Major at Williams: HIstory of Ideas and English

My professional life as a developer of independent power plants (cogeneration, wind and solar) and raising three boys consumed 30 happy years and left no time for hobbies. Since retiring I have tutored elementary school students, volunteered on campaigns, traveled a lot, read a lot, conducted oral histories of retired Stanford professors, and enjoyed silk painting.

 

I've always loved fabric, costumes, mixing colors, and wearable art, so dabbling in silk painting has been enjoyable; enhanced by opera, rock, and classical music, it's also a respite. I'm just a beginner using easier dyes, so the palette isn't intense; electric magenta tends to soften to deep rose in the rinse. I've made a number of scarves and wraps and have plans for airy jackets. My mother was an oil painter and our house overflowed with art. Staring at a blank canvas always made me freeze. The idea that I should be creating something meaningful or beautiful, and hopefully both, was inhibiting. Wearable art is ornamental and less pretentious and therefore, for me, less intimidating. It's not great art, but it is fun and so far friends accept gifts. Plus it doesn't take a lot of time!

Email: aliciahtorre@gmail.com