A Fabric Collage Art Apron by Calamity Kim

She wore flowers in her hair.
She was passionate about her politics, religion and sex.
She danced with Death and fearlessly challenged him to fight her for her life.
About her work:
"Anguish & pain, pleasure and death are no more than a process she said. My paintings are well painted, not nimbly but patiently."
 I tried my best to channel her spirit for this Reversible Art Apron now appearing in this month's (July/Aug) Cloth, Paper, Scissors Magazine. Can you guess?
She loved flowers and intense colors.
She gave her heart to one man,
with complete abandon and he kept it, hidden,
only to take it out and break it repeatedly until she had finally had enough
and rebelled and abandoned him.
Only then did he realize what he had.
 She cut off her hair and wore trousers and painted surreal images to try to heal her pain.
 She was as talented as her husband in her own style
but never truly gained the fame that he did until after her death.
I can understand her pain, her passion, her fierce desire to succeed and be self sufficient.
To have someone look at her with the same desire and exquisite longing that she felt boiling inside
 of her, deep in the empty hollow places where she had been pierced by a pole from a trolley car
accident when she was still young and full of hope.
 She looked in a mirror hung above her bed to paint many of her self portraits when she was in a cast and unable to move. Lying there healing and tortured with thoughts of her future, the pain, the grief for having lost her uterus. Who would love her now? Have you guessed? Viva la Frida.
Using scanned images of crotons, mexican petunias, hibiscus and leaves from my garden printed on to fabric
I stitched together a free form bib and combined it with a reverse side
 that features some hand dyed fabrics of blue that Frida loved.
This side is covered with images and self portraits of Frida from various stages of her life.
It's loud, boisterous and fun~ just as the Frida in my imagination might be.
 I think she was sad and in pain most of the time.
The loud, party girl was to counteract the quiet, desperate agony that seized her
after her many operations to fix what was broken in the trolley accident.
I think she felt as though she wasn't fulfilled because she couldn't bear children
 and Diego Rivera, her husband (and famous painter) had many affairs, including sleeping
 with Frida's own sister. Tragic. Now we honor her for the paintings she gave us.
Surreal images that symbolize her painful life and her love of country, and the beauty she tried to show.
I think she felt that if she painted it then it would purge the pain from within her.
I am of course guessing, based on my own impressions.
 I read books, watched the Frida Movie and did a lot of research before I started sewing this last year.
I needed to have a sense of her.
Now I do.
She is just like us
 An Artist.
A woman.
A Human being with emotions so great all the tequila in the world might not numb them.
So, Viva Frida.
I hope she is still painting,
wherever she is and can run and laugh and feel joy without the pain.
She suffered enough.
The Frida Paper doll has a template on the CPS Website and I might have this apron available
 on Etsy for you to purchase soon.
I need to make an adjustment to the neck band so that it can be more flexible for different sizes.
This is the other side.
I made some things that I though she might have in her pockets...
a mirror, Lotteria cards, a bottle of tequila, her paint palette.
Don't forget your party hat!