The response to my last blog entry was amazing! Evidently you all have a lot of recommendations for mighty women who truly have changed the world. This presented me with an important question:
Where to begin?
The names flooded in from you: Petra Kelly, Nina Simone, Kim Cooper, Kiki Smith, Gretchen Bender, Lisa Braun, Susan Rothenburg, Georgia O'Keefe...
This just made me think of my own list; Mary Beale, Sadie Lee, Hazel Dooney, Tracy Chapman, Dame Shirley Bassey, Angelica Kauffman, Mary Moser, Mary Portas, Margaret Mead, Esthero, Pema Chodron...
It all seemed a bit much, to think about representing each of these women with a piece of art and to choose only one to start with. But it was the response from my Facebook Fans that gave me the clear and obvious solution. When I asked them to contribute examples of strong women they admired and why, each of them listed family members: Mothers, sisters, aunts, partners...
There is a woman I admire very much, who I have recently begun to get acquainted with in a different way than I ever had before. She couldn't be a better choice, I think, for the beginning of this project. Born December 14th, 1920 my grandma Doreen lived in Luton, England for her entire youth and into her young adulthood. In September 1945 she marrie
d my grandfather, a Canadian soldier fighting (Well, actually cooking) in WWII. At the end of June 1946 she boarded the Aquitania and went to Canada to live. At the age of 25 my grandmother made the reverse journey I have just made, but rather than eight hours flying with an obnoxious stop-over in Chicago, she went four days by boat and another four by train to a province 4,000 miles from her family and friends. At 25, in a world where the only way to stay in touch was a letter in the mail, my grandma did something far more courageous than I have ever done. I admire her strength and resilience and I dedicate this entire project to her memory and to all the wonderful women in my family who have shown me I can achieve anything I set my mind to.
d my grandfather, a Canadian soldier fighting (Well, actually cooking) in WWII. At the end of June 1946 she boarded the Aquitania and went to Canada to live. At the age of 25 my grandmother made the reverse journey I have just made, but rather than eight hours flying with an obnoxious stop-over in Chicago, she went four days by boat and another four by train to a province 4,000 miles from her family and friends. At 25, in a world where the only way to stay in touch was a letter in the mail, my grandma did something far more courageous than I have ever done. I admire her strength and resilience and I dedicate this entire project to her memory and to all the wonderful women in my family who have shown me I can achieve anything I set my mind to. Line drawing in pen, lifting it only once for the entire outline. Face filled in after initial sketch completed.
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