I met Jeanne online about three
years ago. At that time, I became
fascinated with the project she’d
been working on and writing
about—a contemporary fi ber-based
art project she does with her sister-
in-law, Nancy, who’s differently-
abled.
Nancy doesn’t speak. Specifi cally,
she doesn’t speak audibly more
than a handful of words. Instead,
she scribbles her own special
language on paper, and then Jeanne
transcribes those thoughts and
drawings—with embroidery fl oss
and a needle.
They call this collaboration
of heart, mind, and spirit “In
Our Own Language” —or IOOL.
Nancy, the artist, “scribbles” her
thoughts on to whatever paper
form is available and Jeanne,
the artist/stitcher, hand stitches
those marks—each individual
little scribble or curlicue—using
embroidery fl oss on a variety of
fabrics such as tablecloths, curtain
panels, handkerchiefs, or pieces of
fabric. Each scribbled mark fi nds a
way into stitched form capturing a
private language written by a person
whom Jeanne loves deeply.
Like hieroglyphics observed
on ancient scrolls, one can clearly
see the pace, cadence, rhythm, and
beauty of Nancy’s indecipherablelanguage, the codex of a private
mind. I wondered aloud how all
this got started. With her typical
articulate wit, Jeanne replied, “In
June 2012, at the ripe ‘young’ age
of 55, Nancy had her fi rst-ever all
girls’ weekend. A friend had wanted
to meet this Nancy I spoke so
much about, so I fl ew to my friend’s
house in Miami, and we drove to
central Florida where Nancy lives.
We picked Nancy up from her day
program in my friend’s convertible
and went straight to a restaurant
where we got her all sugared-up
with a hot fudge sundae and a
milkshake chaser.