Flax into Linen demonstration Am. Rev. Round Table Presentation, Barbara Johns

My Singer Sewing Machine

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am working on a machine sewn quilt type project - actually, not a quilt but using quilt type squares which will be sewn together on an edge like pages in a book.

This is an old design of mine from my daughter's toddler years.  Her first books were hand made by me out of cloth to make them safe and pleasurable.  My favorite was a big one I made from a wild variety of fabrics from a second hand store, satin, corduroy, burlap, felt, faux fur, all kinds of textures to delight little fingers.  In the center of each square was a pocket with a little soft toy in it, a bunny, a doll made of muslin, a toy airplane, and so on.

Also, I made books with acetate pockets with pictures in them of city animals, pigeons, police horses, cats in antique store windows on pine street, dogs being walked and so on.  I loved them at least as much as my daughter did.  That was over 30 years ago.  

I brought back the idea to do a project for CELEBRATE 2020, the 100th anniversary of passage of the Suffrage amendment.  I did 20 portrait paintings to go in the pockets in the squares.  

But to get to the subject, my sewing machine.  My machine is a fine instrument, a smooth running, flawless, simple machine almost as old as I am.  It was my mother's and may have been my grandmothers.  Anyhow it is the Singer model 301A built in 1950, patented in 1944 (I was born in 1945) and sold until 1958. 

The sewing machine revolutionized life for American women, and really, women all over the world!  Thanks to Englishmen Elias Howe and Thomas Saint for inventing them in 1790!

I had a picture for you but it had html that messed up my blog page.  Sorry!
Happy Trails!
Jo Ann 
wrightj45@yahoo.com

List grows longer and longer-Maggie Kuhn, Gray Panther

Well, I am on phase 5 ofmy 9 part phases for my Art Project for the Eiland Arts Celebrating Women 2020, Juried Art Show.  First I developed my list, then I narrowed it down to fit the design of my project which is loosely based on quilting squares, but instead of being put together to form a blanket, mine are to be fastened together like a book.  I narrowed it down to 20 to match the title of the Art Program, and also to make it manageable within the time frame which was just under a month.  We got the notice in early January and the deadline is Feb.8.

So I bought the materials, did some research, and started making 20 postcard sized painted portraits of my chosen leaders.  I believe I posted the list on here earlier.  But what has happened is that it inspired a kind of conversation with different friends working on different things and I kept on thinking up other leaders who should be remembered.  Since I am nearing the end of my project, I decided to use the blog to remember the women I can't add to the Art Project and today I want to add Maggie Kuhn, who started the Gray Panthers, a somewhat radical group that attacked ageism in the workplace.  Maggie herself was fired from her work at the Presbyterian organization where she spent most of her career when she was only 65!  That was the spark that lit her fire.

Later groups that probably evolved from Maggie Kuhn's group would be AARP, for example, which came out of the Retired people movement.  

Today we remember Maggie Kuhn, who died in Philadelphia in 1995 at age 90.

Happy Trails,
Jo Ann
wrightj45@yahoo.com

Cave Art found to be mostly done by women

For the past couple of weeks, I have been working on a collaborative art project with two friends for a contest and show at Diland Arts, the Merchantville Train Station converted into a coffee shop and art gallery.  As part of the project, I have done some research on women of the past who accomplished something interesting as for example Clara Barton who not only started the Red Cross but established the first free one room school in Bordertown  New Jersey.  It came as a surprise when I saw a news item on cave art which demonstrated that most of it was done by women.  I am not entirely surprised by that as women have always participated in artisan and artistic endeavors, weaving, pottery, jewelry, and so on. I have added a piece to my art project to let others know about this discovery.  Here is a copy from the Smithsonian web site:

" It has always been assumed that the people behind this mysterious artwork must have been male. But new research suggests that’s not right: when scientists looked closely at a sample of hand stencils, a common motif in cave art, they concluded that about three-quarters were actually drawn by women.

What they looked at, specifically, was the lengths of fingers in drawings from eight caves in France and Spain, National Geographic writes. Biologists established rules of thumb for general differences between men and women’s hand structure about a decade ago.

Women tend to have ring and index fingers of about the same length, whereas men’s ring fingers tend to be longer than their index fingers.

Snow ran the numbers through an algorithm that he had created based on a reference set of hands from people of European descent who lived near his university. Using several measurements—such as the length of the fingers, the length of the hand, the ratio of ring to index finger, and the ratio of index finger to little finger—the algorithm could predict whether a given handprint was male or female. Because there is a lot of overlap between men and women, however, the algorithm wasn’t especially precise: It predicted the sex of Snow’s modern sample with about 60 percent accuracy.

