Honoring those who have served and sacrificed
Through the unique artistry of beaded tapestries
Just off the loom >>>
How it all began ... Marine in Saipan
When I turned 50, I made an active decision to create something that would leverage my interests and talents to inspire others. Fifty is a big milestone and I didn't want to let it pass without doing something equally monumental! At the time, I was working as a consultant, and had forged a small collaborative group of busy C-Suite professional women. The issue we tackled had to do with helping them find time for themselves when they were so busy already!
I came up with a technique that helped them merge existing interests together; the "I wish I had time for" items. By combining their wish list items in different pairings, I wanted to see if we could come up with projects to help make our "found time" more efficient. My own merged items were my interest in World War II and beading, thus the idea for Thankful Generations™ was born. It stayed in the back of my mind for over a year before it emerged as an actionable project.
Ten years later, I'm proud of what the project represents, which expresses gratitude. It honors those who have served or are serving currently in the military, as well as their families. Having grown up in an Air Force family, I understand the sacrifices our military members and their families make to secure the freedoms we enjoy. Read on to learn more about my first tapestry, "The Marine in Saipan".
Giving thanks
Showing appreciation
Remembering sacrifices
Thankful Generations
SHOWING MY APPRECIATION THROUGH THE UNIQUE ARTISTRY OF BEADED TAPESTRIES
Honoring those who served in the military. Respecting those who currently serve. Never letting a day go by without reminding myself that the very good life I live is built upon the bravery of many who did not get the same chance.
Faded 1940’s photographs of uniformed men and women … just one second captured in time. It was a tense and disturbing time in our history that moves farther away in our collective memories every year that passes. Maybe some would like to forget, but I’d like to remember, if only to say "Thank you”.
My way of saying thanks is different than most. I find expression through my artwork as a Bead artist. By creating beaded tapestries of real people who served in the military, with every bead I pick up on my needle I express my personal thanks. I capture that moment in time in a format that I hope makes people pause, and maybe reflect and discuss what they think. That’s what the Thankful Generations project is intended to do.
I'm hoping this project will promote new dialogue across generations, and most urgently with the generation of brave men and women who participated in the Second World War. So many WWII veterans are now in their 90's, and I feel compelled to do this project before their collective voices are lost forever. Nearly every day I read an article about the passing of yet another WWII veteran. Will you help me say thanks by passing this message along?
I learned long ago that to create great art, top quality tools are a must - that's why all of my tapestry patterns are created using BeadTool software and my tapestries are created on MIRRIX looms!