Been A Long Time Gone

The last few months have been emotionally unstable for me . . . preparing for my first-born's high school graduation, along with the the entire 'visiting colleges', vacations, and children's end-of-year activities, I feel like there is no me left.

I have managed to squeeze in a few art related activities - finishing 5 new art works for an application for an exhibition in London (which I didn't get into, but which was a great motivator).

Choosing to continue with the CONSTRAINT series, I created:

Post-Partum, 2011. Created from Hospital Receiving Blankets

 Love, Honor, & Obey(?), 2011; Altered Wedding Dresses

Rat Trap, 2011; Bridal Veil, Wooden Rat Trap 

Initially, first reactions seem to be shock, and then, either horror or hilarity. 

I mean them to be visual jesters which have an underlying message about role models and institutions.  As a bride, I refused to say "obey" and as bride and groom, my husband and I attempted to have a garden wedding with a non-denominational vow exchange.  Unfortunately, after the family friend (minister) had agreed in July to the vows we had chosen, he decided the NIGHT BEFORE OUR WEDDING to announce to us that he would be using his King James/Fundamental Baptist wording.  We were NOT happy to say the least.  We felt TRAPPED by the trickery . . . yet we had 75 invites out, the Civil War era home we had rented was decorated . . . what to do? We got married anyway and I cried through the entire ceremony because it was not what we wanted.  Comments which were relayed to me after the wedding caused me to not speak to certain family members for 3 months.  It was awful.  I shudder at the memories of my own wedding.

Regarding "Post-Partum", I was thinking about the shock of bringing home a newborn and the emotional upheaval, not to mention the hormonal, changes.  It is difficult even if you are not dealing with depression, gestational diabetes, breast-feeding, etc.  This work also correlates with the "A PAXIL A DAY" and "COPING SKILLS" series, in that I had issues with pregnancy difficulties and depression.  On a broader scale, it simply visualizes the constraints parenthood puts on the family and couplehood dynamics.

One concern I have with marriage, as seen in "Rat Trap", is that once married, the couple tends to lose their 'romance' and 'infatuations' with one another.  Having been divorced, I was terrified that our marriage might END our love.  I am happy to say, 20 years later, that, for us, that was not the case.

What are the reactions you have to these works?  I would love to hear YOUR impressions and thoughts on marriage and parenthood!

Ladies First Exhibition Was Fabulous!

After many weeks of working on YOU MADE YOUR BED I & II, the unveiling occurred last Friday night at The Customs House Museum.

The installation on Tuesday, March 1st, had gone fabulously.  I was lucky enough to be available during press photo shoots and interviews.  Stacy Leiser, of The Leaf Chronicle, gave a fantastic interview and even included some of my quotes in her gorgeous article, Cebrate Women's Creativity.  The article, along with images by their photographer, Greg, really boosted the opening's attendance.

Here is a basic excerpt from Stacy Leiser's article, in case the link expires:

The artists included were asked to create a self portrait symbolizing how they see themselves as female artists at this moment in time. Sher Fick's piece for the show, "You Made Your Bed," features a grid of doll beds next to a quilt stitched irregularly from scraps of Hollie Hobby fabric and other patterns Fick associates with childhood. In two of the doll beds are tiny dolls, one a self-portrait of Fick, the other a portrait of her sister.

"I'm a little sentimental. I've never thought of myself totally as a feminist, but I make art about what I know," Fick said. "I'm a woman. I'm a mother. I was a little girl."

Fick is a former art teacher and mother of three children who now makes art in her home studio with the enthusiastic support of her husband.

"Doing art is therapeutic for me," she said. "If I don't do art I'm unhappy and grumpy."

Fick had a mysterious altar piece featured in "Modern Girls" at Customs House Museum last year, and like her new piece, it uses repetition for effect. Dozens of prescription medication bottles were used in both artworks, each pill bottle encased in a patchwork of fabric scraps.

"Basically, I feel like I put broken things back together," Fick said. "That's why I'm drawn to remnants, found objects, things most people throw away."

Among the artists featured in Ladies First are Camille Engel, named by Fine Art Connoisseur magazine as one of our nation's top three artists to watch, Alison Oakes, Sandra Paynter Washburn, Edie Maney, Mitzi Cross, Ludie Amos and Tammy Dohner.

I can't tell you how wonderful it felt to have so many women approach me and not only say that they "loved" my art, but that it "MEANT A LOT" to them that I did it, that I was "brave" for standing up for all the women who have been vilified for taking medications in order to maintain well-being.  (I always refer to Brooke Shields and her public denigration via Tom Cruise when she chose medication to treat her post-partum depression, which, literally, infuritated me).

I truly felt that I had fulfilled my purpose in creating the art.  I can't ask for more than that from my life . . . that I am moving towards my purpose, while at the same time growing children, strengthening my marriage, and developing some of the strongest friendships I have ever had.

I am truly blessed, and fortunate to have been given the opportunities to grow and thrive in my life and my art.