Penny Sanford Porcelains

Shocked and Sassy at #33

These photos have been sitting around in my To Be Blogged folder since summer! To be honest, I have been a bit embarrassed to share that I am in this brilliant book in a couple of places! 

This beautiful coffee table book is about the many, many accomplish -ments around the world of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution and some of the outstanding women who have been members of the DAR.  I'm just a country bumpkin from Mississippi who is a DAR member.

I am extremely proud that Gordon's photo of Rosalie Mansion was used in the book! That makes me want to put a picture of "his" page on a big sign on the van to show off as we drive around! I'm button-popping proud of his photography and especially his drive to learn and improve!

The Mississippi DAR is featured throughout the book because the Mississippi DAR has been very active and very progressive in historic preservation, including the Natchez Trace and Rosalie Mansion in Natchez and the Deason House in Ellisville, Mississippi.

Here's the joke on me, though.  When the book came out and when we got our copy earlier this summer, we found my name on a list.  I was still so excited about Gordon's picture making the book that I read the name of the list as Real Daughters.  That would be the women whose fathers fought or gave service inn the American Revolution.  Real Daughters are all dead by now.

Well, imagine my mirth when I saw that I was on a list of what I initially thought was dead women.  Then I saw other names of women who are still kicking, and I finally read Real Dazzlers.

That sent me into another layer of disbelief that I was even on this list of 100 noteworthy women in the history of the National Society DAR! 

Grandma Moses was a member of the DAR (plus many, many, many other famous artists! All these top drawer people are on this list... I'm just a country bumpkin....er...I've said that, but that is how I feel deep down inside.

Anyway, I am so very flattered and honored to even have a picture of my hands sculpting, and I'm blown away to be included on that list of DAR luminaries.

And I am chest-thumping- proud to see that Gordon's photo was chosen for this exceptionally beautiful book!

Here is more information on the book and how you can order it.  Any history lover or history researcher needs this on his or her reference shelf!

To the writers and editors, I am forever appreciative and humbled that you included my sculpture and me.

We are In a big rush this morning.  Hopefully later today I will have time to come back and add the captions for Gordon's picture of Rosalie Mansion.

One more thing:  A recent issue of American Spirit Magazine had a great feature on some REAL daughters of the Patriots of the American Revolution. There are women patriots and minority patriots documented by the DAR... in case you were not aware of that!

Here is where you can order that September/October issue and see why the American Spirit Magazine has won so many awards!

American Profile Article about the Studio

Taking a tiny break this afternoon while working on some wicked porcelain deadlines.  Blogging is always refreshing, so.....

Here is an article from earlier this summer. 

Actually, this is a snippet about the original article written seven years ago in American Profile magazine about the studio, Penny Sanford Porcelains.

Someone from the publication called earlier this year to verify the facts in the original article were still accurate. 

Then a synopsis or excerpt of the original article appeared in the May 28, 2007, American Profile publication, the paper version inserted into close to eight million papers every week.

Now I see where American Profile has built an online compilation of Trivia and Tidbits for each state.  Here is the one for Mississippi with my blurb down in the list.

Here is the original article that ran in American Profile on December 10, 2000.

To the lovely friends who mailed or delivered a copy of this latest mention in American Profile, thank you very much.  I would not have known about this tidbit had you not told me!

Published in High Cotton!

Talk about being in "High Cotton"! (That's an old Southern phrase for being in some high-fallutin' company!)

(Hmmnn, I wonder if I need to explain high-fallutin'!  LOL You'll understand in a minute!)

The Mississippi State Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts collected essays from its artist members in January, 2006.  The topic:  surviving Hurricane Katrina of August 29, 2005.

Artist member Melody Golding of Vicksburg had spent a number of days on a number of trips to the Coast delivering supplies in those first dreadful days after Katrina when it was just not possible for organized relief to reach all of the communities that had been hit hard by the storm. 

Melody took some jaw- dropping photos on those delivery trips, and wise MSC- NMWA heads said, "Hey, lets publish a book with the proceeds going to help Mississippi women artists along the Coast get back on their feet!"

The book was published by University Press of Mississippi.  That is the "high cotton" part because this publisher has high, high standards, and they can be very selective about what they publish!

University Press of Mississippi will be publishing the Martha Skelton book I blogged about in June.

MSC-NMWA member Sally Pfister compiled and edited the essay submissions...TONS of work.  I have huge admiration for her dedication!

Actually, I did not know my little essay, "Small Blessings" had definitely been included in the book until a friend in Natchez read it and emailed me, saying it brought her to tears.

So I ordered my copy right away, and it came in this week!  It is my first written piece to be published in a book under my name (not ghost-written)...and it is a University Press book!  I'm kinda excited as you can tell! 

In the past 20-odd years, my writing and photos have been published in newspaper and magazine and Internet publications and ghost written for a couple of published books.  Over the years, I've been interviewed for and quoted in book, magazine, newspaper and Internet, but this is the first time I have written something to be included in a published book with my byline!)

I hesitate to photograph or scan any more of the book than the cover and the first page of my essay.  Instead, I'll check with the publisher to see if they have any press-release photos that I may add to this blog post.

Here is a photo taken of one of my porcelain ornaments Gordon and I found buried in the sand at the home of Ret. Admiral and Mrs. Jim Lisanby in Pascagoula.  We saw the destruction to their lovely old home five months after Katrina, and Gordon happened to notice the gold ribbon peeking out of the rubble.

