Art: Maggie Stern
“Fish for Supper”
Concord Art has mounted a juried show of member works. I have been twice this week. It’s accessible and stimulating.
When you first enter, you hear a strange clattering and turn to see a beat-up old medicine cabinet with vintage pill bottles inside that are rattling around like ghosts. Very amusing.
My former boss, Meredith Fife Day, had two lovely country scenes in acrylic from her travels in Ireland, and she was the one who reminded me to see the show.
I took a photo of Maggie Stern’s playful “Fish for Supper,” above. Stern says, “What I love most about art is that you get to make up the rules.” I Googled her and found that she has connections with the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, Mass., and has excelled in a variety of artistic realms, including illustrating children’s books and making kits for crafty folks to reproduce her original stitchery.
I was also drawn to Lorraine Sullivan’s use of vintage linens. There must be something in the air about vintage. I’ve been doing a little prospecting (along with Erik’s mother) to add to Suzanne’s new vintage locket collection at Luna & Stella, and have learned that the idea of mixing vintage with contemporary birthstone jewelry is quite popular.
In fact, all sorts of vintage items are being cherished now, to the point that it was not only wonderful but a bit painful to see how Sullivan used her seamstress grandmother’s handiwork in the piece below. Creative destruction. Happy-sad.
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 
I’m fascinated by the use of the vintage linens (of course!) I like the idea that she’s melding the work of her foremothers with her own work and creating something haunting. I’m highly ambivalent, though, about destroying pieces that were in good condition–I’d feel better if I knew the the linens were damaged and used as a way to save what was left of them. Still they belong to her so she can do what she wants with them!
Were you able to read the print on the nameplate? She says she believes her mother and grandmother would approve. I like to think she’s right.