Category: Uncategorized (Page 8 of 11)

This pencil sketch is copied from a photo of my great-great grandparents on my dad’s side of the family.  I don’t know much about them or the picture. It seems to have been taken in a farmyard, so maybe it was done by an itinerant photographer.  Great-great grandpap (GGP) appears to be quite a character with his elaborate mutton chops, dapper outfit and cigar.  Great-great grandma (GGM) on the other hand has a more homespun look with a skirt made of a sturdy fabric and a scarf on her head.

What we don’t know about their life we can infer from history and tradition.  I’m not sure exactly when they came to America but it would have been during the wave of immigration from eastern Europe.  Given the clothing and the setting we can conclude that they weren’t among the rich or privileged.  I don’t know if the farm was their main source of income or if GGP worked in a coal mine like so many other immigrants.

GGM and GGP were undoubtedly Catholic, given that their offspring for generations to come were devout members of the local parishes.  GGM would have worn her babushka to church in keeping with the requirements for female head covering in the Catholic Church at that time.

In the 1800’s Catholic immigrants were held in contempt by the Protestant majority. They were suspected of trying to undermine the government with their loyalty to the Vatican.  It wasn’t until after World War II and the election of John F. Kennedy as president in 1960 that the prejudice and violence began to diminish.

As I sketched I began to think about a photo I had taken of a Somali immigrant in a scarf shop at the Global Mall in Columbus as I was working on a project for the Columbus Council of World Affairs.  There was a young immigrant girl in, not a babushka, but a hijab.  How different was her situation?  Not much.  Getting by, not prospering.  Enduring prejudice for her religion from those who don’t know very much about it.

I wanted to make that point so I created this pastel painting juxtaposing GGM with the Somali girl to enter into a show about peace at the Martin de Porres Center.  I realize I won’t win a debate with anyone who has already decided that Muslims are a threat but I would at least like them to think about their own immigrant roots and the prejudice that our ancestors endured.  

Ever since my burst of plein air painting this fall I have been a slacker – distracted by other projects and the holidays.  I knew I’d welcome a change of scenery in January so when a friend invited a couple of painters to meet her in a warm locale I didn’t think twice.  I am sworn to secrecy about the exact location because it hasn’t been developed to death and it would be good if it stayed that way.  Nary a McDonalds or t-shirt  shop in site!

It seems I’m packing lighter and lighter for each painting trip.  This time I took pencils, a mini watercolor set with just a few brushes and a tiny suitcase with a few pastels.  The goal was sketching, not necessarily completing paintings.

My first pencil sketch was from our patio looking at the grasses blowing in the breeze.  Just a little something to get going.

The little gull below was done with pencils and my electric eraser from a photo I took on the beach one morning .

I only took a few small sheets of pastel paper. When we visited a state park I wanted to get the feel of the live oaks and the house on the property without having to get into too much architecture.  I think this little piece gets the essence of the place.

At another park I did a pastel sketch of the dunes.

This mini sketch was done at an old house the had become a shop for a designer of some very unique clothing.  The front of the building was draped with vines.   Out back there was a kumquat tree so we picked a few for a still life later.

I like my little watercolor set but watercolor is not my best media.  It’s handy but challenging. 

As I was finishing up at this spot, a paddle-boarder pulled his gear out of the water and stopped to chat.  The scenery improved greatly at that point but including him was beyond my skill level.

In spite of my challenges with watercolor this little sketch at an open air market was my favorite piece of the trip. It might be revisited as an oil painting or pastel.

This trip was just what I needed.   I’m already at work on some pieces from the photos I took.  I feel like I bottled up some sunshine and brought it back to gloomy Ohio!

Author Elizabeth Gilbert (whose book inspired my blog title)  says that humans have been making things more decorative and elaborate than they need to be ever since the dawn of time.  We’re born with a creative urge that wants to take on the shape of the gifts we’re given.  Expressing that creativity puts us on track for some pretty amazing experiences.  This is a tale of one that spans generations.

Page from a 1960’s Lee Wards catalogue for sale on Ebay

My mom, her mother (Baba), my sisters and I were fans of the Lee Wards catalogue which sold needle work kits and  supplies.  Mom also got the McCalls craft magazine that had all kinds of patterns in it.  She made every kind of home decor item or piece of clothing that you could imagine, not to mention amazing clothes for our Barbies.

Dad was a “maker”, too.  He built the cabinets in our house and was always tinkering.  He and my uncles  even installed bathrooms for all the relatives as we left the outhouses behind.  

Baba crocheted and embroidered and quilted.  She made sure we got busy on  pillow cases and dresser scarves for our hope chests by the time we were in grade school.

Our other Grandma made pajamas every year for her 26 grandchildren and they all fit or you grew into them.   We loved the flannel especially since the coal furnace cooled down over night.

My sisters and I learned all kinds of skills and keep right on making. Kathy, is an expert knitter who makes adorable clothes and toys for her grandchildren.  Carol is addicted to home improvements. Joyce makes music.  Theresa is quite a cook.  The extended family is no different. They all have their specialties.  My cousin Emilie paints the most exquisite Ukrainian eggs and her sister, Bernie makes quilts. My cousin Rose makes cards and gifts for veterans in hospice.  I could probably list something for all my dozens of cousins but you get the picture.  

So if I’m a maker, I come by it honestly. I haven’t posted much for months.  First I was caught up chasing fall color with a paint brush.  Then I was on a mission to finish a family heirloom by Christmas. 

A year and a half ago, I began to hand-quilt a piece that Baba, began in the 1950’s or 60’s.  She appliquéd the pansies from a kit (probably from the Lee Wards catalogue) and embroidered it but never started the quilting . It sat in a pillowcase at my mom’s house for decades.  On Mom’s 80th birthday she gave my four sisters and I the quilts that her mother had made along with one that she won a prize for at the Belmont County Fair. 

Mom kept the five quilt tops that remained unquilted.  She wanted to find someone who might be willing to do the hand quilting  authentic to the time period.  Her cousin, Emily Klaczak,  agreed to do the morning glory quilt and started in May 2015. After some hesitation about the work involved I decided to take on the pansies.

Emily and Mom with the morning glory quilt

Mom and I looked at dozens of quilting templates on-line to choose designs for the border.  We found a continuous string of butterflies that she really liked and a curved design for the outer border.  I bought a tubular quilting frame and got started a few weeks after Emily.  

I quilted a little bit most days, usually one episode-worth of whatever I was watching on Netflix.  It was slow going, starting from the center outward.  The straight lines went more quickly than those butterflies!  I didn’t really have a deadline but Emily finished hers by our family reunion in July 2016 so I thought I’d better pick up the pace.  That’s how Christmas became my goal. I got finished about 15 minutes before it was time to leave for mass on Christmas Eve.  So there are two morals to this story:

• celebrate all the “makers” in your life; and
• don’t give up on those unfinished projects no matter how long they take!

Detail of the quilt border