Susan Teague Art
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From The Author
The Goddesses in this book are made completely from colored tissue paper. Although appearing to be created with paint, the variations of color were achieved by repeatedly overlaying one color of tissue paper over another, until a modelled look was achieved. The thin strips of black tissue paper outlining all the figures and shapes were hand cut and, often times, meticulously placed in position with a toothpick.
Five of the 16 tissue paper Goddesses in this book were created on 4’ x 8’ panels in 2010 ArtPrize competition in Grand Rapids, Michigan. During the ArtPrize competition, it became very apparent that the droves of people viewing these tissue paper icons thought they were crated with paint. I found myself repeatedly telling inquiring viewers that they were made with tissue paper only. Even with that, most people still found it difficult to believe. Eventually, my voice gave way and I hung a small sample of the overlapping process to give people an idea how the modelled look was achieved. I also hung a huge sign which said:
“These are made with colored tissue paper only. NO PAINT!!...REALLY!!!”
The sign and sample did not end the inquiry but enhance it because of curiosity. As fortune and fate would have it, Edward Meyer, Ripley’s Believe It or Not Vice President of Museums and Archives, saw the icons and the sign. He found the icons humorous and the tissue paper process unique and intriguing. He purchased four of the five icons for the Orlando, Florida Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum, where they now hang.
See excerpts from Goddesses Galore below:
DYE-Anna: Goddess of Grey Hair
Born: Grayling, Michigan
Motto: Women are dyeing to express themselves.
A well-known adage says that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And when it comes to a woman coloring her hair, beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder holding the dye bottle (and the mousse, moisturizer, gel, hairspray, shampoo, conditioner, comb, curling iron, de-frizzer and detangler). With the vast array of hair care products available in this day and age (and I mean “age” literally) a woman can do anything she wants to with her hair.
In stark contrast a few decades ago the practice of dyeing hair was a tangled social taboo. Only “vain, loose women of the stage and women of the night” colored their gray. No self-respecting housewife or proper woman would dare dye their darling locks for fear of becoming the talk of the town. Hair care commercials challenged the stigma by advertising that gray was about as attractive as a funeral parlor. So, obviously women would want to trade the old gray “washed up and washed out” look for a more vibrant colorful one. The promise being she would feel and look younger instantly, be happier and more sexually attractive. At her dye bottle fingertips lay new identity choices: the feisty, hot-headed red head; the responsible, good girl brunette; the sultry, mysterious black-haired raven; or the sex bomb blonde who has more fun. Some women bought the new thought but still fearing judgment secretly entered the hair salon incognito through the back alley door.
When the home do-it-yourself color kit arrived dyeing could be secretly done at home. No one would know unless the color change was drastic…..like mine. At 16 years of age I decided my blonde hair was turning mousy brown. I sought the first opportunity to dash to the store and buy a blond rinse in which to douse my hair. The result was peculiar fire orange. Mom took me to the doctor. He looked at my hair with great compassion and explained my hair turned orange because of shock due to the violent car accident I had been in a couple months prior. I nodded with deep compassion for myself, secretly feeling relieved that I now had a medical diagnosis to tell my high school classmates if they inquired about my orange hair.
Thank goodness times have changed. Today a woman may proudly and confidently ditch the dye, as she joins the growing trend, “glad to be gray”; or she may shamelessly wield her dye brush on her crown of glory as if it was an exquisite blank canvas ready for the joy of sheer artistic expression. Now that’s a worthwhile head trip!
Art-ee: Goddess of the Fine Arts
Born: Paintsville, KY
Motto: You are the creative masterpiece
In my 40 plus years as an art teacher, artist, and community program presenter in the Fine Arts I frequently hear others say, “I don’t have a creative bone in my body.” Perhaps this disparaging belief is coming from the idea that only the super talented can enter through the door of the Fine Arts.” This is far, far from the truth. The Goddess of the Fine Arts greets all of us every day. We find her in the straight and narrow corridors of our routines, around the corners that we turn, and along the paths of our daily choices. She is a down home, grass roots kind of gal who lives in rich and poor neighborhoods, rural villages , megacities, senior retirement communities, and along the country roads of homesteading families. We see her shine in the eyes of every child who pretends to be a grown-up wearing mom or dad’s shoes; or pretends to be a fireman, astronaut, princess, or pirate. Her joyful voice is in the echo of children who discover for the first time that blowing their breath through puckered lips produces a whistle.
This Goddess searches out the littlest of the little and inspires them to jump, wiggle, twist, twirl when music is played. Her rhythm is felt in the hand of the child who holds a stick and clacks it across a picket fence just for the sake of hearing the sound. She is the glee of children who witness that their colorful crayon squiggles across scrap paper look like rainbows in the sky. This grass roots Goddess’s ageless heart whispers to every child, young or old, “Yes. You can! Create, discover, explore, imagine, think new, feel new, dream, play, and smile and laugh while you do it.” She encourages us to express our creative selves with reckless abandon. So, the next time you have an urge to doodle, hum, tap your foot to music, write, “I love you,” or imagine a life greater than you know now…….. remember ………..you can!
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