Figure 1. The opening slide of Marie Metz's very interesting discussion on the art and the life of Beatrix Potter.
A well fed group of GNSI members enjoyed a very thoughtful and interesting presentation about the Life and Art of Beatrix Potter.
A few highlights:
- Beatrix was born to a wealthy progressive family, but lived a sometimes lonely life with private tutors for her education. Her younger brother became her best friend as soon as he was old enough. The small protective world brought out her imagination, displayed in the journals and art she kept.
- In her 20's Beatrix prepared original research on the reproductive processes of molds and fungi. But Potter's research was not accepted in the scientific community largely because she was female. She then turned to her love of drawing an made herself world famous. She had a strong belief in her work, but was surprised by its overnight success.
- She did not marry until she was 47, and even then her parents were initially against it.
- She settled in Lancashire after her marriage (the playground of her childhood summers) and used the money earned from her books to purchase 4000 acres of Lake District for the farming of Herdwick
sheep. She became a prize winning sheep breeder, and bequeathed her beloved land to the National Trust for preservation upon her death.
Here is a list of biographical material Marie recommends for you.
- Victorian Naturalist (all about Potter's drawings in the Armitt
Collection) ISBN 0-7232-3990-8 - Beatrix Potter's Art by Anne Stevenson Hobbs
ISBN 0-7232-3598-8 - The Journal of Beatrix Potter from 1881-1897
Transcribed from her code writings by Leslie Linder
Library of Congress Catalog # 66-15691
Frederick Warne & Co. LTD: London, England 1966
Marie Metz will be giving this same presentation, with much more insight than I have listed above, at the 2005 GNSI Conference in Bar Harbor Maine.
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An excellent selection of foods made everyone feel comfy for the presentation. Decorations included wicker picnic baskets and Beatrix Potter tea towels. |
Everyone catches up on events and business. L to R: Alice Tangerinie, Deborah Feher , Trudy Nicholson, and Merri Nelson. | Speaker Marie Metz tries to look amused as I make jokes about the digital projector. Mary Parrish tries to remain calm. |
Photos for this meeting were taken by:
Vera A. L. McLaughlin
Senior Data Analyst
HIR Information Systems Security
U.S. House of Representatives