• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Bex Hall

  • Blog
  • The Memoir
  • Newsletter
  • About
  • Contact me
Bex Hall > Memoir in Objects > Her art still speaks to me

Her art still speaks to me

March 9, 2022

Art by Fern Gittings

Somewhere near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in a residential part of a township I can’t remember, is where I had the good fortune to meet a working artist and tour her studio. Her name was Fern Gittings, an aunt of my first husband. She seemed ancient to me, but at 19, anyone over 30 seemed so. She was probably about the same age as I am now.

It was 1983, and I had been married a year. An entire year to perfect the mask that hid my depression. I think Fern saw through me. In her studio, we dipped pens in India ink and practiced calligraphy. We swashed watercolors with brushes made of squirrel hair onto thick paper secured to a standing easel. 

As I prepared to leave, she gave me this tiny piece of art she had created. She shared she had always loved this quote, “Most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

She added, “But it’s not always that simple or that easy.”

During our brief time together, working side-by-side, she conveyed the importance of honoring creative gifts.

It took me 33 years before I did anything about that.


This is the 15th story in the Objects as Waypoints Writing Project series.

Filed Under: Memoir in Objects Tagged With: the 100 day project 2022, the objects

Primary Sidebar

About Bex

 

Bex Hall

Her writing has appeared in various online and print publications, most recently in Kerning, a literary magazine, and in the Stories of Hope Collection in Transplant Living. Her artwork has appeared and sold through the Grayson Gallery. She blogs here about creative life and creates in Studio BE overlooking the Ohio River. Her work in progress is a memoir about the secret life of objects.

Notes

  • The 100 Day Project

    50 short stories in 100 days.

Subscribe to my newsletter

Secondary Sidebar

Notes

  • Creative practice goals:

    Show up every day behind the pen, the brush, or the lens and share my work.

Footer

Recent Posts

  • Gratitude, grief, and getting through
  • I’d like to ask a favor
  • No selvedge on my fabric heart
  • Answers lead to more questions
  • You can’t always get what you want

Inspiration & Craft

Quotes on Creativity

Recommended Books

Art & Writing Supplies

Galleries

Photo Gallery

Connect on Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Medium
  • Pinterest

Copyright © 2023 · Bex Hall

  • Blog
  • The Memoir
  • Newsletter
  • About
  • Contact me