Promo code to help you tell your mum that she is #1

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Still looking for that perfect way to tell mom that she's #1??? 

use the below link  to get 20% Off + Free Worldwide Shipping on everything when you order from 'virginia creates' ....

my Society6 Store. And with FREE shipping you can have it shipped to her door step!!! 

https://society6.com/virginiafitzgerald?promo=PCYD96VVVQ46

what mom wouldn't want a clock to remind everyone to breathe, deeply and repeat ....

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Available in natural wood, black or white frames, our 10" diameter unique Wall Clocks feature a high-impact plexiglass crystal face and a backside hook for easy hanging. Choose black or white hands to match your wall clock frame and art design choice. Clock sits 1.75" deep and requires 1 AA battery (not included).

a personal favorite ... this flowery, fleecy throw, full of love.

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Our seriously soft throw blankets are available in three sizes and feature vividly colored artwork on one side. Made of 100% polyester and sherpa fleece, these might be the softest blankets on the planet, so get ready to cozy up. They can be machine washed separately with cold water on gentle cycle. Tumble dry on low heat setting. 

Doesn't everyone need this reminder to just "let it go" ?!?!? 

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Our quality crafted Tote Bags are hand sewn in America using durable, yet lightweight, poly poplin fabric. All seams and stress points are double stitched for durability. They are washable, feature original artwork on both sides and a sturdy 1" wide cotton webbing strap for comfortably carrying over your shoulder.

For all of us when we need a shot of confidence ...  'you've got this, love frida'

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Organize your life with our Carry-All Pouches. Available in three sizes with wraparound artwork, these pouches are perfect for toiletries, art supplies or makeup. Even an iPad fits into the large size. Features include a faux leather pulltab for easy open and close, a durable canvas-like exterior and a 50/50 poly-cotton black interior lining. Machine washable.

Give mom this luscious beach towel and she can always wrap herself in LOVE ...

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Lay out like a pro with this super comfy, oversized and unique artist-designed Beach Towel. The soft polyester-microfiber front and cotton terry back are perfect for, well, drying your front and back. This design is also available as a bath and hand towel. Machine washable. Towel Dimensions: 74"x37"

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a percentage of ALL sales of products with this 'rainbow peace' design will be donated to the The Rainbow Peace Flag Project, supplying Rainbow Peace Flags free to anyone who wishes to fly the flag.  

Here is a way to give mom flower's that will stay fresh for a very long time, with my 'spring flurry ...' bath towel.

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This artist-designed Hand Towel is the ultimate bathroom accessory! With a soft polyester-microfiber front and cotton terry back, it'll dry you off and act as the perfect creative accent. This design is also available as a bath and beach towel. Machine washable. Towel Dimensions: 

Hand Towel 30"x15", Bath Towel 64"x32", Beach Towel 74"x37"

Or give mom this flowery and bright mug, with the lovely quote from Emerson,

'the earth laughs in flowers.'

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Available in 11 and 15 ounce sizes, our premium ceramic coffee mugs feature wrap-around art and large handles for easy gripping. Dishwasher and microwave safe, these cool coffee mugs will be your new favorite way to consume hot or cold beverages.

https://society6.com/virginiafitzgerald

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Elizabeth Lee Miller

Elizabeth "Lee" Miller, Lady Penrose: acclaimed war correspondent during WWII, fashion model, surrealistic artist (working with and inspiring Man Ray) surrealistic gourmet chef, post traumatic stress disorder survivor, photographer, muse/artist model and mother.

Cover of the biography Lives of Lee Miller by her son Antony Penrose

Lee Miller in Adolf Hitler's bathtub, Munich, 1945.
David E. Scherman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Lee Miller (April 23, 1907 – July 21, 1977), was known for her work in front of and behind the camera, as well as many other achievements.

She had a passion and a drive that got her to the front lines of WWII and was the subject in this iconic photo taken by David E. Sherman. 

Below are many links to articles, essays and a very informative video of Lee's son, Antony Penrose, speaking at NSU Art Museum's exhibit of Miller's work.
Vogue photographer Lee Miller sits in the bathtub of Adolf Hitler’s Munich residence — the very day that Hitler and Eva Braun took their lives in Berlin. 