This photo was taken after the piece was found and pulled out of the ground by the Lisanby neighbors who had walked over to check that we were not looters.  (I was proud to see them taking good care of their neighborhood, even five months later!).  That fragile piece was in perfect condition as you can read in the draft I submitted to the editor.

I hope it does not cross any copyright lines to share my submitted essay with you.  I'll check with the publisher, and maybe they will let me excerpt the published version.  Since the book arrived, we have not had time to see how my little piece was edited.  (One can learn LOTS from editors, so I'm looking forward to comparing and learning!)

There are some book signings scheduled in the months ahead, to which all included writers are encouraged to attend.  A good many of my friends and acquaintances are included in this 270 page book, so I look forward to sharing time with them at these book signings.

Scheduled Signings:

August 11 – 2 p.m.-4:00 p.m. 
Turning Pages Books & More
208 Washington Street, Natchez, MS (601/442-2299)

August 14 - 5 p.m.-6:00 p.m. 
Square Books
160 Courthouse Square, Oxford, MS  (662/236-2262)

August 18 -    3:30 p.m.-5 p.m.
McCormick Book Inn
825 S. Main Street, Greenville, MS

August 25 - 2 p.m.-4:00 pm   
Favorites: A Book Nook in the Mary C. O’Keefe Center of Arts & Education
1600 Government Street, Ocean Springs, MS (228/818-2878)

Hitting News Stands Today...

Update:  As of 5/16/07, the NSDAR has completely sold out of the Liberty Bell Brooch.  You can still order a Liberty Bell Brooch from the studio: 1-866-894-5558.

A writeup about one of my porcelain designs and one of Gordon's photographs appears in the latest issue of a national magazine hot off the presses!

Awhile back, I was asked to sculpt and make a Liberty Bell brooch for a three year fund-raising project of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (of which I am proud to be a member).

We already subscribe to this excellent, award-winning magazine, and I am right now being quite distracted by the cover and the article it foreshadows. Intriguing!

Hopefully my copy will arrive in the mail early next week so I can read about those beautiful, but uncomfortable looking shoes from the early years of our country's history!

The folks at American Spirit magazine graciously sent the cover image and image of the article (second photo).  They also sent the text so that I could post it here and on our website.

(The following was published in the American Spirit magazine, May/June 2007, page 8. Copyright 2007, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution,  www.dar.org/magazine 

Symbol of Progress
by Emily McMackin

"Priceless information will be saved for future generations, thanks to the President General’s project, “Preserving Our Patriotic Heritage,” which aims to scan and digitize the National Society’s ancestral records, source documents and genealogical reports.

"Prospective DAR members will also find it easier to research and document their lineage through an electronic index of names and records of patriots, their children and their grandchildren.  The project has raised $3.2 million to fulfill these goals.

"One of the project’s sales items has been the porcelain Liberty Bell brooches, handcrafted by Penny Sanford Fikes, a member of the Thomas Rodney Chapter, Winona, Miss. The brooch, which sells for $25, replicates the Liberty Bell down to its famous crack and slippery elm yoke and even incorporates an unfurled American flag into its three-dimensional design. It can also be worn as a pendant.

“It’s a conversation starter,” Mrs. Sanford Fikes says. “Everyone who sees the crack knows what it is. And in that way, it continues to speak about liberty and freedom, even though we don’t hear the bell ring.”

"Mrs. Sanford Fikes fires her porcelain at a temperature above the usual 95 degrees to give the brooch a “white chocolate” luster. Its design is equally meticulous—while planning it, she collected photos of the bell from different angles and read voraciously about its history.

"Mrs. Sanford Fikes also made the Memorial Continental Hall ornament several years ago, as well as ornaments and brooches to benefit DAR projects in Mississippi, Florida and Louisiana.

"As an outgoing National Division Vice Chairman of the Genealogical Records Committee,  the cause of this project is close to her heart.

'“The DAR has a fortune in genealogical information,” Sanford Fikes says. “Thankfully, it also has the vision to push forward by digitizing it.”

"Order your Liberty Bell brooch by calling the DAR store toll-free at (888) 673–2732. Find more information about the brooch and its artist at www.pennysanford.com."
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Wow, thanks, Emily, for such a well-written article!  I am deeply grateful for the opportunities DAR has given my mother and me to participate in some valuable historic preservation, genealogical preservation and genealogical research projects over the years.

I like the way the publisher, Hammock Publishing, describes this very interesting magazine.  Here is the source of this quote, but I don't think they will mind if I excerpt it here:

"Steeped in a century-old publishing tradition, American Spirit is the new and official magazine of one of the best-known and most celebrated women's organizations in America, the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

"American Spirit captures the inspiration of the past and the renewal of national pride that continues to sweep the country. People, places, food, crafts, furniture, art and lifestyles from the nation's earliest days are presented in a contemporary and colorful design. Each issue captures today's growing fascination with historic preservation, travel, genealogy, patriotism, education, collectibles and Americana."

(Note:  We fire the porcelain above 2600 degrees Farenheit.  That was a typo in the article, but I needed to post the article here as it is printed in the magazine.)

Update:  As of 5/16/07, the NSDAR has completely sold out of the Liberty Bell Brooch.  This piece is still available through the studio:  1-888-894-5558.