Amy E. Fraser Art

  House In The Meadow by Amy E. Fraser      Once upon a time, not so very long ago, a young couple yearned for a clean and wholesome environment in which to raise their newborn son. The man and woman scraped together all of their savings and put a small down payment on a beautiful piece of land on the side of a mountain, deep in the New Hampshire forest. They went through many trials and tribulations but eventually they began to build their dream home. While still unfinished, the couple, anxious to begin their new life, moved from their noisy apartment in an ancient Round House on top of busy train tracks into the quiet new house in the middle of the forest. When they arrived, they imagined that the most difficult part was behind them and looked forward to the next step in their journey together.      The house in the forest represented the dreams the couple shared for their future. However, the beginning times were very hard. ...

Photo of Amy E. Fraser      Today’s heartwarming and inspirational art talk is entitled Embrace the Suck. I was originally going to call it “It’s all on You: The Solitary Existence of the Art Entrepreneur” but it didn’t sound nearly as catchy or as motivational (lol).      As I periodically grumble, stumble and complain about starting my art career over again at 46, my husband asks: what’s the point?   We are financially stable; I really could be doing something much more entertaining with my time, right? This morning, while slogging through morning chores, feeling overwhelmed by this daunting task of starting over so late in life, I begin replaying my husband’s question in my head. In the midst of this unhelpful mulling, my diabetic cat’s insulin alarm went off. The song “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor, chosen for its tongue and cheek cat reference, was playing longer than usual. For some reason I actually listened to the words....

      This amazing fairy tale moment is a photograph of my grandmother in her Vermont farm house, just as I remember her. She is seen here making yarn on a spinning wheel from the wool of sheep she and my grandfather raised. Today I am celebrating Women’s Work.       Women’s Work is defined by Oxford’s Dictionary as: Work that is traditionally and historically undertaken by women, especially tasks of a domestic nature such as cooking, needlework, and child rearing.      Wikipedia defines Women's Work as: "work believed to be exclusively the domain of women and associates particular stereotypical tasks that history has associated with the female gender. It is particularly used with regard to the unpaid work that a mother or wife will perform within a family and household. The term "women's work" may indicate a role with children as defined by nature in that only women are biologically capable of performing them: pre...