The 32 hand prints he found in the caves, however, were more pronounced in their differences than those of the modern men and women he sampled. Based upon the model and measurements, he found that 75 percent of the hands belonged to women.

Another article:
Archaeologist Dean Snow of Pennsylvania State University studied the handprints found across eight different historic cave sites in France and Spain, the most famous ranging from about 12,000 to 40,000 years old. After paying closer attention to the finger lengths of handprints, he found that contrary to popular belief, most of these markings were created by women.

and final article copied:
Some handprints accompanying the most famous ancient cave paintings of ice age mammals such as horses and mammoths—long attributed to males—may have actually belonged to women. That’s the conclusion of a new study, in which a researcher compared the silhouettes of 32 handprints found next to 12,500- to 40,000-year-old cave paintings in southern France and northern Spain. Many of the prints, possibly one of the first forms of artist’s signature, are small, which has led some scientists to infer that the art was painted by adolescent males. But the new work, reported this month in American Antiquity, concludes that 24 of the hands belonged to females, based on both the length of the hand and fingers as well as the ratios of lengths of the index finger, ring finger, and little finger. Of the eight remaining handprints, only three depict the hands of adult males; the rest are of adolescent males. It’s likely that each of the hands stenciled on the cave walls—such as these in El Castillo cave in Spain—belong to the artist, not a model, the researcher contends. For one thing, the caves are typically small, so two people would probably have had trouble fitting into the small space together. Also, more than three-fourths of the hands depicted are left hands, which is the most likely one to be stenciled by a right-handed artist.

I personally, as an artist, find it so moving that these women artists left their handprints, their signature on their creations for us in the future to know they were there.   The article on the National Geographic web site was equally interesting, just google Cave Art by Women and both sites pop up!

Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
wrightj45@yahoo.com

Harriet Tubman at Croft Farm tomorrow, Sat. 1/18/20

If, like me, you are finding ways to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of American Women winning the Right to Vote, Amendment 19 in 1920, you might be interested in attending  presentation on Harriet Tubman which will be held at Croft Farm tomorrow, Saturday at 2:00.  Croft Farm is at Borton's Mill Road in Cherry Hill and you may want to google that for more information.

If you haven't seen the movie, Harriet, I strongly recommend it.  You don't have to be a History Buff to appreciate courage, resilience and fine film making.  

Of course, we may all be disappointed in our plans if the big snow comes tomorrow but I will wait and see.  The tv newscasters become so hysterical that I don't even watch the weather forecast, and generally just go by my cell phone or my laptop but many people have told me today that a big snow is coming tomorrow around noon.  I don't drive in the snow any more because I don't have to, and even if I am careful and don't skid, some fool driving to quickly can skid or slide into me, so I don't risk it.

If you do have to drive tomorrow - Be safe!

Happy Trails,
Jo Ann
wrightj45@yahoo.com

ps.  I just finished a small postcard sized portrait of Harriet Tubman based on a well known colorized photo of her.  It is for my Pocketbook Art Project for the CELEBRATE BRAVE 100 held in many galleries and venues across the country, but my work will be an entry at Eiland Arts, the Merchantville Train Station, Centre Street, Merchantville, NJ  turned into an Arts Center and Gallery.

Upcoming opportunities to show Art Work and Celebrat 100th Anniversary of Suffrage!

BRAVE 100
A collaboration of artists and galleries to celebrate the 100th anniversary of women winning the right to vote in America is beginning!  You will have to work fast unless you already have work appropriate to the theme.  Deadline is February 8th.  Look up website:  Eiland Arts Group Show 2020 and download the application and the information.  

I had decided I would temporarily stop painting for a few months so I could get back to my book, my second memoir but this call for work intervened and I HAVE to participate in a project so close to my heart as Women's History and the Suffrage Movement.

My project is based upon several ideas.  One idea, the foundation of the project, is a fabric book I made for my daughter when she was little  I made a bunch of quilt squares from a variety of fabrics cut from clothes from a 2nd hand store - tweeds, satins, corduroy - all fabric with interesting textures.  The center square was a pocket and I put little toys in the pocket  I fastened the squares together at the side like pages in a book and put a fabric handle on it so she could carry it around like a shoulder bag.

