A Hat Lady with Style and Substance

Is there a significant person in your life who has influenced or stimulated your thinking and attitudes about your work?

In my life, it was my grandmother on my mother’s side, Elizabeth Fleming, born in 1886 in a small town in Nebraska and who died at the age of 86. She continues to guide my point of view through her most notable attributes, a steady calm, love for fashion, independence, encouraging voice and rock star solitaire skills.(Ok, so I didn’t pick up any card playing skills)  A story that I often reflect on today is a milliner business that my grandmother and four women friends started in 1907, a rarity among women in those days.  My grandmother, age 21 is pictured below, second from right.

Uncovering some wonderful vintage hat forms, I immediately thought here’s one for the ladies.  A recent piece titled, Still Here features nine hat forms, each adorned with a line from a poem done in collaboration with my friend and poet, Zac Stafford. The words are stenciled, hand-wrapped in pewter and nailed on to each form.

An earlier mixed media pieces honors my grandmother’s natural talents and some of my fondest memories—sewing, playing cards, fashion and her undying support for my future. The white circles are a nod to the white powered donuts she served daily when I stopped on my way home from school. If you look closely you can see the old fashion hair pins. My grandmother didn’t continue long in the hat business but I do remember her being the best dressed woman in church, never without  a great looking hat.

My mother, the family archivist passed on many wonderful artifacts from my grandmother including  two depression era aprons.  You could see the grease stains, worn edges and holes, an indicator of much more labor intensive and difficult times.   I wanted to give them new life and dignity. One apron piece titled, Dwell in Possibility is based on a poem from Emily Dickinson.  It speaks to survival, uncertainty yet always remaining hopeful.  The second apron, I Am Not Done With My Changes, draws on an inner strength that gives purpose and meaning to ones life.

This entry was posted on November 04th, 2009 and is filed under Interesting Artifacts, Personal Storytelling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or Trackback from your own site.