Spring Studio Sale

My sister Holly has a PhD in plant genetics, and throughout her life she has overlaid her scientific interests with her artistic drive, most often with textiles. Her best work involved bringing plants and insects to new life on silk or cotton with batik, a wax resist technique for dying fabric.  It requires a steady hand to draw with a tjanting, a kind of ‘pen’ filled with hot, melted wax. She produced cotton yardage depicting a  microscope’s view of the xylem and phloem cells of a tree.  Holly immortalized flowers.  Our mom displayed in her kitchen a 4’ x 2’ lush meadow scene with a seemingly ecstatic wasp flitting about.  I have a profusion of purple lupine shimmering on china silk.  In Holly’s kitchen hangs a view of meadow foam, a low plant that appears every spring in the pastures around her home, forming islands of white froth amid the grasses and cow pies.

We lucky recipients of Holly’s batiks sadly cannot anticipate any more such gracious gifts, though she would love to provide them. In 1975 she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a chronic and for her, progressively disabling disease of the central nervous system.  Holly’s once steady hand has vanished for drawing, as well as writing, slicing bread, buttoning buttons, picking up a fork and hundreds of other useful and joyful movements she once accomplished with ease.

My sister and too many of our friends – yours and mine – struggle with MS. As yet, there is no cure for the disease and researchers still don’t know the cause, though they are making headway. That is why on Holly’s behalf and in her honor, I will participate in the MS Waves to Wine Bike Ride this September 21 & 22 with Team Super Slugs! My goal is to raise $5,000 for the MSSociety – money that goes mainly for research to find a cure for this disease that takes away so many steady hands.  If you can help with a donation, large or small, thank you.  Know that together we are helping those with MS to keep moving.

Incentive Bonus!  For every $25 you donate to help me toward my goal, I will put your name into my studio raffle! On September 28, with great ceremony and a blindfold, a winner will be chosen.  S/he can special order a shirt or jacket from any bolted fabric in my studio.  Here’s my personal page at the MSSociety website to copy and paste into the address bar of your browser: