Category Archives: art

Largely Forgotten

art, history, , , ,

My husband and I found a few open days and drove up to the Shenandoah Valley. We poked through small towns, chasing LOVE signs, history and apple cider along with some peace and quiet.

In Fishers Hill, just south of Strasburg, Virginia, we happened upon a new historical marker commemorating The Creative Women of Fishers Hill: Bertha Von Hillern, Maria J. C. a’ Becket, and Emma Howard Wright. The Wikipedia entry for Wight mentions the Fishers Hill studio she shared with Von Hillern.

Largerly Forgotten

The Northern Virginia Daily published an extensive story about the women and the attempts of local historians to tells their stories.

It was the comment in the first line–largely forgotten–that struck me as the story of so many women, and some men as well, even those who achieve some level of prominence in their life times. Times and preferences and fashion change and without champions to keep them alive, artists fade into the timeline.

These kinds of local history projects are perfect for involving young people. There have been several stories of students submitting historical markers for approval. Virginia’s historical marker program is the oldest in the country and the site includes a searchable database. The Historical Marker Database is more extensive as its includes all sorts of markers.

What I Made This Week

art, books, creativity, tinkering,

While I have a little “real” work to do, it can be done in an hour or so a day or a one-day sprint, which is my preferred approach. My syllabus is ready for my graduate class, I have finished up a project for a client and I get to spend next week vacationing with family and friends.

I have committed to do some kind of creative work each day: doodling, journaling and lots of paper craft from books to cards to gell printing. Being part of a monthly book making group has provided inspiration and motivation as we share resources and then do show and tell at our meetings.

This week, I worked on my art journal, using a combination of paper and sewing to create quilt-inspired art:

Mixed Media Journal

I also ended up making an accidental craft: I planned to sew together some crochet squares to make a box. But I thought it might benefit from some cardboard on the inside. Then, I thought it would be nice to at least cover the cardboard. By the time I did that and assembled the box using my own design, I realized it was too cool to cover up. It needs some tweaking so the lid is either held in place with side pieces or can go all the way back. That’s the beauty of making: designing and tweaking things using knowledge you have gained from others and other projects. Here’s the box:

Simple Box

At our August book club meeting, we made books using Japanese stab binding. I brought the directions and everyone worked on their own project. I didn’t take a picture of my little notebook but here are other examples of these kinds of books I have made:

Japanese Stab Binding

I am grateful to have the time to lose myself in this kind of work.

Grumpy Old Childless Cat Lady

art, politics, thinking out loud, ,

I am going to keep this short and sweet: the notion that I don’t have a stake in the future because I did not give birth is laughable. Also, I am not miserable. I certainly do not want others to be miserable. What I really want is to be left alone to make personal, private decisions.

I could go on but, thankfully, Moira Donegan from The Guardian said it perfectly: we are looking directly into the face of patriarchy.

Meanwhile, I am actually feeling more optimistic than I have for some time. I have made creativity a priority this summer so spend less time doom scrolling and more time creating. I turned some of my gel prints into zines, and then was inspired by a variety of Instagram accounts to add interactivity. Here’s what I created:

Grass & Water

art, creativity, thinking out loud

I spent a lovely long weekend with friends, playing games, listening to live music and sharing stories. I didn’t make any art but I did save lots of videos and pattern ideas. My friends live on a lake and I was inspired by the blues and greens. I made three version yesterday: two watercolors (one watery, one dry) and one acrylic using a printing block and stencil I made out of foam. I like that one the best and am finding myself drawn to printing.