by Anastasia on July 27, 2009
By Anastasia Smith
WHEN TSP RECEIVED AN EMAIL from Shelley Kommers with the subject line “Sister Artwork,” we were startled: Had Shelley, known in the Etsy world as Oiseaux (meaning bird in French), seen us lurking in her shops and sites somehow? Magic! Shelley had attached two mixed-media pieces about sisters, Strawberry Park (above) and Sí, Alguna Vez Fue Un Ave (“Yes, She Once Was a Bird” in Spanish), the former, she explained, created as a representation of herself with her own sister, Carrie (and look whose little arm is around whose bigger waist). No wonder Shelley defines “sister” as “someone you’re stuck with in the best way.” Those original images were just a glimpse into a portfolio, and a world, rich with sisterhood imagery, one we are excited to share here. [click to continue…]
by Anastasia on May 5, 2009
By Paige Smith Orloff
"The Chorus and Creating"
ONE OF THE GREATEST JOYS in discovering a new artist is stepping out of your world and into another. We loved crossing that threshold into the land of Portland, Oregon-based artist Julianna Bright. In her folkloric, fairy-tale realm, images of sisterhood and kinship abound—though the ethereal women she paints are as likely to be paired up with a giant bird or a princely frog as with another human. “The pictures I make have became for me a way to circle back to that wonder I felt as a child,” says Julianna, “that time before I was even able to read when I could fashion a whole universe in my mind around an illustration.” [click to continue…]
by Anastasia on April 28, 2009
By Anastasia Smith
'The Queen and I'
LINDSEY CARR, THE IMAGINATION AND HEART behind the fanciful Etsy Shop, Little Robot, readily admits that her sibling-hood of six has come with responsibilities and heartache. “I think really that the misfortunes are the things which bind you,” she says, but then also offers this punchline, about the delight of her sister-and-brother relationships: “A story is nothing without someone to share it with.” [click to continue…]
by Anastasia on March 26, 2009
CLAUDINE HELLMUTH MIGHT BE an only child, but she knows a thing or two about a woman’s innate connection to sisterhood. Her artwork—a mix of photos, paint, fabric and ink—transplants familiar faces to whimsical worlds, reminiscent of storybook illustrations or even retro advertisements: a woman’s grayscale profile gives way to a drawn-on yellow floral dress and little yellow high heels perched delicately on the floor of a red Vespa, her red scarf flapping in the wind behind her; two women with comforting family resemblance—it’s in their eyes, or maybe their smiles—stand close, so close their A-line floral skirts overlap, clasping one another’s hands before a backdrop of fluffy clouds and rolling hills. [click to continue…]
by margaretroach on March 5, 2009
WHEN ARTIST SLOANE TANEN’S jpg-stuffed email arrived in TSP’s inbox late last year, bringing new meaning to the concept of pecking order, we shared some of her crazy creations right away…to introduce her to the rest of the sister flock. Now we’ve rounded up more of Sloane’s special sister art into a slideshow, including several you haven’t seen before. [click to continue…]
by margaretroach on February 10, 2009
THEY SHARE KNITTING, AUTHORSHIP OF TWO BOOKS—and oh, yes, they also share “the hairdo luv” with anyone who can stop laughing long enough to open their eyes and watch their entire “Pardon Me (I Didn’t Knit That for You)” country-music video. Such is the creative and crazy chemistry between “sisters” (our word) Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne, known to knitters everywhere as Mason-Dixon Knitting. They are knit together (sorry) as tightly these days as DNA, but no genetic material is actually shared: The two met on a knitting chat board on the internet. Hallelujah that they did. [click to continue…]
by paige on January 20, 2009
Diane's pocket shrine features Gene Kelly, her creative hero.
H OW COULD THE SISTER PROJECT resist someone with the nickname “Sister Diane?” When a friend turned us on to the prolific and passionate crafter Diane Gilleland, we had to delve into her work as both a creator of, and a zealous advocate for, things made by hand. Through her blog, podcasts and writing, Diane teaches and spreads the word about the power of handmade articles. She is less an aficionado of one particular craft than a supporter of spending time making things, whatever they are. As she says on her blog, showcasing an arguably unfortunate creation from a vintage craft guide: “Frankly, if somebody had a nice couple of hours making it, it’s A-OK in my book.” [click to continue…]
by margaretroach on January 14, 2009
'Sometimes it is enough to want to listen. I will give you that much credit.'
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SHE RUNS SILENT BUT DEEP, exploring in texts both written and visual a personal mythology that drew The Sister Project’s sisters in and hasn’t let us go. The idea that deeply contemplative Bonnie McLaughlin, just 25, exerts that kind of magnetic effect would not surprise her younger brother, Seth, who early on named his sister G.G.D., or Genius Girl of Destiny, which sounds to us like a female superhero if there ever was one. [click to continue…]
by paige on November 21, 2008
'Growing Woman'
C UBAN-BORN ARTIST Elsa Mora creates intricate, often profound, sometimes whimsical papercuts, paintings, drawings and sculptures. When we first saw Elsita’s art, we were stunned by the way it spoke to the deep feelings we have for our sisters, our mothers and our children, and the way we each relate to the natural world.
We had to know where she finds her inspiration, but it wasn’t until we reached out to Elsita that we learned that it was her older sister, Ileana, we sensed in certain images, a sibling still living but lost to Elsita a decade ago in the complex tangle of schizophrenia. “She was my mentor,” says Elsita, but as Ileana’s illness progressed, there was always this acute awareness, too: “We had to deal with the possibility of her going away forever all the time.” Love, with impending loss. A story of two sisters.
[click to continue…]
WHEN TSP RECEIVED AN EMAIL from Shelley Kommers with the subject line “Sister Artwork,” we were startled: Had Shelley, known in the Etsy world as Oiseaux (meaning bird in French), seen us lurking in her shops and sites somehow? Magic! Shelley had attached two mixed-media pieces about sisters, Strawberry Park (above) and Sí, Alguna Vez Fue Un Ave (“Yes, She Once Was a Bird” in Spanish), the former, she explained, created as a representation of herself with her own sister, Carrie (and look whose little arm is around whose bigger waist). No wonder Shelley defines “sister” as “someone you’re stuck with in the best way.” Those original images were just a glimpse into a portfolio, and a world, rich with sisterhood imagery, one we are excited to share here. [click to continue…]
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