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Friday, February 25, 2011

Grandma's Sewing Box Series






In my growing up, I was surrounded by all things textile. My grandma was a seamstress who earned her living through creating perfect cloth cases for musical instruments or camping gear or widgets. My aunt, Sophie, made Shirley Temple dresses for me and my sisters with intricate details of buttons and lace. My great aunt, Cecilia, quilted downy spreads with tiny, even stitches and gave them to Church auctions where they fetched top prices. While I had the best teachers in the world, I never had the patience to ply needle and thread. I didn't inherit their genes, it seems, but I did inherit my grandma's sewing box.


This body of work, from which my donation to Corina (corinadotdash.blogspot.com) comes from, is an homage to the art of my grandmother and aunts and all of the creative women in our history who didn't have the luxury to paint or sculpt. They used the ordinary and necessary skills of farm life, raising these tasks to a fine art.






3 comments:

  1. Dear Michelle,

    What a wonderful story behind your Grandma's Sewing Box Series. I love the history behind it and the treasured memories. Thanks for sharing it.

    I particularly love personal stories inside an artwork, I feel it's a great way to keep our treasures for future generations to enjoy!!.

    Michelle, thank you so much for donating one of your beautiful works from this series to support my cause. I will be grateful to you for ever!!

    I can't wait to meet you in person in Dallas!!!

    Best always,
    Corina

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  2. I am really drawn to your work. How do you present/display them?

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    1. I usually display the cast paper (with a deckled edge) in a custom floater frame. Thank you for your interest. I'm doing a lot of traveling teaching my paper and wax process with a new book coming out in September. I may be coming to your part of the world. What city or state are you located?

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