In A Room of Own’s Own, Virginia Woolf says that women writers, in looking for inspiration and tradition, “think back through our mothers.”
On Mother’s Day, I’m thinking about creative mothers, starting with own mom. Like many women of the Baby Boom generation, her creativity was often expressed through her work in the home and with us kids. She is an amazing interior decorator, and I remember her removing a shag rug and installing a hardwood floor on her own while my dad was at work. She taught herself to remove the bicentennial wallpaper (the prior owners of the house were really into the 1776-1976 celebration with eagles and flags on the walls) in the bathroom and hang new wallpaper, perfectly aligned and without air bubbles or creases. She decorated our family room walls with antique farming implements (a saw! a scythe!) and has created all sorts of flower and vegetable gardens over the years.
She also helped me make the best school projects.
My mom introduced me to some of my first literary creative mothers by teaching me to read and reading to me before bed: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Frances Hodgson Burnett, L.M. Montgomery, Judy Blume.
Today my creative mothers include Virginia Woolf, Maya Angelou, Leonora Carrington—all three of whom I write about in my journey from athlete to artist in my forthcoming graphic memoir, The Keeper.
Each week I will share the work of someone who inspires me—and hopefully you too.
This week’s inspiration: Susanne Reece
Speaking of creative mothers: run, don’t walk, to A CITY OF LADIES, the virtual city created by Susanne Reece, featuring stunning visual essays of her own creative mothers.
One of her creative mothers is Louise Bourgeois, whose large spider sculpture MAMAN (which means “mother”) inspires Susanne’s meditation on motherhood and art:
Another of Susanne’s creative mothers is Christine de Pizan, who created her own City of Ladies book in the 1400s, providing a title and metaphor for Susanne’s project:
In addition to Louise Bourgeois and Christine de Pizan, Susanne’s A CITY OF LADIES includes visual essays about Dorothy Parker, Madonna, Mary Oliver, Carson McCullers, and Nina Simone.
I’m thrilled to report that Susanne is developing A CITY OF LADIES into a book-length project and has more visual essays planned on: Amelia Earhart, Audre Lorde, Lee Krasner, Vanessa Bell, and Alice Neel. She will also be tabling at the Toronto Comic Arts festival in June, and if you are there, she says you should swing by and say hello!
Happy Mother’s Day to all the creative mothers out there! What are other examples of mothers being creative? Who are your creative mothers? I’d love to read in the comments.
Celebrating Creative Mothers
Love that my mom sat and colored with us, drew with us and that my parents chose to read to us before bed as well. My mom always encouraged the arts in our home, if we showed interest in something she instantly became our biggest fan. Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms indeed!