Girlfriends and a business to help South African Women

-
I had a visit with my dear friend Bardet who is here on the east coast visiting from California. We have known one another as friends and artists for about 14 years now, and being an interfaith minister she married my husband and I 10 years ago tomorrow. She has been one of the most important influences in my life, and we have helped one another through some pretty tough times.

We were laughing over some of the rough times tonite. Like when she was hiking near Mohonk and fell off a rock cliff, and severly broke her shoulder. That is a story for another blog..and I hope that I remember to tell that one. Perhaps tomorrow night. It is a chuckle. But we can ONLY laugh at it some years later, as back then she was pretty damaged and needed some intensive surgery.

Then there was the time I fell and impaled myself on a 2 x 4" and she walked in as I was lying on the floor gasping for breath and cut on the head......

Good friends can pick up where they left off, whether it be 3 weeks or 5 years. And tonite we played "girlfriends" looking at clothes and shoes she had bought, the hats she designed for her daughter's business, Be Sweet, and sipping tea from herbs in her garden, lolling about on her bed.

It was a time of joy, of love, of sisterhood.

She is a designer now for this wonderful business BE SWEET which sells the most AMAZING mohair wools and products made by women in South Africa. Check out the link I just created for a look at the products and mission. I have a FAB scarf that Larry bought me a few years ago..it is luscious, warm and knowing that I am supporting women in an area where there is 75% unemployment makes me feel that I am contributing where it counts.

I am off to bed as it has been a long day and will write more about our adventures and about BE SWEET The women pictured are a few of the group of women who make the wools and products you see on the site!

In sisterhood, Patti

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

La Cucina

-
Image
Tonight my house had the aroma of olive oil, garlic, tomatoes and candles. Keith Jarret was playing in the background, and I had just opened a nice bottle of reasonable red wine. (Osborne Solaz, 2004 Temranillo/Cab- 7.00) I needed it for the sauce, so why not have some while cooking! I took good care of myself all weekend, and felt like cooking for the first time in what seems forever. I am an excellent cook. A collage cook one might say, or better yet, a bricollage cook. I take what is in the house and make a dinner out of it. I think about flavor, texture, color and variety. Most of the time I would rather put this creative energy into visual arts, but on occasion I will push my fine art aside, and the art of the evening is cooking. Candles, music, wine, and a lovely table. I must think more like Monet, and not only make the meal art, but somehow make it my visual art too. The best I could do was a photo of the beginning of the sauce. It looks rather bizarre if you ask me,
Read more

Cape Painting

-
Image
My framing blogs will continue when I’m back in the studio next week. In the mean time, I am enjoying adventures on the Cape. Again I opted to not bring oils as the place I am staying is not conducive to oil painting, so I bought watercolors and my acrylics, although I have not used the acrylics yet. I have a small messenger type bag, that I can put in a few palettes of my Kramer watercolors, several water brushes, a few paper towels, a 6x6 watercolor pad, and a watercolor postcards. This time I bought watercolor greeting cards to paint on too. I can wear this light bag across my body, and hike for miles, plopping myself down on a bench, rock, or table, and paint the scene at hand in an instant. I got to experience the tail end of hurricane Dorian too, the roiling ocean and wind captured on camera and paper, etched in my dna now. I will be bringing home new ideas, new small pieces, hundreds of photographs, ready to settle in for a fall of painting and design work for m
Read more

Framing: Sources for Frames

-
Image
When I was primarily showing fine art collages, and framing antique prints, I collected a wide variety of frames for my work- rarely were two frames were ever the same. But over the years, I have whittled down that collection, as I find myself  using either white (for abstract work) or black floater frames for my paintings. It is more professional to have a "even" look in framing one's work, especially if you are showing several works, or having a solo show. On occasion you can find frames in places like Ikea, or the Christmas Tree Shop, or other such venues. If I find good ones, I will buy them up and keep them for future work. But most of the times I either buy them at Michael's , or American Frame .  On occasion if I am flush, or need a specialty frame, or it needs special care, I will gladly go to the local art supply or framing store. But I usually don't have the money to do that...so I order and frame myself. Michael's has their sales and 40%
Read more