This is a rough draft of an article my Mom, Sister, and I have been working on for the upcoming Spring issue of the magazine Downtown Auroran:
During a
recent weekend in the woods, my sister and mom huddled over a table with
brushes in hand. My Mom’s brush
danced between mini blobs of paint squirted onto the lid of a cottage cheese
container and her unconventional canvas, a handmade rawhide rattle head. My sister’s brush quietly
smothered water into her pancake watercolors before smoothly spreading the
wetness onto the dry, receptive watercolor paper. I painted at my canvas which rested on a chair turned
easel. My sister-in-law
steadily maneuvered yarn with her crochette hook-manipulating a single strand
into a scarf. This was her first
attempt having just learned from my sister. The weekend offered a break from the unceasing demands of
caring for our families. We had
the freedom, space, and time to create while nurturing and supporting each
other.
Growing up
my Mom and Grandma buzzed around the house scrubbing, dusting, washing, and
feeding. The work was never done,
and they were happy to do it.
Being resourceful these women infused creativity into their chores and
work never failing to love and care for us. My Grandma hemmed dresses by hand, darned socks so magically
filling in the holes, and stitched the runs in her pantyhose creating
sculptural ridges. She baked to perfection
and gardened soulfully always reminding me to save the water from the down
spouts because the plants preferred the rainwater.
My Mom
adopted this ability to transform work in beauty. She enjoyed the challenge of creating a delicious meal from
the scraps in the pantry or making a floral arrangement gathered from the
yard. I would marvel at her
ability to wrap a present so uniquely from various bits and pieces of paper,
ribbon, and artificial flowers which we kept stuffed in the drawer of our dining
room buffet.
Having been
denied the piano lessons she had begged for, my Mom resolved to expose us to
the arts and culture. She loved
listening to us play the piano as she prepared dinner, sent us around the
corner to draw wild flowers in Rena Church’s garden, and faithfully deposited
us at dance and theatre rehearsals.
We went to museums, traveled, and attended concerts, ballets, and
plays. My Mom worked hard cleaning
houses for us to have these experiences.
She gave us the space to become who we are without asking much in
return.
It is now
such a pleasure to witness her creative growth in the arts. She is a gifted artist and Spiritual
Director who fabricates rattles out of deer hide, feathers, and sticks. She then adorns them with beads and paint. My Grandma, in her last years, would
sit by her daughter helping her to stuff and unstuff rattles, praising and
playing each one. My Mom also
facilitates Soul Collage workshops which is a spiritual process that
incorporates making collages from magazine images. Like Soul Collage she has united spiritual growth in
the making of art and often remarks that my sister and I are her teachers
now. It feels good to return some
of what she has given us.
Today, my
sister and I are both professional artists. My sister makes art and teaches out of her own studio, Nido
Art Studio in Aurora. She has her
own clothing line, is a member of the Dot to Dot Art Collective, and
facilitates birthday parties. In
addition to watercolor, she hand builds with ceramics, works with dyeing,
appliquéing textiles, quilting, crocheting and knitting, but ultimately she
weaves together communities through various programming at her studio always
generous with creativity and inspiration.
Having
learned everything from sister, I make and sell art (paintings, weavings,
stitched textiles) in Oak Park, blog about it, and do my best instill the
creative impulse in my own children.
We are truly blessed that we can support each other learning and
teaching as we evolve as artists.