Said The New York Times of this photo, "A picture of the Führer balances on the lip of the tub; a classical statue of a woman sits opposite it on a dressing table; Lee, in the tub, inscrutable as ever, scrubs her shoulder. A woman caught between horror and beauty, between being seen and being the seer." all-that-is-interesting.com

26 Of The 20th Century’s Underrated Iconic Photos
By Erin Kelly on February 23, 2017

click here to read David E Scherman's description of this photo and his wartime experience with Lee Miller on  time.com:
The Woman in Hitler's Bathtub: Lee Miller, Munich, 1945Ben CosgroveNov 06, 2014

If you have a moment, watch this informative, entertaining and comprehensive view of Lee Miller's life narrated by her son, Antony Penrose.

NSU Art Museum : THE INDESTRUCTIBLE LEE MILLER

Published on Oct 13, 2015   The Indestructible Lee MillerWritten and Narrated by Antony Penrose

Lee Miller, Fire Masks, 1941. During the London Blitz,

Don’t Let History Forget This Incredible Female World War II Photographer

ALEX BEGGS, SEPTEMBER 30, 2015
article about Lee Miller on VanityFair.com

Picasso and Miller at the Rue des Grands Augustins in Paris, 1944.

© Lee Miller Archives, England.

one of Picasso's paintings of Miller 

I believe Lee Miller's life exemplifies many of the way that a woman's contribution is not adequately recorded and how women not only need to do the work but also need to demonstrate that she is more than an object or a possession.  Miller was a talented and brilliant photographer and she was fortunate that she was allowed and supported while she photographed WWII in a manner that only she could do.

from NPR:  Much More Than A Muse: Lee Miller And Man Ray Weekend Edition Saturday :

Phillip Prodger, curator of the exhibit: "There's a long history of women not being given their due in the history of 20th century art. ... Lee Miller has often been described as Man Ray's muse. And even though she was a muse, we wanted to make the point that there was something deeper and more important there. They were both powerful artists, and they fed off of each other.

The couple's devastating breakup in 1932 inspired some of their most famous works of art.
But Man Ray and Lee Miller reconciled in 1937 and stayed close for the rest of their lives.
They are pictured together in London in 1975.
Eileen Tweedy/The Roland Penrose Collection

Below are some excerpts from a New York Times article about Miller, and a link to the entire article.  The last excerpt is of woman artist, Martha Rosler, talking about the double work that 'women war photographers' had to deal with, 'two fronts', the war and the men.

This double duty, sadly, is still common today, for women in so many fields, careers and classrooms. Not only do women need to do the work at hand but they also need to protect themselves, guard themselves and fortify themselves against the advances, criticisms and threats from some of their male colleagues.  

‘The Indestructible Lee Miller’ Celebrates a Daring Surrealist and War Photographer
Hilarie M. Sheets      OCT. 27, 2015

A version of this article appears in print on November 1, 2015, on Page F12 of the New York edition with the headline: Subverting ‘Muse’ to Blaze Her Own Path.

In Lee Miller’s uncommon life, there are two celebrated periods. The first began in 1929, when, at 22, she apprenticed with the Surrealist photographer Man Ray and modeled for him in innovative portraits and radical nudes. The second was during World War II, when Miller was one of five accredited female photojournalists accompanying American troops into liberated concentration camps, documenting atrocities.

Vogue hired her in 1940 to report on women involved in the war effort in London, and she became an accredited American war correspondent in 1942 at the suggestion of her friend the Life photographer David E. Scherman.

Ms. Rosler said she was unaware of those pictures for Vogue in London when she created that series but was influenced by Miller’s earlier Surrealist work as well as by her personal story. “Women war photographers had to fight on two fronts: the bombs, and the men,” she said. 
new york times, oct 27, 2015

Jane Jacobs

Jane Jacobs:  American-Canadian journalist, author, editor, and activist best known for her influence on urban studies, champion of the vitality of a city, creator of the concept "Ballad of the Sidewalk", advocate of walking, proponent for equal pay for women,  mother.

“Jacobs was a woman of infinite humility, compassion, warmth and generosity of spirit. She reveled in challenging conversation with thoughtful people, listened carefully to citizen testimony at public hearings, never resisted the opportunity to stand up to power and wished only for people to continue the dialogue she started, not duplicate her words… Jacobs’s thought and writing comprise a resounding symphony of lessons and ideas; they compose a life’s work about economic, social and environmental justice.” 

