This postcard arrived yesterday from Maureen, one of the women in the Saturday drawing class. It’s one of the quilts made by a group of women in Gee’s Bend, Alabama. These women had no art training and not much money but they were rich in spirit and resourcefulness and vision. They have created an extraordinary collection of quilts that exhibit immense creativity and sensational, original design. We talked about the quilts in class. The women of Gee’s Bend are an inspiration to the women of Boston.
The drawing class presently has four women in it plus myself. We are all over fifty, our children grown, and we’ve all got different histories in art and life. But we share a desire to create. We are thinking big. We are not thinking we have to be careful now. We know who we are and we’re ready to make marks, which is what drawing is. The marks we’re making are bold ones.
On the eve of Thanksgiving, I give thanks for the privilege of being able to share the experience of making marks with these four amazing women who have shown up to claim their hand in things. They are showing their hands with great heart and that’s what art is all about. Fun beyond fun.