That idea THE POCKETBOOK, is my base.  I have chosen 20 women who are not only brave and have made great accomplishments but who have some place in my persona affection.  Also, my Grandmother Mabel was a quilter and quilts have been important in women's culture, as have pocketbooks so these ideas fit together nicely.  In the front of each center pocket will be a painting of each of the 20 women, by me.  Inside the pocket, behind the painting, will be some objects collected by a dear old friend of mine, Chris.  Also inside the pocket will be a printed text card with bio info on the woman portrayed, by a dear old teacher friend Kathleen.  

My goal is to do 2 paintings per day, so far so good - I have 6 paintings done, all materials purchased and my plan and schedule done.  Today a meeting with Kathleen to go over plans and schedule and she has a device for cutting fabric accurately, so we plan to cut the squares.

I will post on the progress of the project.  Some of the names I have chosen are:  Clara Barton (educator and Red Cross founder), Elizabeth White (agriculture-cultivator of the blueberry & NJ), Harriet Tubman, Billy Jean King (for athletics and for the Battle of the Sexes match with Bobby Riggs), Joni Mitchell (music), Hillary Clinton (presidential candidate).  I tried to cover many fields, Rachel Carson (environmentalist, scientist), Sally Ride (astronaut and physicist) and many periods from Revolutionary era - Ona Judge (who escaped from enslavement with George and Martha Washington and despite their attempts to apprehend her she remained free) to 21st Century with Hillary Clinton's run for president.  It was hard to narrow it down to 20 and I could have easily done 100 or 200, but I don't have time with less than three weeks to finish.

Happy trails whether in the woods in the towns, through time or in your mind!
Jo Ann
wrightj45@yahoo.com
Oh yes, you need to download an application and get further information from Eiland Arts web site look for Eiland Arts Group Show 2020 and you should be able to find it.  Eiland Arts is the gallery and art center located in the old Merchantville train station.

Looking for something fun and different for your Valentine?

Looking for something new and different to show your Valentine how much you care?  This is a great idea! - 

 Enjoy dinner with your valentine (or best pal) in the Colonial ambiance of the Whitall House in Red Bank Battlefield Park! Two seatings are at 5 pm and 6:30 pm. Reservations are required and the deadline for reservations is Feb. 7th. This dinner sells out quickly so don't wait to reserve! Three entrée choices are available. Cost is $22 per person. Seating is family style. For a complete brochure with reservation info, click the link in this email, call the Office of Land Preservation, Certified Gardeners, at 856-307-6456, or email eschreiter@co.gloucester.nj.us

Click here to view the brochure with menu and reservation form

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am returning as a volunteer docent at the James and Ann Whitall House this spring.  I had to leave because my knees and back wouldn't work with the conditions at the time, but now there are chairs for the docents, and you don't need to wear the heavy costumes, so I can manage it.  

I love the beautiful and house the the magnificent setting along the Delaware River.  If you have never visited the park, you should go there!  I went there almost every night a few years back for what I called "The Sunset Show" the sun setting over the Delaware River is stunning and many people go there to witness it.  It puts everything in perspective to witness this age old natural event.  You can have a short walk or a long walk, or no walk.  You can sit on a bench, or sip a coffee in your car and simply look out over the river.  

It is a beautiful and relaxing place to go and so close to everything - Gloucester County, or Camden County!

I have never had the opportunity to enjoy the dinners at the  Whitall house as that is a relatively new offer, but if I can find a friend who is free and interested, I may give it a try.  At my age there are a number of friends who are widowed and in our modern world it is not uncommon for our children to live far away, so it is nice to find alternative ways to spend some holidays such as Valentine's Day.  I had a friend for some years with whom I spent Thanksgiving going to the local historic Inns such as the Telford Inn and Centerton Inn, it was so much fun!  We didn't go this year and I wanted to try the Barnsboro.  My favorite was the Sugar Hill, but it was a long drive - on the way to the seashore, Mays Landing.

Well, again and for he last time the greeting Happy New Year!  Maybe a resolution to consider is to make visiting our local historical sites a new hobby and habit!

Happy Trails!

Jo Ann

wrightj45@yahoo.com

Railroading in the US and Canada

On Monday, January 27, 2020 at 7:30, Mr. Steve Barry, editor of
RAIL FAN MAGAZINE, will give a presentation on railroading across the United States and Canada as well as on what is involved in putting out a monthly magazine for railroad fans.  

The presentation will be held at Haddon Heights Municipal Hall
623 Station Ave., Haddon Heights, NJ (free parking is available)

The National Railway Historical Society can be reached via
P. O. Box 647
Palmyra, NJ 08065

Happy New Year everyone!
Jo Ann
wrightj45@yahoo.com