by Noella Noelophile®
(Royalty-free image by Markéta (Machová) Klimešová from Pixabay.)
This International Women’s Day, I’m remembering all the amazing women who’ve shaped my life.
My mom comes to mind first, of course. She was kind, talented and loving. Her love of books and reverence for education were values that made a huge difference. And I can still hear her saying, “I’m so proud of you!” after a recitation or other special event.
Mostly, my mother expressed her creativity through needlework. I still have the furry mohair coat she knitted for one of my fashion dolls. As well as the rainbow-colored afghans she liked to crochet, and her counted-cross stitch Christmas ornaments.
She also had a great sense of humor.
(Royalty-free image by Thomas from Pixabay.)
One Sunday morning, when I was about six or seven, I started to rise for a church hymn and slid off the pew. Looking over during the first chorus, I saw my mom’s sides shaking with suppressed laughter. Somehow, she still managed to sing, though!
My grandmother, who was a talented creative, was equally loving, giving–and determined.
(Royalty-free image by congerdesign from Pixabay.)
I still remember the Christmas bread she made to take to the local minister and his wife after he’d suffered a stroke. The loaves looked just like icy Christmas wreaths with red Maraschino cherries, and she spent all morning baking them (at that point, Grandmom was past 80!) before we walked over, in Delawarean wintry temperatures, to deliver them.
Grandmom was also a living illustration of the word “determination”.
Having received a third-grade education before having to leave school to care for her younger siblings, she vowed that all of her children would finish school. Every one of them did. And a matter of months before she passed away, she forced herself to ignore the pain from the cancer that would end her life–to attend her youngest grandchild’s college graduation.
(Royalty-free image by Kateryna from Pixabay.)
Both my mother and my grandmother were incredible women.
But others come to mind as well, whom I tended to take for granted, growing up.
Memories and music
(Royalty-free image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay.)
Every Wednesday, my grade school had music class with Miss Wright.
Tall, thin and exacting, she seemed to know an endless supply of musical selections–all genres. She’d bring in records to play, and mimeographed sheets of lyrics. The morning she played Camille Saint-Saens’ “Danse Macabre”, she told the class the story behind the composition and had us illustrate it. The pictures we all drew of the dancing skeletons depicted in the melody had me shivering deliciously. And to this day, I catch myself humming “The Ash Grove” or “Sweet Molly Malone”, and remember her leading us through the verses.
While I never knew Miss Wright’s story, others said she lived with her father on the outskirts of our small town, and was very generous with candy at Halloween. I can only guess that she must have attended a music conservatory and had dreams of performing professionally–which may not have been overly attainable in the 1960s.
Spotlight on the fifth grade
(Royalty-free image by Ulli Paege from Pixabay.)
There was also the best teacher I had in grade school: our fifth-grade teacher, Mrs. Segal.
Mrs. Segal loved storytelling and poetry.
She would read poems to the class, and share folk stories. After the final sentence, she would raise her head from the book and smile at the class, as if to say, “That’s it; did you like it?”
And perhaps her most ambitious achievement was our class play.
For weeks beforehand, she had told us the stories of several Shakespearean plays. We all became familiar with King Lear and his daughters, Puck’s foibles and the means by which Katherine the “shrew”, was “tamed”.
Then one day, she brought in mimeographed scripts: A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
The entire class was cast. We rehearsed for weeks, performing for parents just before school let out for the summer.
(Royalty-free image by Stefan Schweihofer from Pixabay.)
As fifth-graders, all of us took it very matter-of-factly. OK, we were doing a play.
In retrospect, how much work that must have been for Mrs. Segal.
Simplifying Shakespeare’s language for fifth-grade readers’ comprehension, making sure everyone knew their lines, all the rehearsals, getting scenery (as I remember, very minimal–I think it was a painted sheet!) and costumes. (I can still see our “Demetrius” and “Lysander” with their artificial-ivy “wreaths” on their heads and their white-sheet “togas”.)
Yet no one ever heard her complain–and she seemed to enjoy the process of putting a show together.
The play was a hit–and a lasting gift, in terms of getting us familiar with the Bard.
Years later, in a college Shakespeare course, one of the first plays we read was King Lear. “Oh, that’s the king who gets tricked by his two selfish daughters, and cheats the one who really does love him out of her inheritance,” I thought. Mrs. Segal’s work had paved the way to understanding the events behind the unfamiliar language.
Again, I don’t know her story–but as a teenager, I would read Herman Wouk’s Marjorie Morningstar and wonder if, indeed, Mrs. Segal hadn’t dreamed of a stage career. She was certainly familiar with performing arts, and a gifted storyteller.
And, today…
(Royalty-free image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay.)
Today I’m surrounded by equally-creative and talented women, sharing their gifts through media that didn’t exist in the 1960s.
A talented miniaturist showcases her latest work on Facebook. A brilliant graphic artist posts pictures of her latest designs on Twitter. An author who can take readers between darkness and light in a few pages takes to Instagram with a tantalizing excerpt from her latest work.
And then there are the crafts events.
Craftcation co-founder Nicole Stevenson.
Now is a great time for me to tell you that the “Craftcation” Business and Makers Conference, co-founded by gifted creative Nicole Stevenson, is happening in Ventura in mid-April. Early bird tickets are still available for this four-day amazing event, and I keep promising myself that, once I can safely travel again, I am attending one of these in a future year!
Nicole is also one of the founders of the “Patchwork Show Modern Makers Festival”.
This is an all-handmade celebration of creativity, with live music, food trucks, and, of course, all kinds of unique creations.
Their spring and summer tour of crafts shows begins in May, in Redwood City. Applications for vendors are currently open, and their deadline is April 10th. Here’s the link for information.
And no International Women’s Day post on artists and artisans would be complete without Jackalope Indie Artisan Fair.
Founded by Melissa Kohout and Sara Diederich, Jackalope Arts hosts shows in four cities: Pasadena, Burbank, Denver and Minneapolis. Their first show of the Spring 2023 season happens on April 29th and 30th, in Old Pasadena’s Central Park. Admission is free, you’re invited, and while vendor applications are now closed, they do have a waitlist if you’d like to be considered as a vendor for this all-handmade, juried show.
(However, applications for their Burbank show, in June, are still open–just barely! The deadline is March 10th. Here’s the link for information.)
Now–who are some of the amazing women you’re celebrating, on this International Women’s Day?