BUBBEWISDOM

I am a Jewish, feminist, American, wife, mother, grandmother, sister, artist, quilt maker, business owner, educator, student, writer, and friend. I coined the term BubbeWisdom combining moral knowledge and common sense as it reflects upon and determines action that encourages human effort and ability to enhance the quality of life for all. 

I piece together philosophical values, physical consciousness, psychological emotions, ephemeral spirit to improve the likelihood of right action, in the right way, at the right time.

BubbeWisdom Values:

• Precious life requires kavanah: intentional and conscious living.
• Creating visual and written art inspires growth and learning.
• Within a constant state of life-change, it is critical to emphasize the process itself and not simply to achieve an outcome.
• Judaism affirms answers to purpose of life, free will, the nature of good and evil, the soul, and the afterlife that can work with other faith traditions and humanitarian approaches to advance world health and healing.

BubbeWisdom Goals:

• To create a written legacy for my friends, family and community. Read much more about this on my blog.
• To communicate in a transparent positive manner.
• To apply in daily practice Jewish faith and practice through learning, mitzvot, and tzedakah.
• To combat prejudice, promote diversity, increase communication, advocate social justice and sanctify the earth.
• To be accessible to the giving and receiving of information on life’s puzzles.
• To move beyond everyday triviality into the depth of spirit that enacts astute decisions to benefit the greater good and enhance the quality of life.
• To connect with a rational common-sense community of shared mission and purpose.
• To live a live with dignity, humility and rightful action.
• To maintain a sense of humor and prospective.

A PATCHWORK LIFE: THE HANDS-ON GUIDE TO LIVING PIECE BY PIECE

In 2020, I set about on a ten year plan to bring my fiber work to an intentional completion. The first step was to create a book by the above name. You can read more about it here on my blog. A large portion of my life now incorporated this mandate that I created for myself as BubbeWisdom.

In 2024-25, I was the subject of Louise Silk: A Patchwork Life, on view at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The exhibit augments the timeline of my quilting experiences written about in the book with my connections to community, art, feminism, and renewal. The story, while personal and specific, became the repository for larger concepts of folk history, cultural reflection, and personal identification. Read more here and watch the video summary here. An important piece of this exhibit was the interactive Witness Quilt, creating, collecting and then dispersing more than 1,000 BubbeWisdoms.

For Fiber Lovers: