She Bodes No Fools: Let's Make it So

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An impassioned argument for empathy: “…We must not isolate. We must stay in community. We must help the vulnerable. We must find ways to project an inspiring vision of the future, one that is beckoning, welcoming…there will still be love, there will still be love, there will still be beauty, and there will be an ocean of truth to swim in. Let’s make it so.” — Jane Fonda in her SAG Life Achievement Award acceptance speech February 23, 2025 ♦ “Your enthusiasm makes this seem, I don’t know, less like a late twilight of my life and more like a ‘Go girl, kick ass,'” the 87-year-old actress and activist told the crowd. “Which is good, because I’m not done.” ♦


She Bodes No Fools: a Complement

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The positive power of a compliment — for both the giver and receiver. “You have the poise of an apex predator, but the eyes of a kindly woodland creature. It’s a devastating combination.” (British comedian Milo McCabe has created a character — ‘Troy Hawke’ — who excels at handing out complements including this one.) ♦ The background photo is from “The Gates” — a temporary site-specific work of art by Christo and Jeanne-Claude @christojeanneclaude  ◊ In February 2005, steel gates were installed along 23 miles of pathways in New York City’s Central Park, each hung with a panel of saffron-colored fabric ◊ @centralparknyc ♦ On my visit to The Gates I was carrying a cross-body bag that I had designed, knitted, and felted; a woman stopped me and asked me if I had made the bag  — that compliment was the frosting on the cake of a magical day. ♦


She Bodes No Fools: Peacebuilding

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Peacebuilding ♦ “Instead of cutting foreign aid, the U.S. should increase spending on diplomacy, humanitarian aid, and economic development, funded by cuts to unsustainable military spending. A more peaceful and secure world can be realized through diplomacy, direct engagement, joint ventures, and support for addressing global needs. By lifting up others, we will also lift up ourselves. This is how the U.S. could create real safety and live up to the values that it says it holds dear.“ — American Friends Service Committee @afsc_org ♦ the background “mural” was an experiment in textures, shapes, and layers ♦


She Bodes No Fools: The Artist

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“Artists showcase the range of life’s emotions — the loftiest heights of joy and the depths of grievous despair. They hold a mirror up to the world — reflecting who we are and echoing our stories. The work of artists doesn’t always make us feel comfortable, but it sheds light on the truth. Much like our democracy itself, artistic expression must be nurtured, fostered, prioritized, and protected. It is not a passive endeavor; indeed, there is no clearer sign of American democracy at work than our artists...” — Deborah Rutter, in a statement Wednesday [rump fired Rutter as president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts — the national cultural center of the United States located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. — and arranged for himself to be appointed chairman] ♦ the background “mural” on graph paper was an experiment in making an art deco design ♦


She Bodes No Fools: Eagles!

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High Priestess says Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection beats miserly hate and spiteful meanness any day of the week. ♦ T-shirt artwork by @theeddyiconic ["Eitligi Iolair Eitlilt" = "Fly Eagles Fly" in Gaelic] ♦


She Bodes No Fools: Gaza

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Needlepoint canvas of a house and yard with trees and flowers and a geranium in the window that I embroidered with wool; circa 1970s. I like the grid of printed colored squares on the side of the canvas that shows all the color shades used in the design — a map of sorts.

 

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She Bodes No Fools: USAID

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The colorful motifs are taken from a wooden candleholder (that artist’s signature is in bottom left corner), painted in the traditional folk art style (“Petrykivka”; featuring flower patterns and natural elements), that a dear one brought back from Ukraine.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was created in 1961 under President John F. Kennedy to partner with countries around the world to implement long-term development efforts and work together with individuals, communities, countries to improve everyday lives. Recent projects include aiding famine-stricken regions in Sudan, providing textbooks for displaced schoolchildren in Ukraine, and training healthcare workers in Rwanda. [020225 News Headline: “Trump moves to wrest control of USAID as Musk says, ‘We’re shutting it down’” — WaPo]  


She Bodes No Fools: Chamonix Cap

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I knit a striped “Chamonix Cap” to try and quiet the “orchestra of madness” (to quote a dear one’s recent lament) swirling in my head. The cap is warm and jaunty; it was fun to knit the German short rows that shape the crown. Pattern Design by toqu.tigu for Purl Soho.

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She Bodes No Fools: Inauguration Day 2025

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“…We are not going back to the Dark Ages. We are not going to let anybody in this country have that kind of power over any girl or woman. There are great powers, outside the government and in it, trying to legislate the return of darkness. We are not great powers. But we are the light. Nobody can put us out. May all of you shine very bright and steady, today and always.” [What It Was Like by Ursula K. Le Guin] 

[A remix of my January 19, 2021 drawing of “Armored Freedom” from a detail of the 1865 Constantino Brumidi fresco painting on the ceiling of The Capital Rotunda.] 

January 20, 2025 (re-mixing Quarantine Still Life 69)


Take me out to the Ballpark, 2022

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In the 1960s, my father (a baseball player in his younger days) took me and my brothers “out to the ballpark” in North Philadelphia to see the Phillies play at Connie Mack Stadium (opened in 1909 as Shibe Park, it had one of the “grandest facades at any ballpark ever built”). Many years later it was an interesting exercise to sketch and document the exuberance and excitement of the 2022 Phillies (now in a South Philadelphia ballpark) during the recent postseason home-run-and-dance-fest. So many different baseball uniforms! Red pinstripes. Grey pinstripes. Solid cream (a tribute to their 125th anniversary). Solid grey. The retro powder blues. And the design details — underarm insets for ease of movement; side-seam trouser stripes; red belts (along with the player’s number in red on a front belt loop); colorful footwear. The blue star that “dots” the i’s in the script-lettered Phillies logo. The stylized “P” on the caps. All manner of protective gear to cover feet, legs, arms, faces. Hi-tech batting gloves. Special patches sewn on the sleeves for the World Series. Even a jaunty pom-pom-topped knit Phillies hat…

