7 days a week (or whenever we’re here)”
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Vermont’s “Spiderman” is quite a celebrity among arachnid enthusiasts. He has appeared on the Today Show, Chronicle, You Asked For It and Japan’s Fuji TV. Yankee Magazine, The New York Times and the Boston Globe have featured written pieces about his work.
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Knight has been in the spider web art business for 40 years now, but he shows no signs of slowing down. A devastating fire at his workshop and store caused enough damage to shut down the farm until Spring 2017, but luckily no one was hurt.
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While he awaits the repairs, Knight is spending his winter as he always does, preparing wood for the plaques on which he mounts his web art. This involves cutting, planing, sanding and staining each piece until it is suitable for the beauty of the webs.
When you want to buy @samguayart a spiderweb there's a place to go
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The spiders are usually ready to start weaving come mid-May. When they are finished, Knight uses his top-secret method to “coax” them out of the web and onto a new specially built frame to start weaving again.
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Knight’s Spider Web Farm’s daily hours apply from June through October, with weekend hours during the off-season. You can also call 802-433-5568 to set-up a special appointment.
Interested in purchasing some of Knight and his spider assistants’ unique web art via the “other web”? Check out his products here!
H/T to Only In Your State
Featured Image via Instagram/@3595Carrie