You know the one. It’s popping up all over these days, sometimes in the original red but often as not in other colours, too. Yes, I’m talking about this poster:
The one issued by the British Ministry of Information in 1939 says it all, and in bright screaming red, to boot. But… I like my sister’s version better.
My baby sister is (apart from being much taller than I) an artistic sort. She’s a printmaker and a photographer, and she dabbles in all sorts of other artistic endeavours as the mood strikes. (I’m thrilled that she and I are both going to have textile projects featured in Leanne Prain’s new book Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery, which is scheduled to hit a bookstore near you in 2011. Yes, that’s the same Leanne who brought you Yarnbombing — she’s at it again, and asked each of us to be part of it, and I couldn’t be more excited!)
On a recent trip to Toronto to visit my folks, we of course stopped by the Distillery (that’s Toronto’s Historic Distillery District down on Mill Street – well worth a visit if you are in the area) to take a peek at the new art on my parents’ gallery walls, and propped up on the printmaking press in a plain little basket was this little gem:
Made by my sister, and now gracing my dining room hutch while I decide where its permanent home should be.
It makes me smile every time I walk by it. Panic and Wreak Havoc. Best of all, the little upside down crown with its point broken off, as if the havoc-wreaking has already begun.
Love you, Nat! Thanks for making me smile.
(P.S. She’s got more of them if you want one for yourself. Each one is unique, so yours won’t look like mine except for the text and the crown, but I’m sure she’d be happy to send you pics and let you pick your fave.)
Kids by hand 
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