I have no idea what year my grandma's old Singer sewing machine was manufactured. But I'm fairly certain it started out as a treadle and got electrified somewhere along the way. Even when I first encountered it as a child I thought it was pretty darn old. Back then it perched on a wooden sewing table, but later it was transferred to a prosaic plastic storage case. And then the poor old thing was unromantically stashed away in a dark closet. For years.
Until recently when I unearthed it and wondered what in the world to do with it. Sure, it had been my grandmother's, who was a seamstress when so many Eastern European Jewish immigrants earned their living that way. And I myself made skirts and dresses with it when I became a teenager and learned to sew. It's a beautifully designed and sturdy workhorse that still operates to this day. But there's precious little space for such objects in our small apartment, no matter how much history and meaning they're steeped in. Sadly I decided it had to go.
But I couldn't let it go without memorializing it in watercolor.
Then one of my sisters asked for the sewing machine. And my other sister asked for the painting.
I'll always have Paris.
Until recently when I unearthed it and wondered what in the world to do with it. Sure, it had been my grandmother's, who was a seamstress when so many Eastern European Jewish immigrants earned their living that way. And I myself made skirts and dresses with it when I became a teenager and learned to sew. It's a beautifully designed and sturdy workhorse that still operates to this day. But there's precious little space for such objects in our small apartment, no matter how much history and meaning they're steeped in. Sadly I decided it had to go.
But I couldn't let it go without memorializing it in watercolor.
Then one of my sisters asked for the sewing machine. And my other sister asked for the painting.
I'll always have Paris.
Grandma's Singer Sewing Machine
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