We Build

As the world groans with destruction

The earthy sweet smell of sawdust and fresh cut boards was an important part of my childhood.

Before his accident, my dad would take me with him sometimes to ride around and visit his building sites. We’d step over screws and nails and enter into the bones of a house- 2x4 boards framed the spaces that would become walls- stairways led to second stories that were only just platforms in the sky.

I loved these visits. I loved walking into a space bursting with potential of what it would become. This will be the bedroom with a window that looks out to the mountains. These will be the french doors that open to the deck, where people will gather for dinner during warm summer evenings with Christmas lights and laughter.

These visits abruptly stopped when I was about to turn 7 and my dad was hit by a truck on his bike. It left him with a TBI (traumatic brain injury) that he’s lived with for the past 40 years.

My dad’s tools were all that were left of his career as an architect after the accident and so I would disappear into the garage and build wobbly chairs and tables with his old hammer and saw, the smell of the wood wafting through the space. As a teen, I would draw out ideas on index cards and then use the power tools to bring those visions to life. I would forget to come in for lunch as everything in my life was forgotten outside my creative focus.

In my 20’s I thought about getting a job at a construction site to further my learning about building, but feared the pushback of being a woman in a space dominated by men who didn’t want me there. And so my building skills atrophied.

I moved states, and grew up, and had kids and no longer had a garage filled with tools. But to my luck, we found Girls Garage. Last summer my daughter was part of a group of 15 that created a huge wooden whale for a kid’s playground. It’s an organization that is taking the empowered feeling of building and marrying it to the empowered feeling of doing something together for the community.

The founder, Emily Pilloton-Lam shares that:

“At Girls Garage, we often say that building is bonding. To gather together as young people, drills and saws in hand, isn’t just about power tools, it's about our own power. We raise walls, shape space, and imagine futures that include and represent more womxn, people of color, and people across the entire gender spectrum. Building the world we want to see together is our greatest source of hope and physical embodiment of joy.”

I got the beautiful opportunity to collaborate with Emily to create this month’s print, We Build. I visited the workshop and watched teens cutting, sanding, gluing and painting as they laughed, talked about their projects and lives, and built mini book libraries for their community. The smell of sawdust made me feel at home.

Proceeds from this month’s print will be donated to Girls Garage. This is a limited edition of just 24 prints and they are hand screen printed on powder blue paper with non toxic red and dark blue ink. All prints are signed, numbered, and ready to frame. Order yours here.

The act of destroying people’s lives is so quick. It’s the opposite of building which takes time, creativity, trust, and insight. So as the world groans with destruction, here’s to the builders who remind us about the beauty of what the world can become.

Warmly,

Jen

p.s. For those of you in the Bay Area- Come say hi and learn more about Girls Garage on Sunday the 8th at Local Economy in Oakland!

p.p.s. I got to be a part of this very cool project my friend Garrett Bucks is building- he’s looking for some great gatherers around the country- check it out and help spread the word.