CRAFTY MONKS GETTING BIGGER AND BETTER DIGS.Byline: Peggy Hager Staff Writer VALYERMO - Known worldwide for its ceramic plaques of whimsical whim·si·cal adj. 1. Determined by, arising from, or marked by whim or caprice. See Synonyms at arbitrary. 2. Erratic in behavior or degree of unpredictability: a whimsical personality. angels and religious figures, St. Andrew's Abbey St. Andrew's Abbey is a Benedictine monastery of men located in Valyermo, California. In 1929, St. Andrew's Abbey in Bruges, Belgium founded St. Andrew's Priory in China. Until 1953, the monks of St. Andrew's Priory conducted missionary work among the Chinese. is getting a new larger building to produce them in. The Benedictine monastery's new 8,000-square-foot building will replace a ramshackle ceramics building created from a converted blacksmith's shop, garage and sheds left from when the property was a ranch. ``We've been out of room down here for ten years,'' said Tim Benedict, operations manager See datacenter manager. for the abbey. ``It's horrible. The showroom is an old cow barn. Shipping is an old garage. We've just made do.'' St. Andrew's Abbey Ceramics produces more than 50,000 handmade plaques annually, in more than 470 designs: angels cooking, baby-sitting, talking on a cell phone, plus plaques of Catholic saints and Old Testament figures and other designs such as Christmas wreaths. In the past 15 years, production of the ceramics has quadrupled. The ceramics are sold at the abbey and carried in more than 1,300 retail stores in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and Canada. In addition, the abbey is now producing wood and metal plaques bearing biblical scenes. Some of the monks also paint and do pastels. The old structure is now too small and too difficult to bring up to present building codes. The new building will have an artist's studio, a central mailing facility and room for the monks to experiment with the arts. It will also provide expanded and sufficient space for manufacturing, storage, shipping and sales as well as a commissary/meeting room, offices and restrooms. Expected to be completed in early 2005, the building won't be approved for use until older buildings on the abbey grounds have fire sprinkler systems installed to bring them up to current safety codes. The current ceramics buildings will be torn down, leaving vacant land for use by the monks. The abbey itself dates to 1955, when missionaries expelled from China by the communist government bought Hidden Springs Ranch in the San Gabriel San Gabriel (săn gā`brēəl), city (1990 pop. 37,120), Los Angeles co., SW Calif.; inc. 1913. Fabric, furniture, paper products, tools, and aircraft parts are manufactured. Mountains' northern foothills. The abbey's monks host visitors for religious retreats, hold conferences and workshops, teach at colleges and assist at Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley parishes. The abbey also hosts an arts and crafts arts and crafts, term for that general field of applied design in which hand fabrication is dominant. The term was coined in England in the late 19th cent. as a label for the then-current movement directed toward the revivifying of the decorative arts. festival every autumn that draws more than 25,000 people. The monks this year began producing olive oil olive oil, pale yellow to greenish oil obtained from the pulp of olives by separating the liquids from solids. Olive oil was used in the ancient world for lighting, in the preparation of food, and as an anointing oil for both ritual and cosmetic purposes. . They've planted 80 olive trees near an existing orchard. Peggy Hager, (661) 267-5741 peggy.grimm-hager(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Father Maur van Doorslaer and Carole Young look out of what will be a window in a workroom work·room n. A room where work is done. Noun 1. workroom - room where work is done room - an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling; "the rooms were very small but they had a nice view" under construction at St. Andrew's Abbey. The arts and crafts building will replace ramshackle, converted facilities on the property. Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer |
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