Old Family Photos

Photographs like this hardly appear real. They seem more like an invention of Hollywood or an amusement park where you place your face in a cutout (in this case a painted 1930's school bus) to have a photo taken and a good laugh.
This is my mother's story.
In 1932 she and a dozen other young girls took a very long trip from southwest Missouri to the state Capitol in Jefferson City. These girls were the winners of the Home Economics Competition in the district schools. During this period in history and rural location girls were honored for their home making abilities. Some of the girls won for baking and canning, some for dressmaking and quilting, still others for gardening and embroidery. However, my mother won for what we in this era would find much more unique. She won the district competition by designing an undergarment. A Brassiere to be specific. My mother was a clever woman who grew up during the depression with very limited resources. She was an artist at heart who could make something from nothing-- a skill enviable in today's culture. She was an award winning flower arranger, a superior homemaker, a devoted Methodist, an honorable wife, and most of all an inventive and inspiring mother of five. The other girls were winners in the typical home arts of the 1920's and 30's. But my mother chose an unsung undergarment to design and sew--basic to looking good in those formfitting gored dresses of the period. She didn't win the state competition. I think the subject of her entry was a little too sensitive but the trip was an eye-opening experience for a sixteen year old girl from a farm in rural Missouri.
This scene was real. Taken on a bridge during a warm summer day over 80 years ago. The girls went their separate ways after the trip. One became my aunt, one became a Home Economics teacher and one was killed during WWII. To hear my mother tell the story about this trip it was the adventure of their young lives. An interesting note to this story is that I live not far from that bridge outside Jefferson City.
This photo is on my wall reminding me of a young girl traveling over 175 miles to show off her bra.

As told to me by Maxine Peck Taylor--my mother.
She is third from the right in the photo--pretty cool hat!!

Snowing and Painting in Mid-Missouri

A very cold day in Mid-Missouri. Three inches of snow topped off with a measurable amount of ice. School was called off today and will probably be called again tomorrow. The nesting/artist instincts have me baking bread and searching for watercolor paper the right size. Afternoon will bring yoga and perhaps painting.
I am working on more dog portraits, having prints made of my Chickens in the Yard painting and painting with my grandson.

I am including in this post a drawing I started as preliminary work for a painting. Working out the value scales and composition is easier in a drawing than reworking a painting. If these issues are not resolved early no amount of correction will make the completed painting work. It is heartbreaking to know there are problems that you try to fix with technique that are really fundamental design issues. Spending time early is a way to overcome some of the frustration. It is very enlightening to see the sketch on the computer. Flaws are glaring--it seems my afternoon may be spent on the drawing board. Oh, well at least there is a warm fire and a lovely piece of homemade bread beside me.
Stay tuned for an update and hopefully an improved drawing!

Article Featuring "Bleu" featured on Wines & Vines

Jane Firstenfeld recently wrote an article discussing the Label Art Competition at Les Bourgeois Vineyard. The whole article is available at www.winesandvines.com. "Bleu" by Hollis Taylor was featured on their 2012 Collector's Series bottle of Traminette. The winery holds a competition every year to source artwork for their collector's series bottle. Artists are encouraged to enter in multiple years. Hollis is working on preparing something for this year's entry. For more information on the competition, visit www.missouriwine.com for the entry form.

Photo credit: Les Bourgeois Vineyards

The Graveyard Quilt

The Quilt of the Graveyard.

