Hello My Dears,
Ostara (Easter) is a wonderful time for new beginnings. :)
I did a spring ritual and then afterwards when I turned on the radio I heard about an amazing play starring the woman who designed the dresses for Lincoln's wife, Elizabeth Keckley. After researching her, I realized how extraordinary she was to women's history. Elizabeth was able to write a first person account as a black woman in her time. She sacrificed so much in order to publish that book, but it was worth it for us all to know life from her perspective.
May the Goddess Bless you, Elizabeth. You are not forgotten.
>>ART<<
Gasoline Original Art all 12 x 14 framed pieces
Also 10% OFF SALE on all illustrations! Limited time only with the coupon code: ILLOLOVE
And don't forget Gasoline Graphic Novel, get it directly from me and save. Plus I am happy to sign it to anyone you want with a hand drawn illustration included.
This week's profiled artist is the lovely Ophelia of Ophelia's Garden. Each and every one of Ophelia's pieces are a one-of-a-kind creation handmade from cruelty-free, professionally sterilized feathers, and whatever other knick-knacks she can find. If you're into the beautiful and the bizarre, Ophelia is your maiden.
Check out her Etsy store:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/
Looking to buy a boat? Well here's one that I was commissioned to paint. Sail into the sun set with the mark of your favorite Faery pirate!
Hot Witch of the Week Elizabeth Keckley
She is a shining example of someone who beat fantastic odds, did the most she could with what she had, and did it with style. (literally!) She became a fashion designer for Lincolns wife while also doing everything she could to help newly freed people find financial stability and homes in a new life. She taught classes teaching other women how to sew and create a skill for themselves in which to make money. Plus she helped wounded soldiers and founded relief funds. And check out her adorable bow in her hair she wore all the while!
Elizabeth was born a slave, her father's identity only revealed to her on her mothers death bed, as her mothers white master. As a child and she was illegally taught to write and read...a skill she used to great advantage later in life when she wrote a tell all biography about life in the white house. Enitiled "30 years a Slave and 4 Years in the White House" "1868. That has to be the most amazing book title ever in the history of the universe! Lay it down like it is Elizabeth! She was so amazingly contemporary, this is the kind of book that would have come out in 1968 but she did it a century earlier! This is a MUST READ.
I'm going to go get it now! I hear it was very controversial and revealing of Mary Todd Lincolns close friendship with Elizabeth. Keckley had moved to Washington in 1860 after buying her freedom and that of her son in St. Louis. She created an independent business in the capital based on clients who were the wives of the government elite. Among them were Varina Davis, wife of Jefferson Davis; and Mary Anna Custis Lee, wife of Robert E. Lee.Her claim as a businesswoman and part of the new mixed-race, educated middle-class that were visible among the leadership of the black community.
Elizabeth did centuries of good for people of all walks of life during her life time. I hear there is a Play currently running in D.C. about her and Mary entitled Mary T. & Lizzy K., the world-premiere show now playing at Arena. Those in the area go for me please. This has got to be amazing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Love, Dame Darcy
