This week I began carving a linoleum block for a new print titled “Behind Her Helm”. The title was inspired by a photography project by photographer Kristin Rutkowski. On her site she writes “Her Helm is a portrait project for women who are boat captains…They are forging their way in a culture not historically meant for them…”. Here is the link to her site: https://www.herhelm.com/.
The work itself was inspired from my own experience as captain.
A couple of years ago I was working on an engine project with my boss Diddy. The engine had overheated and we were trying to find the cause. We checked all of the usual suspects, the water intake seacock was open and the filter was clear. The impeller was intact and spinning. The coolant wasn’t leaking anywhere. Anyone who’s done engine issue troubleshooting knows how infuriating it can be, which is amplified when you’re on a time crunch (and more amplified when it’s 95 degrees).
The engine room on that boat has two entrances, one from inside the boat behind the ladder which opens to the front of the engine (pictured above) and one from a hatch in the cockpit which opens to the top of the engine. Diddy was inside of the boat working from the front of the engine and I was upside down working with her from the top. At one point we decided to come up for air, I snaked myself upwards in reverse and Diddy leaned back and reached up for the threshold at the top of the cabin ladder to pull herself up into the cockpit. As her hand grabbed the wood her glittery pink nail polish glinted in the beating sun underneath a layer of oil and engine dirt. One of our crew members was walking by and exclaimed “oh! I just love seeing painted fingernails getting dirty from engine work!”. Her excitement lightened our mood, and the sentiment stuck with me.
I’ve written a bit about certain cultural symbols of femininity, such as in this post from last April. In that post I wrote “To lead like a woman you absolutely do not have to embrace femininity in any way that is not true to you. However, to lead like a woman you will not submerge any bit of yourself”. That’s a big part of what this print symbolizes for me. It’s an embodiment of so many of the amazing women that I’ve had the opportunity to know that are so fully themselves and do such badass things with so much grace. This piece is a cheers to them and to their dazzling manicures.
Hell yes Diesel Mama! I love this post and learning with ya!
Please let me know when the prints are available order 🙂
So right on!
Wait … what was the problem? You kinda left me hangin’
I was wondering who would catch on, but I didn’t think it’d be you asking since you were there for the solution! That was the project of the thermostat! We got the old one out, brought it over to Red and tested it on his galley stove, and sure enough it wasn’t opening the coolant system. Once that was replaced it was smooth…motoring.