Life is "Riveting"...Revisit Rosie

I titled it "Unfinished Business"

when I first posted a portrait I had done of my 

building friend Mo.  Little did I know how 

unfinished the story really was...

Off on another Habitat for Humanity build, this time to Goldendale, WA, I was looking forward to seeing my friend Mo who had appropriately posed for this photo when we built in James Island, SC.

Our gang loves the "Rosie the Riveter" theme and uses it informally when we build.  This photo went into a calendar we made and then I painted from my photo:

Unfinished Business, 24 x 18

oil on canvas

But apparently that was not the end of the story!  Life (and art) has a way of circling back when you least expect it.

We were tickled when The Dalles Habitat affiliate gifted us with blue tee shirts featuring Rosie on the back and our build date - they even made poka-dot neck coolers we used as hair ties.  So of course we were happy to oblige one day when they asked us to wear the ensemble for a "photo op" promoting the build.  What we did not expect was this:

The opportunity to meet and spend time with the REAL Rosie, Ada Wyn Parker, seen above with our enthusiastic team.

Ada is 95 years old and every inch the fashion maven she was in her day.  For a long history lesson on how she and her sister Naomi were eventually identified by a researcher as the inspiration for the iconic poster "We can do it" read this NYTimes story.  There is so much interesting information about how the poster came to be (for in-house use at Westinghouse to discourage absenteeism or striking by newly hired women) and the many other representational (even Norman Rockwell) uses it spawned.  

Ada was adorable...and inspiring.  She shared that she was the first female, several days after her 18th birthday to be hired at the Naval Air Station in Alameda, CA.  Her sister Naomi, two years older, was uninterested until she realized that making a whopping 65 cents an hour entitled Ada to buy new clothes....she immediately headed down to apply.  More here.

Women did not own work clothes and were having accidents with long hair, high heels and skirts, so when told to tie up their hair the Parker sisters shunned the plain white head scarves and brought in their own for a little more panache...thus the inspiration for the now well recognized red and white dotted bandana.  Ada retired after 7 years of repairing planes that had seen combat while her sister went on to waitress for many years following.  Naomi passed away several years ago but Ada is newly enthused about doing her part to inspire women today to leave their comfort zone.

Ada, aka "Rosie," stopped by our build site to drive a symbolic nail into the header over our front door, signing her name and best wishes for the new family.

As Mo and I helped her back up I realized that I don't need to wait to age 95 to encourage younger women on their path...I should get going on that mission right now.  And I loved that this intimate experience with an icon: the history, the poster, the women behind the war effort, the strides made since then and the miles yet to be covered - became so alive and real to me because of a "chance encounter." Chance?  Maybe, maybe not.....the power of art still amazes me.

COLOFULLY RIVETED,

Cindy