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Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Pandemic Hats , genius




In the post today I received two amazing gifts. Posters made by Lizzy. The amount of creativity in this one woman is astounding, is it not? During the beginning of stay at home, she went into her drawers and shelves and made an incredible hat a day! WOW! 











 I have known Liz for  48 years!  She is British, now living in Norway,  I am Murican- obviously- we met in Kent  outside of Marden, Great Sheephurst farm, where ,she in a bus, me in a hop hut,  lived and worked picking apples, cherries, hops. There were  two dogs,  a tiny black kitten, several chickens, two babies, and some interesting men folk.  Washing clothes in a  huge tub over on open fire, making  and eating hashish custard at the end of the day.  No electricity, a bog at the bottom of the field, traveling to Tonbridge for a once a fortnight bath. 

  We have kept in touch in various ways, used to make tapes to send  across the pond,. I recorded the waves on the beach,  playing my clarinet, reading a poem, chatting while ironing- She sent the same with added children , and  a guinea pig squeaking and chomping carrots. Many letters, pages long, complete with annotation and art  illustrations.  The amount of life lived in those 48 years is the stuff of unbelievable adventure, sorrow,  challenges, children, dead children,  travel,  but always, art! 

Glad to say that Lizzy is , as always,  creatively, delightfully nutty, as you can see. What a grand surprise this morning. Carry on!


18 comments:

  1. You're absolutely correct; a national treasure.

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  2. Oh my heck, Liz made me actually guffaw. Thank you and thank you Liz.

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    1. I have to get them on the wall, they do make me laugh heartily!! I am in awe of what she has put together out of stuff just laying around!

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  3. Those posters are spectacular! I had lots of smiles with this!

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  4. I look at stuff I have laying around and think I should do some cleaning. Hats or anything else would never occur to me.

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  5. You obviously pick your friends well. What an artist she is and what joy she obviously has in her heart.

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    1. Complicated, Our Lizzy has had one wild ride on this planet! Finding joy in spite of it all.

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  6. What fascinating lives and people are out there - you included!

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    1. Novels do not even come close do they? If I wrote Liz's life in a book, it would not sell because- incomprehensible.

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  7. I love her hats. And her art titles are just as excellent. As Mary says above, she engages the world with such joy. Thank you for sharing.

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    1. I could not help but show you- the hats are amazing, Liz is amazing. She can make anything out of anything, growing up in dire hunger and poverty, Poverty of love, poverty of spirit, yet does art that is utterly joyful. Life has not managed to slap that from her, strong Capricorn woman!

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  8. OMG!!! This is one of those times I'm a bit torn between worshipfulness and envy!!!
    But mostly I'm just entirely delighted and inspired by Liz's hats.
    So, so fun---
    what a gift to us all to make and share them.
    Does Liz have a blog or website where she shows her art?
    I want to see each of the hats up close.

    So fun to recognize some of the materials-- the toy glass eyes on stalks.
    The rubber gloves as feather-like drapery.

    And they are not merely decorative or amusing, they tell visual stories, sometimes deep and ark---the droop of disappointment, the locked-in-ness of numbness.
    Wonderful!

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    1. P.S. Liz and her hats also demonstrate perfectly why artists need to keep tons of stuff on hand!

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    2. She does have a presence somewhere online, she does a lot of art! I will try to find it and email you. You are so correct , that artists need a lot of stuff at their disposal. Ready to dig out and use in marvelous ways. Sarah and Liz win that challenge! Thus their creativity never has to beg...Of course either could make anything out of anything, mind you and it would be a thing of wonder , delight and beauty. Liz is a great story teller!

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  9. I am in complete and utter awe of Liz and her artistry! I'm so happy you shared and I finally caught up with what you shared.

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