Do You Wear Color or Camouflage?

What is the first color that you visually recall? I asked my friend Janice (The Vivienne Files) and she answered, "Blue. I remember being in a crib near the window and seeing the blue sky."

My memory for color doesn't go back that far. I remember the first color I learned to read on my first day of 1st Grade - R E D. But the first color that made a visual impression on me was a frothy, sherberty green - you can find it somewhere in the scarf pictured below - depending on your version of frothy and sherberty.

The image was in a book about a doll hospital. I don't remember the details, but the doll doctor took a rather beat up and left-behind doll and dressed her in the most beautiful green dress ever. A green I still look for to this day.

As a wearer of predominately black clothing (the national color of Chicago clothes), maybe I look for colors in my photographs and silk scarves as that hint of not-city, of out-of-doors.

Maybe I look for color to keep my black clothes from looking like everyone else. Is black the camouflage that keeps me from being too visible? For a person who works at home and is rather introverted, it feels difficult to hide, even in a city of 4+ million people. Black lets me slip through the crowd (although I run the risk of getting hit by a car after dark). But the adornment of a scarf says, "Look at me, just a little."

Of course certain animals are masters of camouflage - insects, birds, animals. But with my military family background, you know I'm not going in that direction. Did you know that military camouflage has been used to cover the movement of ships since Philostratus wrote about the blue/gray concealment paint on naval vessels? And I feel certain that everyone my age, wore a ratty camo jacket in the late 60s/early 70s. And then somewhere along the line, fashion upsurped, or at least co-opted camouflage, as it is wont to do.

So, in this case, camouflage, which makes every military person everywhere stand out in a crowd, now becomes the thing to wear to be "the crowd." Am I the only one who is confused?

My Life with Scarves, Part I

I have searched our entire 700 sq. foot space and cannot find my childhood scrapbook, so I can only conclude that it grew legs and walked out. But imagine if you will, the vintage scarf pictured in the banner, tied over the head and under the chin of the small hula-hooper on the right. You've just pictured my first appearance with a scarf, or kerchief, as we called them then.   

Notice that I also mixed plaids and flowers . . . I was a trend-setter even at such an early age. But, still as the oldest child, I was not the "power-seeker" type referenced in a brilliant article I found last week in Fortune, written by Nancy Deihl, Director of MA Program in Costume Studies at NYU. The article, Are scarves the new 'power' accessory for women?, takes a comment from the BBC about the seemingly "simple form of adornment" and explains the long history of scarves as a prestigious symbol for women. I was just a girl whose Mom (who also wore a kerchief) wanted to keep her ears warm during chilly weather.

The subject of scarves and their popularity or not, is of the utmost importance to me at this point in my life: I have just launched my newest collection of silk story scarves. And, the question I am asked most frequently is, "Why scarves?"

I could be flip and reply, "Why not," but my love of fabric, photography, and storytelling goes way back. The vintage scarf you see above is just one of the many that have come and gone from my closet. I've worn them around my head, around my purse straps, and around my waist in lieu of a belt.

And as far as my photography and storytelling, that's been going on for over 40 years. As my photography skills developed (pun intended), the stories about the pictures took on an added urgency. You see, I photograph and photocollage images of my family's military background as a way of visualizing and then expressing my feelings and stories about family, war, unintended consequences, and travel - issues I have found that touch many lives.

So what first started out as printing flowers and cemeteries (every burgeoning photographer photographs cemeteries) on photo paper slowly morphed into combining text and images to create something new all together. That meant looking for new ways to print.

And then I considered silk as a medium. As for the rest . . . Part II next week.

Ms. Deihl's article first appeared in The Conversation with the title, A scarf can mean many things - but above all, prestige.

War & Nature: Bataan Shadows

At Mile 15 in last year's Bataan Memorial Death March, you came to walk beside me. I could see faint images of you on either side of me. The only sound, however, was that of my feet on the dusty rocky trail at White Sands Missile Range.

You only stayed a moment, but after you left, the bending bowing cactus and pinon accompanied me. They lined the road much as the Filipino women and children must have done over 70 years ago - trying to provide food and water.

I wanted pictures of you to take as a blessed remembrance, but (ironically) for me, had no camera.

This year, once again, as the soldiers left me, you appeared and I was able to capture your presence. Thank you for being there.

This scarf is a limited edition of 15. This is the original image; the actual silk piece may vary in color due to fabric and dyes. Please see this and other scarves at my Shop.