Recently, I opened a box of my grandmother's belongings that I inherited. Inside, I found hand-embroidered linens: practical items like table runners, napkins, and pillowcases.
My grandmother lived on a small farm in Switzerland, raising a family of nine. Though her days were filled with the demanding “women’s work” of managing a household, raising a family and helping on the farm, she found time to create in pockets of the day. From the bread she baked to the healthy food and vibrant geraniums in her garden, her work was rooted in beauty and practicality. Her creativity wasn’t about creating ‘art’ in the traditional sense. Instead, she transformed everyday tasks and objects into small moments of detailed appreciation to nourish and improve her family’s life.
This is the exact intention behind every piece of art I create: to integrate moments of beauty, personal nourishment and reflection into your daily life, simply by looking at the art on your wall.
This new collection honors her legacy— and the legacy of all grandmothers who turned the ordinary into something special. The women who found ways to create beauty in the quiet hours after a full day’s work and create meaningful experiences for their families, even when money was tight and time was scarce.
Through my cyanotype art, I aim to capture that spirit, blending nature, memory, and creativity in each piece. The collection features a series of embroidery hoops, each holding a cyanotype of plants that could have been found in Muetti’s garden or a cyanotype of one of her hand-embroidered pieces that I found in box I inherited. Each cyanotype also features my hand embroidery, turning each work into a collaboration with my grandmother, the sun, plants, flowers and creativity. An homage of sorts to the quiet art of transforming the practical into something unique and beautiful. Something that can be passed down through generations and cement the bond between grandmothers, mothers, daughters, and granddaughters.