Dear Readers,
Before world-renowned chef Julia Child passed away in 2004, she worked with writer Alex Purd'homme to author My Life in France — a book filled with her captivating autobiographical memoirs.
When we consider her celebrated achievements as a French chef, we may easily assume that she was born with natural culinary skills and a predisposition to all things French.
Interestingly, Julia (who was born and raised in Pasadena, California) explains taht she didn't really learn to cook until after she got married at the age of 34, to her husband Paul Child. After four years of married life, Paul's work relocated them to Paris, France — a land with a culture, language and food that were completely new to her.
Says Julia: "In Paris ... I was surrounded by some of the best food in the world ... so it seemed only logical that I should learn how to cook ... good, traditional French home cooking. It was a revelation. I simply fell in love with that glorious food and those marvelous chefs. The longer we stayed there, the deeper my commitment became."
Whether it's Julia Child or other individuals who have achieved spectacular success in their field, it is not uncommon to learn that success is frequently preceded by passion, commitment and hard work.
The artwork of famous textile and collage artist Carolyn Quartermaine graces the cover of this special 10th anniversary issue of Somerset Studio. When we consider her accomplishments, we could also assume that things have always come easily for her. But as you will read in her Artist Portfolio (page 38), Carolyn was diligent in her studies and passionate in her efforts to refine her skills to develop into the artist that she is today.
In 1997, Somerset Studio was the second magazine to be launched by Stampington & Company. At the time, it was an audacious concept for a young publishing company ... a concept born out of a revelation that our community of paper and mixed-media artists deserved a magical space where we could gather to play, create, discover and share.
For the past 10 years, Somerset Studio has been the nation's leading publication in helping artists share their most innovative techniques used to design projects of the highest caliber. Many contributing artists offer stories similar to Julia Child — of not having started on their artistic journeys until well into their adult lives. Lisa Guerin, for example, shares her exquisite paper dolls (page 46) for an audience who might find it hard to believe that she had not begun making art until just a few years ago. But Lisa and most other artists, including Michelle Ward with her very cool magazine file project (page 90) and Connie Govea Stuart and her Victorian Vignettes (page 98), have discovered a truth similar to Julias: that the longer one stays within the world of paper and mixed-media, the deeper our commitments become.
In honor of Somerset Studio's 10th anniversary, we offer our gratitude to all of our contributing artists. Without your creative talent and generosity, we would not be where we are today. And the longer we have stayed, the stronger our commitment and resolve have become to continue publishing the very best magazines so that we can all continue to frolic together in a truly magical place that has come to be known as Somerset Studio.
Best to come,
Kellene Giloff & Jenny Doh
[This letter was published in the Jan/Feb 2007 issue of Somerset Studio.]
I found this book whilst living in Ann Arbor, Michigan and devoured it with relish. I love reading about other peoples lives, the minutia is fascinating.
Cheers
Olive
Posted by: Olive Appleby | September 02, 2009 at 10:36 AM