When I was considering leaving my professional career early, I came to realize that these 3 F’s were my motivating factors:
FAMILY: I wanted to be closer to my two adult children and their partners.
FABRIC: I wanted to focus on my fabric art business.
FARM: I wanted to get my hands back in the earth on Ryan and Kara’s farm.
Keep in mind that I grew up on the northside of Chicago, close to Lake Michigan. I walked a couple miles to elementary school, rode the bus everywhere including to high school, and, well, was a city girl. Fast forward to living/working on a specialty farm to see if we wanted to buy one (answer was “no”) to semi-homesteading as the kids grew up. We canned, froze and juiced our food for fall and winter. And if we were lucky, some lasted into springtime.
My first association with pigs came at the homebirth of my son. His first toy was this plump plush pig, Piggy. Piggy is still with me, sitting on the bed in my office eagerly awaiting grandchildren’s visits.
We also raised pigs for food. My most vivid memory is one year when one of the medium-sized pigs got out of the fenced pen and wandered over to greet my mother. Think of a very short, wiry grey haired grandma lady. The pig semi-blocked her in against garage doors. When she moved one way, the pig would follow. She backtracked and the pig backtracked; she moved forward, it followed her. This went on for a couple minutes just like a game of Simon Says.
Kara and Ry raised pigs for a couple years. A farm visit offered a great adventure when my oldest grandson was younger. I’d drive him to see the piggies, chickens, goats and of course to pick cherry tomatoes off the vines that grew up 15 feet.
One of my favorite books as a child was Charlottes’ Web. So when I started my On The Farm Collection, I wanted to do a pig. I just loved the reference photo I used, yet that pig was piggily dirty. It became apparent as I was creating Piggie, that he did not want to be dirty. He insisted day after day that I find buttermilk-bathed material to cut for his snout and neck. This award-winning piece is called “Where’s My Dinner?”
As I write this 5 years later, my inspiration from family, farm and fabric continue. The family has expanded by two more grandchildren who I visit on a regular basis at “The Farm.” My business continues to nurture my creative spirit and allows me to share my gifts with others. And I have another piggie up on my design wall, calling out to be finished, so it can join the art pieces of chickens, horses, and goats in my inventory room.