It’s funny how the creative process works. Multiply that by 2, and you get an idea of what it’s like for us to come up with an idea and see it to fruition. That second part can sometimes take years. We’re finally working on a piece that has been on our collective back burner for five years, so we thought it might be fun to document the process.
The Inspiration
Katharine McCormick (1875-1967) was a suffragist, philanthropist, and women’s rights activist. She was one of the first women to earn a degree from MIT and continually fought for better access for female students. So, how, you might ask, did we even come to work on her?
Around 2013, the Fiber Artists for Hope organized an exhibition called Broad Changes. We wanted to submit a piece, so we starting looking for a suitable subject. Googling Margaret Sanger, Deb happened upon McCormick, who single-handedly financed the development of the birth control pill.
The Hurdle
Yep, let’s do her, I said. Then we hit a road block. It was a great photo, but what could we do with it? Soon other deadlines and life got in the way, and we had to let the project go. But, we kept that mesmerizing photo taped to our studio cupboard, saying “someday, someday.” Well, that someday came last fall, when we received an email from Sandra Sider and Pam Weeks, inviting us to create a piece for their exhibition, Deeds Not Words: Celebrating 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage, which will premiere at the National Quilt Museum during Quilt Week in 2020. Deb jumped on it and said, “Let’s do it, if we can do Katharine McCormick.” Well, how great to learn that Sandra and Pam jumped on our suggestion as well, so we had new impetus to work on this project.
The Restart
McCormick lived such a long and interesting life that we had almost too many possible words and phrases we could search for. After reading Armond Fields’ wonderful biography on McCormick, we got to work cutting. It may seem like tedious work to you, but we have the most fun sitting around, calling out the neat phrases we’ve just cut out. It can take hours to do, but we also get a lot of discussion (and TV) time in.
To be Continued
Come back soon as we talk about that feather boa and how we might recreate it in fiber.
Click here to read more about McCormick.
Click here to read more about McCormick’s undergraduate work at MIT.
9 responses to “Katharine McCormick: Making Her Mark Part 1”
Fascinating woman!!
Isn’t she, though? T.C. Boyle wrote a novel about McCormick and her husband, called Riven Rock. It’s on my summer reading list.
Can’t wait to see the finished piece!
Stay tuned, Pam!
I am always awed by your collective creativity and diverse art styles. Can’t wait to see what you create to represent Ms. McCormick.
Thanks, Sonja. We’ve plotted out our posts so stay tuned!
[…] which premieres in 2020. If you would like to read our first post on Katharine Dexter McCormick, click here. We usually start on our portrait projects by looking for a suitable photograph of the person in […]
The depth of your research, plus your mining of appropriate and meaningful text really pays off in your wonderful work. Can’t wait to see this one finished!
Thanks, Sherry!