“Afloat” Image. Ceres Gallery. New York. Solo Show.
Ah, black slips! My grandmother liked to get dressed up, make-up, hair (naturally dark, down to her waist, up in a bun.) Earrings. She was considered bohemian because she was a concert organist and pianist. And she loved hanging out in her black slip.
She played for silent movies when she was twelve. And later in her life, she played piano in the saloons of her native Montana. She played for drinks, which she hid at her feet. (She brought lidded jelly glasses from home and she would pour the drinks into them after “last call.”)
My grandmother would come to visit us when we lived in Pennsylvania and Connecticut, staying a month at a time. She’s sit around all dressed up, makeup and hair in place, jewelry too and would remain in her black slip all day. Playing cards and greeting our neighbors.
When she went back home to Montana, I heard she even mowed her lawn in her black slip.
Hollis Hildebrand-Mills 