International Women’s Day – this is a post from the archives, but still holds true for any year!
This Sunday is International Women’s Day, it is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women all over the world, the theme this year is “make it happen”. I am lucky to know many women in my life who have inspired me through the years and “make it happen” all the time.
My aunt is probably one of the first women [aside from my mother] that I drew inspiration from. She is unconventional, likes to make her own rules and has never stopped when someone told her she could not do something – it made her push even harder to get things done.
When I was in my early tweens, I used to spend a couple of weeks every summer with her – it was the highlight of my summer. When I wasn’t in her studio watching her paint or sculpt something, we would go to art galleries and art markets. I could watch mesmerized for hours, and in awe of how the paint was transformed on the canvas or the stone molded into something recognizable with her hands. Although I know my grandfather was a well-known artist in South America where I was born, my love of art came from my aunt and was definitely nurtured by her. She was the reason I majored in Art History at University. She was also a traveller, and she would come back from her travels with so many amazing stories and photographs, I was captivated by the history and culture from these faraway lands and I wanted to discover them myself… thus started my desire for travel.
My aunt showed me that with determination and desire you could accomplish many things. Back then (40 years ago), It was not easy for a single woman to get a business up and running on her own and become successful at it while still pursuing her passions (art). She was determined to “make it happen”, and she did. Her company (which she sold a while ago) was very successful, she was able to travel the world and exhibit her artwork during her career. She is now content to work on her artwork full time and travel whenever she can.
I hope that I am as much of an inspiration of “make it happen” to my daughter, as my aunt was to me.
What women inspired you in your life?
