C. Jeré and BJ Keith, Sculptor (Part 4)

Keith says she prefers making pieces that "combine moving, curved lines with negative space. …Line,
implied movement, balance of elements and rhythm are the foundation of my art." And when she
achieves line, form and balance in one of her metal art sculptures, "That's what makes my heart sing,"
she adds. (Artisan House: 30 Year Retrospective with Artist BJ Keith)

Nearly two years have passed since I began this blog. Life happens and catches us up in its whirlwind, and before we know it, a year or more has passed. What prompted me to return was stumbling upon some articles on my mother today while I was doing research for a novel I am writing. I was thrilled to discover, that finally, after 30 years, Artisan House is acknowledging my mother as the creative genius behind most of its sculptures for several decades now since Jerry Fels. I believe my last post indicated that she had retired from Artisan House, but only as Art Director. She has not only continued to help new art directors fill her shoes, but she has continued to design true metal sculpture fine art.

My mother, BJ, never one to toot her own horn, didn't even tell her daughters about this "revealing party" in Las Vegas last year. In reading the interview with her (in Artisan House's "Meet the Artist BJ Keith"), I learned things about her childhood that even I didn't know!

"Who could have known what the future held for a mechanically-inclined girl whose
favorite "toy" was a tool kit, rather than the dolls her sisters favored? Whose father, a master carpenter, kept her well supplied with soft white pine and hand tools? Who later graduated to power tools and studied metal art sculpture while earning her studio art degree at California State University?" (Artisan House: 30 Year Retrospective with Artist BJ Keith)

Only recently I was stunned to discover that her father was going to send her to Art School at the Sorbonne in Paris, she had to decline in order to marry and birth me. In 1960 women could not do both. I grieve for her loss in that, but I look to what she has accomplished while and since raising four daughters. Now much of her work is among the best sellers in the European art world (Artisan House "Entry to Euro Market").

My daughter, Mireya, was one of 55 students out of 3700 applicants who was accepted to Cornell University's School of Architecture this past year, the number one undergraduate program for architecture in the nation this year. I know that she is who she is due to the inspiration provided by my mother. Mechanically and artistically inclined, she takes after her grandmother,
not only in talents but temperment. BJ created not only a legacy by her own talent, but pays it forward with her granddaughter. What BJ doesn't know is that Mireya's college application essay was an ode to her grandmother.

It was my grandmother, however, who is my flagship for strength. It is she who has had the most profound influence upon my life. Under the guise of advantage, my grandmother was a debutante, a high school dropout, pregnant and married at 15, the mother of four children for the next 18 years. She lived under the shadow of men for half of her life, set aside her many talents, gifts and dreams. At 30, she went back to school, received her AA, then her BA, after which she went on to obtain her MA in Fine Art. After completing the program, the college refused to confer the degree upon her because they said she “couldn’t have possibly done the work--that it was too good, too professional.” Momentarily devastated but not paralyzed, she immediately joined a metal sculpture house as an artist, and from there worked her way up to becoming their top designer and then Art Director, her work now bringing in a majority of the revenue for the entire company. She refused to let the preconceived notions and egos of those around her squelch her creativity and drive. I was indignant, nay, furious, when I discovered this at one family dinner, but my grandmother was philosophical about it and just smiled at me with a wink. "Success is the best revenge," she said, although I have never heard a revengeful sentiment leave her lips. At 58, she bought her first house, tore it down, redesigned it in the Craftsman tradition, and earned herself an eight-page spread in American Bungalow Magazine. To my aspiring architect's mind, this only solidified her hero status. "Don't wait for life to be fair," she told me once, "Command respect by never sacrificing your talent or your integrity." She still does this at agef 63. No matter who told her she couldn't do something or wasn't good enough, she ignored them and kept moving forward. I learned this tenacity and sense of self from my grandmother." (Excerpt: Cornell School of Architecture application essay by BJ Keith's granddaughter)

A fitting ode to an extraordinary grandmother, woman and artist -- BJ Keith.