Nasty Goddesses

Join us September 28 from 6-8 pm at 1100 Florence in Evanston for the Nasty Women Evanston Art Exhibition. More than 100 women and allies have donated art work of 12 x 12 inches or less to be sold for $100 each in order to raise $10,000 for Planned Parenthood.

We want to ensure that women receive comprehensive health care, especially in the #MeToo era. Doors open promptly at 6. Art will be sold on a first come first serve basis. There will be no pre-sales or reserving art. I encourage coming early so you can get a view of all the pieces together. The first hour usually leaves lots of blank wall space!

If you don’t have $100 to spare, there will also be smaller items for sale as well as a loose change donation jar to help reach our goal. In addition, these local businesses are helping us to hit our goals, so please plan to swing by these places too!

• Thursday, Sept. 26, Peckish Pig Happy Hour, 4-6p, % of sales to PP.
• Friday, Sept. 27, Stella boutique, 10% of all-day sales to PP.
• Saturday, Sept. 28, stumble & relish, 10% of all-day sales to PP.
• Cultivate Urban Rainforest & Gallery made Plant Parenthood T-shirts, $5 from each sale goes to PP.

I picked up my friend’s painting to drop off with my goddess, and had fun taking the Nasty Unicorn on a little stroll. The Facebook Page has a wonderful array of artwork donated thus far.  

I am donating to Nasty Women because as a permanent resident I have no voting rights, but I still want my tax payments to go where they are most needed. Controlling reproductive rights is a form of suppression. By participating in Nasty Women, I have a sense of voice artistically that I do not have politically here in my land of residence. Basking in the communal energy and power of all the women and allies gathering for this event and putting their money and intent toward an empowering cause gives me a sense of hope in the current political climate.

I had fiddled with the Femme Setup in the Now That’s a Jig! StratrPeg 101. As I was fiddling with Goddess Ideas, I realized the Spiral Goddess would be jiggable. I created a setup for this iconic Goddess Design.

Then it was a matter of figuring out how to bend this shape.

Soon I had the basic shape.

For the first one I used binding wire to fix the head, but the later iterations actually got a face, too.

I felt like a pop of something was needed, and found a heart button to attach.

Then I wrapped wire around the goddess shape.

During one of the sessions Jessie J.’s Queen song came on. It has very appropriate lyrics.

It takes a lot of tweaking to get the design to wrap around the shape without squeezing the goddess too tightly. The first Goddess got skinnier and skinnier.

For her head I used the cage technique Brenda Schweder taught me in 2010.

Mother Goddesses were revered for their reproductive capabilities, and our feminine creative power should not be perceived as a threat. The Spiral Goddess is an iconic form representing creative power, relating to both the feminine reproductive system and its cycles, but also pertaining to the energy flow associated with the chakras. I thought she was an appropriate symbol to create for this event. I made her from steel, and rather than placing a spiral in her abdomen, I had the steel wire spiral up along her whole body, culminating in her halo. 

Of course I had to make some friends for my lady. The Spiral Goddess symbol often used by Wiccans, is used as a sign of life. The spiral represents the ever continuing cycle of life, death, and rebirth.

The spiraling line can be seen as the constant path of life and has been found throughout history as far back as Paleolithic times, where they were carved on tombs. Spirals can also be found in many instances in nature, for example, galaxies and seashells. More on the spiral goddess is at this link: https://naturalshaman.blogspot.com/p/spiral-goddess.html I want to play with a snake goddess too!

I sent The original goddess and my friend’s painting off to 1100 Florence. This year’s event co-chairs, Carolyn Irving Hinske and Jessalyn Bertone, have done a fabulous job coordinating this event.

Nasty Women is a global art movement that serves to demonstrate solidarity among artists who identify with being a Nasty Woman in the face of threats to roll back women’s rights, individual rights, and abortion rights, according to nastywomen.org. It was started in January 2017 by Roxanne Jackson and Jessamyn Fiore with a NYC show. That show inspired hundreds of sister shows, of which Nasty Women Evanston is one. Our first exhibition in June 2017 raised over $10,000 for Planned Parenthood, exceeding our expectations. To learn more about Planned Parenthood, click here.

Date: September 28, 6-8 pm at 1100 Florence Avenue  $100 per piece of art. Cash and credit card payment will be accepted for artwork and any additional donations

One Goddess is reserved for someone, and the remaining 2 goddesses will be at the Maker’s Market on Sunday. 

I am excited for this weekend!