The Beauty of Living and Dying: A New Project
Dear Beautiful Ones,
I am very proud and excited to launch a precious linen artwork with lots of meaning to me, handmade in very limited numbers.
I’ve called it The Beauty of Living and Dying, and it's a collaboration between Luz Editions and myself, with the stars of the show being an inspiring group of women who call themselves Grandmas Coming to Work.
This project was born out of grief, a time when my Father was dying and the world had been locked down in 2020.
For weeks, my only escape was a handful of flowers, a piece of black cardboard, and a small space.
Some of my flowers were in the stages of dying, just like my Father. I studied them curiously as they changed shape and form, finding them enchanting just as they were when they were in full bloom. I saw my Father as an old man at the end of his life, still dignified, as the lines blurred with the tall, handsome man I knew as a child.
I sat embroidering my flowers with my Father, sharing stories, memories, laughter, and tears as he gently surrendered to saying goodbye. In each gold stitch, our stories — our past, the present, the old, the new, and the heartbreak of passing — were sewn together.
A project that started out as something personal found a second life when Paula Franco from Luz Editions suggested a collaboration.
Together we worked to create a meaningful piece, a limited edition artwork that had a story, giving a voice to a subject rarely discussed or celebrated, The Beauty of Living and Dying.
The project took on an even deeper meaning when an elderly group of women known as Grandmas are Coming to Work joined ranks and became involved to hand stitch gold thread onto selected parts of the linen flower images.
This group of grandmas, full of creativity, wit, wisdom, experience, and energy, said no to becoming overlooked and obsolete, and banded together to create a dynamic workroom, taking on handmade projects, sharing, teaching, and passing on the know-how of techniques to newcomers.
Known as ‘specialists in optimism’, they had slogans such as ‘Old is the new young’ and ‘Grandma is not for sale, but her products are.'
We had all the ingredients to make a beautiful handmade piece of art, a keepsake that would touch others (who too had their own experience of a loved one passing), or simply a piece of beauty to live with daily.
Come and meet Beauty, Dignity, and Grace. We hope you love them and decide to treasure them as we do.
