![IMG-1675](https://craftcouncilbc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/IMG-1675.jpg)
mrs. williams: homage to the homemaker
mrs. williams: homage to a homemaker
melanie thompson & judith barnett
march 25 – april 29, 2019
ccbc shop & gallery
“Mrs Williams: Homage to a Homemaker” is the work of Melanie Thompson and Judith Barnett. The idea came from an old wooden recipe box given to Barnett by her elderly neighbor, Mrs Williams. Inside the box was a collection of recipes, beautifully scripted in pen and ink, which, for Thompson and Barnett, symbolized the work of a lifetime homemaker. The box engendered memories of her own childhood for Thompson; her mother having a similar recipe box and being a homemaker, spending hours of each day in the kitchen, cooking, sewing, and repairing.
celebrating women's work
![](https://craftcouncilbc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Thompson-Melanie-for-web-01-1024x1024.jpg)
Thompson and Barnett believe that “women’s work” is to be celebrated and appreciated and both practice the homemaker arts themselves.
To bring this to life they created a truly unique version of a kitchen from the 1950’s: dresses, aprons, mixing bowls and handmade books, vie for space with washing lines, an ironing board, shelving units and furniture, with re purposed materials being used throughout. This display shows a portion of the work made for the installation.
![](https://craftcouncilbc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Thompson-Melanie-for-web-02-1024x1024.jpg)