SHOWING THE WAY
SHOWING THE WAY Growing up, I have always been a creative kid, but sometimes as a kid, you’re just not sure where things are going.
I was blessed to have Vickie Norrod pave the creative path for me. She is six years older than me and my mom’s youngest sister; technically my aunt, but she’s more like a sister to me. And, I hung on every word she said.
Starting in high school, Vickie followed her creative passion. I remember at the ripe old age of 10 seeing her first painting on canvas; I thought she is a “real artist”. She would share all her art projects with me and we continued the artist dialog when she started college studying art.
Vickie had a little detour in life with a brief marriage but then went back to college with her beautiful little daughter Amy in tow. About that time I moved back to Michigan to attend college and Vicki and I decided to live together for a while. In college, she focused on printmaking and art education. I focused on graphic design and painting. Off duty we both loved shopping at thrift stores, attending art fairs, going to concerts, and ate lots of tuna bagels. We are both strong feminists and didn’t want to be forced into a pink-collar job. We would talk over and over how we wanted to live our lives as artists. We can do this!
After she graduated from Michigan State University, Vickie and Amy moved to Florida where Vickie taught elementary school art. She is one of those gifted teachers we all remember and want for our children. She would empower those children to create masterpieces and love art.
As years went by, her personal art practice continued in her home studio. She lives in a house painted pink with walls full of art and books. Now retired, she reads about artists every day during lunch. And, when the mood strikes, she’s still going to thrift stores to collect things for new creations.
I feel that her greatest artistic gift is telling a visual story with layers of textures and colors. Her work and medium have evolved over time, moving from printmaking to narrative quilts to collages and altered books, but always telling a story.
My favorites are her collages that are bound together into an altered book, rich with layered images, narrative text, and textures. They’re created over many months and extremely personal, capturing the events, thoughts, and insights of each moment. As you turn the pages, you get a glimpse of her creative soul.
To this day, decades after being roommates, we continue to talk on the phone and visit when we can, sharing our love of art, museums, artists, and the latest creative people that we’ve discovered on Instagram.
We did it, Vickie! Living a creative life that is full of art!
