Behind Every Great Woman

There's a secret that many of us women over 50 are aware of, a secret I was very happy to share with my companions in their 30's and 40's recently (seen in hats), a secret so wonderful that we grin and enjoy it like kids with a secreted stash of Halloween candy. At the risk of writing platitudes, the secret is pretty simple: acceptance and celebration of the reality of who we are. I keep encountering examples of this, and with it, a powerful support by women for each other's individuality.No place is this more evident than at the many art nd craft shows I have the great fortune to attend.

At the "Style at Stern" show in Palo Alto, CA this past weekend, women of all ages (but mostly close to my age) gathered, often in pairs or threes, to view and purchase wearable art, clothing and jewelry designed and made by individual artists. It felt like one giant party, with women trying on pieces, commenting to one another, swapping and sorting, adorning and experimenting, and more than anything else, celebrating the joy of expressing themselves through adornment. We were all there: with wrinkles and sags, stories and histories, some in wheelchairs and some in stilettos, some grey, some blonde, some botoxed, some crunchy, generations and girlfriends. But everyone - everyone!- was there to acknowledge individuality, and it was pretty overwhelming.

I met the designer Chris Triola and immediately fell head over heels with her presence, her clothing, and her ethos. Her clothing is fluid and graceful, comfortable and intriguing, easy to wear yet interesting to look at (very 50/50, yes?). It was no surprise to me to read her artist statement, "The clothes I design are clothes for creative women. They’re ‘doing’ clothes… things to wear when you’re writing, buying, selling, making, driving, thinking… and they don't impose. You shouldn't even know they’re there." Clothes for real women.

At the TEDWomen's conference last year, Madeline Albright stated, "There's a special place in Hell for women who don't help other women", and I was reminded of the statement as I watched women designers and women shoppers experimenting with clothing outside the norm ,as I longed for my long-distance best friend to share the experience with, as I sensed the great comfort so many women had in the presence of others, as the wave of support rolled over the room. Behind every great woman is...another great woman, and at all ages but particularly 50+, we are lucky enough to be aware of that.

Handmade, Craft and a Generation Gap

This past weekend, one friend posted on Facebook about "Craftivism", another reminded me that the Renegade Fair had taken place in San Francisco, and I was sending out reminders about the upcoming American Craft Council show in San Francisco. All got me thinking about the role of craft in generations, and the generation gap that currently exists.

My grandmother, my daughter, and I all have made things by hand since we were first able to. Sewers, knitters, and designers alike, we always approached our making of things very differently. Of the three of us, I, alone, was the one schooled in craft, with a BFA in textiles attesting to my study of weaving, printing, knotting, sculpting, and otherwise manipulating textiles in the pursuit of art. For my generation of the 70's, having traditional craft media and techniques taken seriously as art was THE issue. Simultaneously, as we were in noble pursuit of recognition of the importance of craft, an entire generation was playing in the outer fringes with tie-dye, macrame' plant holders, and crocheted granny blankets. Today, there is a generation of artists, my contemporaries in age, making beautiful fine craft, getting recognition in museums, and with an audience at shows like the ACC which seem to be similarly aged, i.e. gray and mid-life.

And then, there is the world of Handmade Nation, Craftivism, Etsy, and the Renegade Fair. As I first watched this world from afar, I have to admit that I viewed it with everything from skepticism to snootiness. The principles that I believed in, principles of dedication to honed technique, dedication to art with meaning, dedication to art which lasts all seemed to be missing. What replaced these principles seemed to be not principles, but rather a "look what I just made" attitude, an "anyone can craft" attitude, a thumb-nosing at all that my peers had worked so hard to achieve. I just didn't get it, and, in fact, was scared and appalled.

And then I paid more attention. Attending the Renegade Fair and meeting some of the leading advocates of crafting caused me to realize that, just as with my generation, the new craft movement is as strong a lifestyle movement as had occurred in my youth. There is an embracing of the handmade, a celebration of experimentation, and an acceptance of imperfection. I had often wondered when attending some of the established craft fairs where all the young artists were, and what I found was that this generation is comfortable with labels of artist, crafter, and maker, and not out to prove that one is superior to the other.


Taken a step further, the use of craft as social activism, as evidenced by the AIDS quilt project started in the 1980's, is alive and active with the advent of "craftivism". Knitters, crocheters, quilters, and sewers have been banding together to create works to gather public attention, such as the "Tank Blankie" pictured above. Sometimes stealth and guerrilla in nature, like the Salty Knits group who embellish public places, sometime commercial as in Levi's wrapping of bicycles in corduroy and placing them all around San Francisco as part of a campaign, the use of craft by the current generation is its own, is refreshing, and is to be supported. I may not wear it or like what it looks like, but I certainly like that it is taking place!

Talking 'bout My Generation

Wow! I just left two days at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where I had been invited to participate in a panel speaking about "Making Meaning in the Marketplace" sponsored by the American Craft Council. While I often speak in front of large groups of people, it has been a long time since I have been in an academic setting, to say nothing of an art-academic setting, where there is a vocabulary all its own.

I was once an art student at the California College of Arts (and Crafts, as it was then known), and once an avid participant in deep heady conversations. The conversations then (in the 1970's) were often about art vs craft, and how we (mostly) women students could justify working in a medium (textiles) so strongly identified with women's handicrafts, yet consider ourselves serious artists. And how could we be taken seriously as artists by the previous generation when we were rebelling against them so strongly. And how to get a gallery to show our work. My, how things have changed - and not!
There were two conversations with students in particular that really struck me. The first had to do with the concern about having a unique work vs selling out, being unique and being knocked off. In this globalized world into which they are graduating, the Internet and mobile computing has changed everything. Students don't know whether to hide their work or show it, don't know if millions will view their work or no one. We used to be concerned about a few hundred, maybe thousands seeing our work. Now, in the age of American Idol and Yelp, everything is up for grabs to be voted on by our fellow citizens. Such a different pressure...

But the final conversation of the day really struck me. A young woman asked me, essentially asked my generation, to take her seriously - to take the fact that she and her generation approach things so differently than my generation did. Specifically, she talked about the fact that the 20 year olds of today often have multiple interests, and have been comfortable pursuing them, thus their resumes post-college may include a mixture of talents and experiences. She has found that that is often being considered "unfocused" or "inexperienced" by employers of my generation. We spoke of the irony that the mature adults of today, those who fought so hard against the constraints of the '50's and '60's, were now imposing their '80's and '90's-based work ethics on the new workforce of the '10's.

This caused me to reflect on my daughter, a young woman who is perfectly comfortable identifying as a designer/artist/photographer/art director/blogger. www.garbagedress.com She is interested in all these things, damn good at all of them, and wants no one to box her in to one category. As her mom, I know that boxing her in would be the dumbest thing for any employer to do, that this would never take advantage of all that she has to offer. So then I thought about some of the people who work for and with me now: the finance guy who is also a painter, the marketing manager who owns a roller derby team, the merchant who is also an interior designer. Their whole life perspective walks into every meeting we have, but do I really value that? I sure hope so. As far as the finance guy goes, I know that the fact that he was a painter meant a lot to me in hiring him in the first place, but little did I know that he would write a monthly Controller's report that is actually interesting to read!

Really, in the end, is my quest to live as a successful businesswoman, a trusted friend, a desired lover and a style arbiter so very different?