Painting pets, places, and people is what I do...for the most part. Sometimes I do things completely different so as to keep my world a learning place. I have a real need to explore all kinds of creative endeavors from painting to building fairy houses with my granddaughter to making quilts and cooking.
The project I am sharing now is not about pets but about places and people--people from a long time ago, very much like many of us today and in some ways very different but with a shared insight.
The story that accompanies this project started with someone mentioning their love of quilts which was a passion we shared. This individual said the most unusual quilt she had seen was one with tiny coffins appliqued in the center. My interest was greatly peaked but soon forgotten. Weeks later I was thumbing through an old quilt book in the library and when I laid the book down the pages fell open to the Graveyard Quilt--with tiny coffins appliqued in the center.Under the photo was the name of the museum where the quilt was located. It was the Kentucky Historical Society where I had spend hours in my college years.
I called the museum asking about the Graveyard Quilt which was unfortunately not on exhibit due to poor condition. The wonderful ladies at the museum offered to send me a book about the quilt written by Linda Otto Lipsett.When I received the book I was mesmerized. I read it from cover to cover. The author subtitled the book An American Pioneer Saga and it truly was a journey. After reading the story I decided to make as close a copy of the quilt as I could. It took about 4 months to complete using reproduction 19th century fabric, dyeing the muslin pieces for the backing(because fabric was very narrow in the early American years) with walnuts and hand quilting the entire quilt. I have won quilt awards and told the story about Elizabeth Roseberry Mitchell many, many times. A few people have found the story unpleasant and disturbing, however many more have found compassion and empathy and even personal insight from the true story of one woman's efforts to deal with a personal tragedy.
This pioneer family of Shadrach and Elizabeth Roseberry Mitchell lived in Pennsylvania in the 1800s. They had eleven children as they emigrated from east to west. Two of Elizabeth's sons died along the way. She fashioned a quilt top with eleven squares across the top representing her eleven children. In the center she pieced a graveyard with places for tiny coffins quilted within an appliqued cemetery.The cemetery had fencing resplendent with embroidered roses and vines. As a memorial to the two lost children she sewed small brown coffins.The rest of the family was represented with coffins along the border. The plan was for the coffins to be moved to the cemetery as the family member departed this world. While this quilt was an expression of a heartbroken mother it also served as a birth and death record for the family.
Mourning customs have changed drastically over the years and in today's world we seem to pay less and less attention to the physical nature of deceased loved ones. People move from place to place and look toward the future more than cherishing the past. But for those out there that enjoy a good tale this story about Elizabeth Mitchell's struggle to remember her dear children and how she used her creativity and resources while carving out an American saga is one worth knowing. You can find more about the quilt and other objects at www.history.ky.gov/objects.
Feel free to comment or ask questions about the quilt-I love to hear from you.

 

FOLK Magazine Artist Advertisment

Here is my new ad in FOLK magazine. It will appear in issue #9 coming out very soon.

Hollis Taylor, portrait Artist ad that will be published in the upcoming issue of FOLK Magazine. Check us out! It's a great magazine with the majority of their ad revenue coming from artists and crafters. www.folklifestyle.com

ShortStop Shorty

This charming little corgi was a good candidate for the Baseball Hall of Fame this year.She wasn't interested in performance enhancing drugs, money, or well--Fame.

All she was interested in was one clear crack of the baseball bat. As it happened she lived up the street from the city park where very early on summer mornings the local girl's softball team met to practice. Cordelia (Shorty for short, but I don't know why) would listen carefully and when she heard the first ring of a bat hitting a ball she would run down the street in her funny corgi way, where all of her legs were off the ground at the same time, and stop at the fence--waiting. When a batter would hit a ball through the infield--off she would fly, around the fence, retrieve the ball, and bring it to the closest ballplayer. Shorty could play all day but when practice was over she would sit with the girls enjoying lots of pats and ear scratches and sharing drinks of cool water. Shorty would look from face to sweaty face of those girls in red and love her place in their lives. Those girls are graduating school this year but the younger ones are anxious to see Shorty next summer. Oh! maybe she got her nickname from her shortstop abilities! May-be

HyVee Shopper

There was nothing small about Jag--other than the fact he was the size of a small bus. He was so loveable that he was considered by all who knew him to be the Noble Prize Winner of love and affection. He had a cat friend who loved to take naps on his broad shoulders in the depths of winter. Many people loved to warm their feet under his rug like side and warm pink underbelly. He had the run of the neighborhood and everyone felt part ownership in his outgoing nature. When he was feeling lonely (which was not very often surely) he would wander down the hillside to the HyVee store, make his way through the automatic doors and complete his rounds of the friendly and as yet unfriended individuals inside the store. After most of the adults and all of the children had a few pets the manager would call his human home and someone would come fetch him. Everyone glad they got to see the unusual occurrance in the local grocery store felt all the better for having seen him. Even the health inspector would have loved Jag--no one could help loving Jag.

No one gets to see Jag at HyVee anymore--how sad for everyone.