Recap: Apron Sharing Event

Martha and me wearing our matching vintage aprons.

On Saturday, November 20th, I hosted an Apron Sharing event at the gallery, along with guest artist, Martha C. Hall. We decided to host this as a way to end our exhibit, Two Sides to Every Story. It was a tremendous success! We invited the public to attend, bringing the aprons of their lives.

The idea came about after I gave a lecture on the history of aprons that sparked a flurry of conversation and story-telling. Martha and I realized that people really wanted to talk about their aprons and the people who wore them.

Martha sported both her artist's apron and her woman's work apron, and gave the honor of wearing her dad's dead duck, turkey carving apron to her son, Alex, who attended. I had my husband, Lee's, grandma Fran's aprons on hand, which have been featured in my paintings, plus a stunning pink and grey taffeta vintage apron encrusted with rhinestones given to me by Martha. The aprons spanned the decades, from the Depression and contemporary aprons from Haiti.  

Artist, Martha C. Hall, sharing her dad's turkey carving apron

Martha wrote a blog post last week recalling some of the details of the attendees' aprons. Here are some of her thoughts:

This apron belonged to my dad and was the one he wore at Thanksgiving and  Christmas to carve the turkey. My siblings and I all have such vivid and fond memories of Dad in the "dead duck" apron, so when it arrived in my mailbox via my brother, well, I was extraordinarily excited! I'm happy to have pictures of it on my son and happy to know it's still in the family.

Martha and her son, Alex, a really good sport

There were aprons that belonged to grandmothers, aprons made by a grandfather who was a tailor and did all the family sewing, small aprons meant for children and made by children. Now that I'm fascinated by aprons it's amazing to see how many styles and purposes there are out there. Most aprons are obviously made for work, but there are many more that are so fancy one would never do the cooking in them. They are for dress-up, like serving cocktails to company. It's amazing how the stories about our aprons connect us to our family - and collective - memories. I don't think my fascination is going to end anytime soon. Read the rest of her blog here.

Visitor, Claudia, sharing her apron.

Sara Megletti's mother talking about some not-so-fond memories of her Depression-era apron.

Sara Megletti, owner of PB&J, talks about her Depression-era apron with Karen Balzano and me.

I look forward to more explorations of the apron artistically, thinking about its meaning and various ways to depict it and doing more with aprons at the gallery in the future. If anyone out there is designing and making aprons I would love to consider selling them at TraillWorks. You can get in touch with me via email.

Vintage Apron Strings

Perker Maestá, Oil on Linen, 36" x 60", ©2008 Jennie Traill Schaeffer
$3000, Available on ArtQuiver

Kitchen Saint, Oil on Paper, 24" x 72", ©2010 Jennie Traill Schaeffer
$1799 (unframed), available soon through ArtQuiver

I've become very engaged in the topic of the apron and have been contemplating its role in my life as well as its resurgence in popularity. The apron is a natural shift in focus for me considering my interest in kitchen appliances and woman's roles. Since my husband's grandmother passed away several years ago, I've been given numerous aprons from my family and friends. It was only in 2008 when the apron first entered into my work as a symbolic backdrop in one of my "maesta" pieces. Now it's taking up more weight.

As I was painting the two most recent works (the "apron strings" below), I stumbled upon a blog titled "Return of the Apron" by blogger, Lisa Bramen of Smithsonian.com's "Food and Think" blog. She's just embarking on marriage and writes about her own interest in aprons and what it means for a feminist to don a "stereotypical symbol of wifedom." She asks the question, "should feminists be concerned that one of the most powerful symbols of female domesticity and, by extension, sexism, has made a comeback?"

Her article was in response to a Huffington Post blog by Kristen Leigh Painter who, in turn had criticized the tone of a Denver Post article entitled, "Sassy, Sexy Aprons Shrug Off Sexism." I recommend you read all three.

These women have verbalized my thoughts on apron-wearing and even deeper, my struggles, conflicts and desires to be a good wife, mom, who has a successful business as an artist. I'm part of Generation X and we women were raised with the idea that we could be anything and everything.

I think the resurgence of the apron is a fashion statement, it's a symbol of our interests in reclaiming the kitchen and domesticity while also having our careers and using our minds. While it's all very conflicted and complicated, it's an amazing experience.

Pink Apron Composition #1, 12" x 36" (triptych), Oil on Canvas, ©2010 Jennie Traill Schaeffer
$749, unframed

Getting back to my paintings, I've started exploring these ideas with the aprons in my studio. I'm at the very beginning stages of getting my visual thoughts together on the subject. The first work, Pink Apron Composition #1, was just to get my brush wet and explore the subject compositionally. The apron curtains my studio window, functioning for decoration, and maybe a bit of irony by hanging an apron which would have been used to prance around, greeting guests and passing hors d' oeuvres.

Apron Strings #1, Oil on Canvas, 5" x 7", ©2010 Jennie Traill Schaeffer

$125, unframed

Apron Strings #2, Oil on Canvas, 5" x 7" ©2010 Jennie Traill Schaeffer
$125, unframed

The above two paintings, were quick studies, thinking about the idea of "apron strings." I've borrowed a mannequin from a local artist and am interested in the idea of the stereotype of the apron. From my point of view as a young wife, mother, career woman in the 21st century, the apron is tied with contradictions. However, these show only one view of the apron - as an objectifier, as a garment that binds women's roles. I painted the mannequin in flesh tones, without any reference to a personality. The focus is on the ribbon, the back of the apron. The phrase "the ties that bind" come to mind. Though there is still a little bit of nostalgia in the paintings.

This is just the beginning of my exploration of the apron and hope to get into the studio soon to delve deeper.