Phillies game 5 2022

 

Ranger Suarez Realmuto phillies 2022

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Bryce harper my house phillies 2022

 

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Deconstructing Bowie ... and the Fabrics in my Flight Suit

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Selecting fabrics is one of the best parts of sewing your own clothes. For inspiration for my flight suit fabric, I googled David Bowie wearing jumpsuits — and found an array of shapes in bold prints and colors. I used the Blanca Flight Suit pattern by Closet Core Patterns. I went looking for a colorful print with some red in it as his outfits often had a crimson theme, but couldn’t find exactly what I wanted in the right weight. I liked the swirls and graphic quality of this linen fabric (“Midnight Garden” designed by Jilly P for Dashwood Studio — a UK design house!); it reminds me of Bowie’s iconic “Tokyo Pop” Aladdin Sane bodysuit designed by Kansai Yamamoto. The light blue floral London Calling (!) fabric in the back pocket square is also used as a lining for the front pockets and under-collar. A fancy piece of red fabric was perfect for a contrasting front pocket square (mixing patterns makes colors and shapes pop). A sturdy black and white jacquard leftover from another project for the contrasting tie belt. I would have used a brighter thread color for all the top stitching, but my top-stitching skills are not always the best…
 
My Flight Suit is on display at the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia, part of the “Deconstructing Bowie: Freedom in Eccentricity” exhibit and the Fifth Annual Philly Loves Bowie Week, continuing through April 3, 2022. "...David Bowie found personal freedom in his unique forms of cultural expression. Through music, art, and fashion, Bowie disrupted and rebelled against societal expectations and norms, introducing new and more critical ways of thinking about race, sex, and gender. This exhibition celebrates David Bowie’s legacy in the creative freedom he inspired in generations of artists that have followed in his wake, artists who have continued to push boundaries and inspire others to do the same."
 
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Flight Suits are modular tapestries...

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“Flight suits are modular tapestries, their surfaces are designed to be decorated, but work just as well left blank.“ 

“Throughout the 1960s, 70s, and 80s flight suits were found and worn by speed freaks, by artists, by gender non-conformists, by techno-dreamers, by punks, by travelers, by children who wanted to fly...”  [Quotes are from “Flight Suits Take Off” by Maxwell Neely-Cohen] ️

My modular, tapestry-like Flight Suit is on display at the National Liberty Museum at 321 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia until April 3rd 2022, part of the “Deconstructing Bowie” exhibit that celebrates “the timeless power of music and art to challenge cultural expectations and drive both personal and societal change”.

 


Boogie Flight Suit in "Deconstructing Bowie" Exhibit

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Thrilled that my “Boogie Flight Suit” is part of the “Deconstructing Bowie: Freedom in Eccentricity” exhibit at Philadelphia’s National Liberty Museum that celebrates David Bowie’s “timeless power to challenge cultural norms and inspire others to share their unique creative voice.” (Vexed that omicron means I can’t see it in person yet.)

David Bowie showed me that you can reinvent yourself. And, in fact, as we age, a key to surviving and thriving is to be able to reinvent ourselves – as many times as necessary. One way that I reinvent is by making my own clothes. There is something so satisfying and liberating about selecting a flat piece of fabric and cutting and sewing it to make it fit the body – it’s part art and part science. And when you’re finished constructing, what you have is something unique and different. A garment that even a year ago you might never have considered wearing. Who wants to play the same role all the time? (Bowie didn’t.)

Consider the Flight Suit (also known as a “boiler-suit”) a garment that Bowie explored. It is gender neutral. It is not a sexualized garment. It is functional and allows freedom of movement. It can be rendered in many different types of fabrics – denim, linen, silk. It is purposeful. It is customizable – a collar can be turned up; sleeves can be long or short; it can be belted or not. It can go punk, funk, or high-fashion. A perfect garment for re-invention.

I used the Blanca Flight Suit sewing pattern by Closet Core Patterns and a linen fabric from Stylemaker Fabrics of “dancing, changing waves” for my let-the-children-Boogie Flight Suit.

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The Boogie Flight Suit -- behind and to the right of this crazy cool keyboard -- and lots of other interesting David Bowie-influenced artwork is on view in the "Deconstructing Bowie" exhibit at the National Liberty Museum at 321 Chestnut St. in Philadelphia from January 7, 2022 until April 3, 2022.


Folk Art Frankie Dolls

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For many years my mother made what she called “soft sculpture” dolls. The bodies were cut from muslin using a pattern she had purchased over 40 years ago (“Gingersnap Friends” by DreamSpinners; see the last photo, below). She embroidered the faces, added yarn hair and other details, and sewed clothes for them — often using recycled fabrics. She made these unique and personal dolls for family and friends (mine, made when I moved into an apartment with no roommates, is shown below; she dubbed the winking doll “NTR” — the No Trouble Roommate). Recently my brother asked her to make dolls for his granddaughters, but because of her illness it was too much for her. I took it over and — due to time constraints — attempted to simplify their construction. I figured if I used colorful, printed fabric then the dolls were already “dressed”, saving me some work. Once I found the vibrant colors and patterns of Bright Eyes fabric by @annamariahorner I decided they didn’t need hair or faces either. And they really came alive when I added embroidery details to their knees, elbows, and heads.
 
My mother was delighted with the colorful dolls and she helped me stuff them (when we were finished, she said “I mean how can a kid look at that and not smile?”). I told her that hers were “Fine Art” and mine were “Folk Art”! Her mother fondly called her “Frankie” so we christened our soft sculptures “Frankie Dolls”.

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