- The Nation, May 2006

Jane Jacobs at the White Horse Tavern in 1961 (Credit: Cervin Robinson)

Here are some facts, quotes and inspirations of Jane Jacobs, someone I had heard of but now I am enchanted. As an advocate for cities and neighborhoods, she lead the fight to save Greenwich Village and Washington Square Park, and she believed in the importance of getting out and WALKING and learning your surrounding!!! I LOVE this woman. VF

Jane Jacobs (1916-2006) was an urbanist and activist whose writings championed a fresh, community-based approach to city building. She had no formal training as a planner, and yet her 1961 treatise, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, introduced ground-breaking ideas about how cities function, evolve and fail, that now seem like common sense to generations of architects, planners, politicians and activists.

A firm believer in the importance of local residents having input on how their neighborhoods develop, Jacobs encouraged people to familiarize themselves with the places where they live, work, and play.

janejacobswalk.org

"As a mother and a writer who criticized experts in the male-dominated field of urban planning, Jacobs endured scorn from established figures. She did not have a college degree or any formal training in urban planning, and was criticized for lacking such credentials."

Experiencing discrimination at Iron Age, she also advocated for equal pay for women and for workers' right to unionize

She was also famous for introducing the concept "Ballet of the Sidewalk" that intricate dance between neighbours and passers-by that make a street enjoyable and friendly.

After Jacobs' death in April 2006, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a Jane Jacobs Day, held on June 28, 2006.[75] The City of Toronto proclaimed her birthday the following year, May 4, 2007, as Jane Jacobs Day.

“No one can find what will work for our cities by looking at … suburban garden cities, manipulating scale models, or inventing dream cities. You’ve got to get out and walk.” 

— Jane Jacobs, ‘Downtown is for People' (Fotune Classic, 1958)

Jane's Walk is a movement of free, citizen-led walking tours inspired by Jane Jacobs:

a series of free neighborhood walking, biking, and transit tours that help put people in touch with their environment and with the people who live in their community.

Our mission is to help people walk, observe, and connect with their community and environment. Walks inspire people to make a difference because they enable members of a community to discover and respond to the complexities of their city and environment through personal and shared observation.

one of my classic cityscapes, my ode to my love of city living

Link to learn more: 

Jane Jacobs @ Project for public Spaces

janeswalk.org

Jane Jacobs @ wikipedia

'Eyes On The Street' Details Jane Jacobs' Efforts To Put Cities First

MAUREEN CORRIGAN

Licia Ronzulli

This composite picture shows the mother-daughter duo at Parliament sessions
from September 22, 2010 to November 19, 2013

Licia Ronzulli: politician, health manager, mother, nurse.

Licia Ronzulli was Member of the European Parliament for northwest of Italy, representing the The People of Freedom party and New Forza Italia party 2009-2014. She won a seat in the 2009 European Parliament election.  Licia worked as a nurse in Milan and Bangladesh before become a hospital director and then turning to politics.

Licia Ronzulli as an Italian MEP is known for bringing her daughter, Vittoria, to the Parliament's  sessions.  Every day is Bring Your Child To Work Day at the European Parliament and so that is Licia Ronzulli has done.   The pictures of Licia and her daughter together in Parliament not only make me smile, but reenforces the power of parenting by example and how empowering that act was/is for her daughter Vittoria. 
She first brought her daughter to a plenary session when she was 44 days old as a symbolic gesture to support more rights for women in reconciling work and family life.

News coverage of Ronzulli's story has generated a lot of discussion on family leave policies, especially around the fact that only four countries in the world have no national law requiring paid maternity leave: Liberia, Papua New Guinea, Swaziland, and the United States.

To learn more about the lack of paid family leave in the U.S. and a group working to give all Americans access to paid family leave, check out MomsRising.org at http://bit.ly/mOQbVO

"When she first wore her six-week-old baby in a sling in the European parliament, photographs of mother and child caused a stir. As Ms Ronzulli observed at the time: "We've been doing a lot of work in the European parliament and there was no interest [from] the press. Then I come with my baby and everybody wants to interview me.” The MEP claimed at the time that it was not a political stunt. But she did call for a discussion of the lives of working mothers shortly afterwards."The Italian MEP who's a poster girl for working mothers everywhereThe Telegraph,  Sally Peck 20 Nov 2013

However, even though Ronzulli's decision to bring her daughter to work with her has lead to a greater discussion of maternity leave and women's and mother's rights in the work place, these topics are still  debated subjects and are still under attack, as you can read in this article on Huffington Post (01/22/2016) by Montserrat Domínguez :

This Spanish Politician Took Her Baby To Parliament. She’s Not The Only One.Carolina Bescansa is the latest in a series of lawmakers around the world who have brought — and at times breastfed — their babies in congress. 

Montserrat Domínguez HuffPost Spain