Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Hidden Art Book Club: Chapter 4

Painting, Sketching, Sculpturing

Commenting on this week's reading assignment for book club, I propose that illustrating falls into the category of hidden art that Edith Schaeffer is promoting.

While she includes some of her own sketches in this section, which are very good and helpful, especially for keeping youngsters attentive during church,  I found myself curious about the illustrator of Hidden Art.

So, who is Deidre Ducker?


Nee Haim, Deidre encountered the Schaeffers while enrolled at the English school in Champery (1948-52).  She attended Francis' little church and together with classmates would enjoy the Schaeffers hospitality.  She married Richard Ducker in 1960, and together they were some of the first official students at L'Abri.

As an artist, Deidre had the privilege to illustrate not just the Hidden Art of Homemaking, but also L'Abri.   Only one additional title shows up when searching for her work: The Reason Why You Need Christ.

But back to the topic at hand which is developing creativity, aka practicing undiscovered talents, I am encouraged that there could be something artistic buried deep in my bones.

For years I'd never seen my mother do anything other than doodle, generally while talking on the telephone.  After her children were grown/gone, she started taking art classes.  For 25 years she painted.  Here's a link to her website.  Now (almost 80 years old) she *paints* with Adobe's Photoshop program, creating greeting cards, scrapbooks, and photo albums.

She's definitely a spark lighting fire to dry wood.




Photo taken after this past Sunday's dinner when we enjoyed this menu ~


Baked Chicken Piquant
Brown Rice
Steamed Green Beans
Chutneyed Sweet Peppers
French Rolls

Strawberry-Rhubard Pie a la mode




7 comments:

  1. Do you think photography fits into this chapter? Thanks for pointing out the artist. What a great idea!! And I love your mother's version of ASAP.

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    1. I do think this is a perfect chapter to highlight photography. Emily definitely has a good eye ~

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  2. Thanks for the background information about Deidre! I didn't even think to look her up.

    I loved the story about your mom. Being in my 50s now I'm excited to learn new things and to find, as you said, that there may be some artisticness buried in us that we can learn to express.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Barbara ~

      I like to stand real close to my mother in hopes that some of her creativity will wear off on me ;-)

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  3. Your mother's paintings are inspiring! Thank you for sharing her spark.

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  4. Thank you for sharing this perspective. I absolutely believe others' creativity will rub off on us if we stand real close ;)
    I know several women who've picked up their creative palette of choice (sketching, painting, photography, and yes, blogging!) later in life when their children were grown.
    I'm finding myself in that same camp now. It's a nice season of life.

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  5. My mom is a doodler, too. And because of her secretarial training has always taken great pride in her shorthand (which frustrated us kids to now end especially around Christmas time) and her beautiful handwriting. She also took art lessons after we were grown up, and while they are very nice, they are not as good as your moms! Wow! I hope you have a good many of these in your home. :)

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