Die Kleider Meiner Mutter - Ein Artikel in der Presse 2021 - an article in the Press - Mother's Dresses

 

https://ga.de/bonn/bad-godesberg/ehemalige-cusanus-schuelerin-startet-corona-kunstprojekt_aid-57171909

 

GA.de. 8.4.2021: Die Kleider Meiner Mutter - Ein Artikel in der Presse 2021 - an article in the Press - Mother's Dresses

Translation:

My Mother's Dresses: Former Cusanus student starts Corona art project

April 8, 2021, Article by Silke Elbern, General Anzeiger Editor Bad Godesberg / Wachtberg

                   

 Susanne Nielsen in front of the canvases showing her mother in dresses she created herself. Photo: private

 

Bad Godesberg / Florida Susanne Nielsen graduated from the Plittersdorf Nicolaus-Cusanus-Gymnasium(NCG highschool) in 1976 as the child of (German) diplomats. When her parents had to leave Bonn (for a new posting), she stayed behind to attend Bonn University. From her home in Florida, she has now completed an unusual art project in collaboration with her 91-year-old mother in Germany.

Susanne Nielsen left Bad Godesberg for the United States 38 years ago, but she never let go of her connection with this city district (of Bonn, the former West-German capital). As a diplomat’s child, like so many other such (international) children at the time, she attended the Nicolaus-Cusanus-Gymnasium (high school) in the Plittersdorf neighborhood and over the years, was able to reconnect with many of her 100 fellow high school graduates from (1967 -)1976 (the GA reported, https://ga.de/bonn/bad-godesberg/sie-lebt-in-florida-und-sucht-klassenkameraden_aid-42318061). The 63-year-old German-American artist is also a member of Godesberg Facebook groups and recently posted one of her works of art. Strictly speaking, twelve works of art in one: What is so special about this project? In each painting you can see her mother in a dress she created herself.

"This was our Corona project," says Nielsen in a phone  interview with GA.de. The beautiful woman in the pictures is now 91 and continues to live in Germany. In the past twelve months, mother and daughter have been in touch via video calls to Florida (Whatsapp), for two hours every day. “We started talking about her dresses,” says her daughter, who is a college professor of art. Her father (Dr.) Otto Schmidt had worked for the German Foreign Service as an economist. "My mother had the role of social representative," says her daughter, a little sadly. 

(because…) Her mother would liked to have become a fashion designer.

Anneliese Schmidt's passion has always been sewing, she would have loved to get into the fashion business. “Since she first had to take care of her sick mother, she had apprenticed to become a pharmaceutical technician,” explains Nielsen. But her mother’s part-time job with a photographer kept her with immersed in the world of fine fabrics. After marrying the diplomat Schmidt, however, Nielsen's mother took on the role of partner. "It was an important part of the occupation to receive up to 50 guests a month and to host meals," said the daughter.

Her mother wanted to shine, of course, but her husband's employer didn't provide an extra budget for all that was needed in this profession. “So my mother sat down at the sewing machine at night and sewed all her own clothes herself.” Initially she used upholstery fabrics and silk gowns of Nielsen's grandmother. In 1967 the father was posted back to the Foreign ministry’s headquarters in Bonn (,Germany). The family, in San Francisco Nielsen’s brother had been born, lived at Goten Strasse 144, (in Bad Godesberg) directly across from her (high)school. "On the one hand that was practical, on the other hand I would have loved to have been a bus commuter kid," Nielsen said. All her Barbie dolls wore the dresses her mother had sewn for them.

The social obligations continued, and throughout her mother also sewed clothes for the daughter - and all her Barbie dolls. “I still have them,” says Nielsen proudly. During their phone calls, an idea came to Nielsen, to honor the most beautiful clothes - including her mother wearing them - on canvas. “Not an easy undertaking, because many of them were in black and white photos only.” They discussed the project with each other and then Nielsen picked up a paintbrush. Every month she created a portrait on unstretched canvas in the acrylic technique, the size of each 6x1 ft (200 cm by 0.60 cm). Why not framed? “My art should be easy to transport and to display, I want to be able to carry (my paintings rolled up) under my arm,” says the trained Humanities instructor.

She laid the foundation for her university career in Bonn, where she studied English literature, art history, and education. When her parents moved to Switzerland in 1975, she remained in Bonn. In 1983 she moved to the US with her husband, an American USAF fighter pilot. Now that the Corona paintings are completed except for a few small details, she plans to also recreate the actual dresses. “The entire project shows all my appreciation of my mother’s accomplishments, and also for the creativity of ALL the other post-war women.” If everything goes well, she wants to board a plane to Germany in August with her art. As always, Bad Godesberg will be a stop on her trip

 Susanne Nielsen in front of the canvases showing her mother in her own dress creations.

 Susanne Nielsen also writes a blog where she reports on her life as a university instructor, artist and journalist: http://susannenielsenarts.blogspot.com.