Comments, Questions, Contact

FRIENDS: I hope you enjoyed this website. I would love to hear from you. If you have a question, or if you have a story to tell, leave a comment here. For the benefit of all, I usually respond here. Or, you can send an email to me: stepdancesue at gmail dot com. Find The Crankie Factory on Facebook and You Tube. I post a lot of crankie things on INSTAGRAM SueTruman1015. And by all means MAKE A CRANKIE! Thank you!
Written by Sue Truman on May. 28, 2016
Diana Smith, Hello! I hope you will make a crankie. Regarding your question if paper comes with the crankie kit: yes, it does. Louis Leger sends some paper along with the kit. I can't remember off the top how many feet he sends. But I do know that the paper is 18" high which is an "easy-to-find" standard size, so that you could buy a roll at any art or craft store.
Written by Sue Truman on May. 28, 2016
Frantz, thank you so much for your message! My French is not very good, I am still learning! I hope that you will make a crankie. It is hard to say what comes first - a good song, or a good fiddle/accordion tune, or a good idea? I make a lot of the scrolls from fabric and felt so I work with really basic, primitive images. I have made a lot of crankies with animals in them, black cats, crows, sea life... those are easier to produce in fabric than people. A few the first crankies I made was "Black Cat Jig" and "A Murder of Crows" Those crankies are on You Tube. Regarding selecting fiddle/accordion tunes, I have used waltzes many times for some reason. Valse des Sucres and Valse Beaulieu are two examples of that. In fact, Valse Beaulieu was my first crankie. It was simply illustrating the four seasons and I put it to that waltz. I had no idea what I was doing, I just did it. I hope this helps and thanks again. Good luck and let us know how you are doing. You can also send an email to me.
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Written by Diana Smith on May. 28, 2016
With the kit, do you get a roll of paper or does one have to buy that separately? Where would I get a roll or do I make it myself?
Email:
Written by Frantz on May. 1, 2016
Hi my English is too bad, so I'll write in French.
votre site est admirable. cela donne vraiment envie de se fabriquer un Crankie. Fiddle ? what kind of music do you play ? I play fiddle too, Occitan folk music. do you know ?
amitiés
Frantz
Email:
Written by Sue Truman on Mar. 16, 2016
Ina, Hello! I am glad you are enjoying the website! I order rolls of Tyvek from uline.com. Good luck and stay in touch if you want and let us know how you are doing. Sue Truman
Written by Ina oppliger on Mar. 16, 2016
Sue, i love your art and this site. Would you mind revealing where you get the tyvek? I would like to try it!
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Written by Sue Truman on Jan. 12, 2016
Andrew Benincasa, It was a great pleasure to meet you at the Baltimore Crankie Festival. OMG, you are one of the most talented paper cut artists! I will put your latest creation on the home page. It is a masterpiece. If you ever film any of your crankies, please send to me. Keep in touch. Your fan. Sue Truman
Website:
thecrankiefactory.com
Written by Sue Truman on Jan. 12, 2016
Jody Best, Hello! Yes, I would be happy to spread the word about your crankie fest that is happening the weekend of Feb. 26th, 2016. I just got back from the Baltimore Crankie Fest and had the great pleasure of meeting Ellen Gozion. Her performance got me all teary eyed. Hope you have a great turnout!
Website:
thecrankiefactory.com
Written by Andrew Benincasa on Jan. 10, 2016
Hi, Sue, it was so nice to meet you in Baltimore this weekend! Thank you for the lovely mini-crankie.

I'm attaching a link to the page on my website that has my crankie images; check them out:

http://www.andrewbenincasa.com/#/new-page-38/

All the best,

Andrew
Email:
Website:
www.andrewbenincasa.com
Written by Jody Best on Jan. 9, 2016
We'd love to share information about our regional Crankie Fest Weekend!

Starting on Friday, February 26, Crankie artists are invited to participate in a weekend of shows and exchange. The weekend begins with a community potluck and crankie shows at the Confluence Creative Arts Center in a charming turn-of-the century rural community. Artists are invited to perform for the community and enjoy the opportunity to visit and swap ideas and insights.

Crankie artists and puppeteers Channing Showalter and Annie Schermer will present a Saturday harmony singing workshop and on Sunday, the Crankie fun continues with opportunities to perform in Pittsburgh at the Wilkins School Community Center with Crankie artist Ellen Gozion.

Come one, come all for a country/city weekend of crankie magic!
Email:
Website:
www.confluencecreativeartscenter.org
Written by Sue Truman on Nov. 22, 2015
AND, here is another crankie, this one made by Dejah Leger. It cranks to the end and then is cranked back past the beginning page. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asIFgBgs5zQ
Hillary, tell us a little about your research!
Written by Sue Truman on Nov. 22, 2015
Hillary, here is one crankie that reverses at the end and cranks back in the opposite direction. Sue
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRxYdbjyV9A
Written by Sue Truman on Nov. 6, 2015
Hillary, Thank you for your message and wonderful question. Yes, come to think of it, all the crankies and moving panoramas I have seen move in the same direction. My theory is that one writes from left to right. So when you are creating the scroll, it feels like the natural thing to do to great the images from left to right.

Yes, some of the 19th century panoramas were cranked in both directions. If it was scenery, with no story line plot, then the narrator could describe the scenes in both directions. This made perfect sense since the scrolls were hundreds of feet long and fragile.

I have made a couple crankies that crank in both directions. I will post one of them here when I sm behind my laptop.
Written by Hillary on Nov. 6, 2015
Hi Sue,
I've just stumbled onto your delightful sight while researching moving panoramas. Here is my question, perhaps you can shed some light or point me in the right direction:

By watching the video links (which are great, thank you!) it appears that crankies always travel from right to left from the perspective of the viewer. Is this indeed your experience? Can you speak to why?

I'm building my own theory, but I'm curious what you know about this... Incidentally, I have read that 19c. moving panoramas traveled in both directions, so the scrolls didn't need to be rewound between shows! I'd be very curious to see a crankie that moves the other direction, to experience the difference in visual experience for a spectator...

I look forward to your thoughts.
Email:
Written by Sue Truman on Sep. 26, 2015
Sandra from the Bread and Puppet Theater: Of course! I would be happy to spread the word about your shows on the west coast. I want to write a little blurb to go with the link so I have a question for you: will there be any crankies at the shows? Either way I will promote. Take good care and look forward to hearing from you.