An artist is inspired by so many different things - - by people, landscapes, environment, culture....the choices are infinite. But when you have a dad who takes you to his office full of mechanical pencils and electric erasers, your inspiration comes not only from the equipment in said office, but from the renderings, models, and physical structures that are eventually created from that equipment. Or when you have a mom who takes you to 87 fabric stores to feter out the fine detail of matching buttons to fabric, your inspiration comes from the hunt, from the process, and from the ultimate selection. (https://texasstatebuttonsociety.com/)
Artist Lynne Weinberger was duly inspired by her parents. She could hardly believe that her dad, at the architectural firm, got paid to draw and make things. She could hardly believe that her mom got to spend her weekends shopping for fabric and sewing happily. She watched them and she learned from them. She learned it was all in the details.
Her parents demonstrated the fine art of "detailing" in everything they did at home. Her dad made Lynne a sewing table with built-in shelving, a matching bench, a flip-top lid and padded laminate for pinning material. The three-story dollhouse had furniture, fixtures, Formica counter tops, and a pair of stained, wing back chairs upholstered with silk from his silk ties. Its pendant lamp was made by slicing a ping pong ball in half. He and her mother cut the silk material, upholstered the furniture, and braided the hanging planters from old telephone company wire. Yep, Lynne's house was the house with all the really cool stuff. Their house could have been the first "Inspiration House" by HGTV.
As an adult, Lynne used her parents as inspiration when she joined the Six Word Memoirs group. Anyone can write about life and fill a 3-inch binder full of information, but not everyone can capture life's details and nuances in only 6 words. Lynne decided she was up to the challenge. She began distilling her life's lessons in 6 words or less.
After a year or so of working with the Six Word Memoirs group, she received notice that the organization had chosen one of her 6-word memoirs for their book, "The Best Advice in Six Words". The memoir they chose? ‘See the world; savor the differences.’ It was the perfect selection from an artist who travels the world and is inspired by both her family and by the strangers she meets across the globe. The advice books are now New York Times bestsellers.
When the Six Word Memoir group announced its immigration theme, "Six Words Fresh Off The Boat", (in conjunction with the TV Show of the same name), Artist/Writer Weinberger was compelled to write several more six-word memoirs about her parents. Did she write "Architects build three-story doll houses" or "Out of Fabric, Said No One"? No. She wrote, and the book selected, "Wore our flag on his lapel" because her architect dad always called America his "God-blessed land".
When she is not at Barnes and Noble signing books, Ms. Weinberger is at home in her art studio in McKinney, Texas. She can be reached at lynne@lynneweinberger.com.