Good evening everyone,

I have had a busy week and what I would really value would be quiet and some soothing pictures. Maybe that's you as well! I hope so because it's what Fem Fri is going to be:

I've not tended to go in a lot for photography here, but here's a true woman innovator - it's Julia Margaret Cameron!

A well-read, educated woman, she often pressed her subjects into posing for pastoral, allegorical, historical, literary, and biblical scenes, such as in Madonna with Children (1864). In this photograph, she transforms Mary Kellaway, a local dressmaker, and Elizabeth and Percy Keown, children of a gunner in the Royal Army, into figures in an enduring art historical scene.

https://www.moma.org/artists/932

If you love Ab Ex - and I do too - here's Mary Abbott. I also like her approach to collaboration:

One of the most representative collaborations for Mary Abbott’s style and work was a project she had with Barbara Guest in the ‘50s. Just like Mary’s mother, Barbara Guest was a poet – in fact, she was a first-generation representative for the New York School- and their collaboration aimed to create what Abbott referred to as “poetry paintings.” Mary Abbott had to translate to painting what Barbara was able to put into words.

https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/architectural-community/a3878-life-of-an-artist-mary-abbott/

Finally, here's Loïs Mailou Jones and her lovely painting "La Baker".

You can also enjoy this photo of her painting with a kitten:

https://arthistoryproject.com/artists/lois-mailou-jones/

Love,

Alex.