Artistic Inspiration

Grammie Huff (Alice Weston Huff) was an artist and former art teacher. When we grandchildren came to visit, she often had an art project ready and waiting for us on our arrival.  Her house was filled with her own work: paintings (see page heading), wooden sculpture, woodcut prints, and handwoven textiles. My grandmother made her own rugs, bedcovers, pillow covers, and curtains using using, among other things, an enormous loom for weaving. She also wove cloth to make clothing for herself and my grandfather. Her grandchildren and great-granddaughter received her meticulously hand-knit sweaters, socks, and mittens. 

My grandmother made me aware of color, and it was often a topic of conversation. She frequently asked me what my favorite color was, knowing it would likely change as I grew. I eventually settled on red, which just happened to be her favorite color, too. She told me how years ago, art students were taught that you should only put contrasting colors together in artwork, but that later on, artists pushed against this rule and decided that is was fine to use colors that are side-by-side on the color wheel. One of Grammie Huff's favorite color combinations was red and purple. 

My mom (Mary Huff) was a multi-talented individual who infused creativity in most everything she did. A special education teacher by profession, she was also a musician at heart. She once wrote a song for a student lacking belief in himself titled, "You Will Be Able to Do It If You Do It!" She was also famous among family, friends, and colleagues for taking popular tunes and writing her own lyrics for them, playing the tune on her piano while leading a sing-along for special occasions. Her main instrument was piano, but she also played many others: violin, banjo, a bit of guitar, concertina, ukulele, kazoo, and rhythm instruments including the washboard and jig doll- basically anything she could get her hands on. 

"Mother Huff" was an excellent seamstress. When browsing in clothing stores, she would often comment, "I could make that!" And it was true! Some of the most special clothing my sister and I owned growing up were pieces she had made for us. Once my mom took me shopping for a dress to wear for my All State Orchestra concert, but I was having difficulty finding anything to my liking. She asked, "Do you want me to make you something?" She then took me to the fabric store to chose a silk fabric of just the right color and a pattern I liked. Despite how busy my mom was, she took the time to create a beautiful gown made just for me.