N'Spirational Conversations (c)This newsletter is dedicated to the memory of
Master Ceramics Artist/Professor
Marva Pitchford-Jolly
N'Spirational Conversations
My dearest First cousin Marva Pitchford Jolly has made her transition to the
Masters Ceramic Garden of Eden on last Monday!
She left in her sleep! How sweet is that?
I want to be just like her when I grow up!
No pain, no worries, no nothing.
Just sleep and restful sleep as her spirit descends unto
the ethers/heavens of the Ceramic Highway of Love!
Marva loved what she did so much, she shared her gift with others.
After a career in health, she decided it was time to do something different,
something she loved to do as a child. Play in the dirt!
Really?
Yes really!
I love it!
Against all odds (concerned family members included) she began her new
career playing in the mud, which became her passion. She got so good at it,
she began a career and taught all over the globe, including but not limited to
Liberia, her second home, where her brother Charles Pitchford is an Ambassador!
The art community is her extended family.
She was in the midst of preparing for the 25th Annual Showcase of
Saphires and Crystals, an organization which she co-founded
with Felica Grant-Preston.
I remember the days of old when she shared her art work at the Hyde Park
Art Fair and she would give us pieces, telling us that one day we wouldn't
be able to afford them, so get them inexpensive while we could.
True to her word as well as her work, Michigan Avenue Galleries in Chicago
and all over the world (including the continent of Africa)
swooped up her art work and pieces have become collector's items,
in the homes of the affluent and serious collectors.
(Glad I still have my private pieces from her private collection!
Thanks cuz!)
Collecting loved ones at family gatherings was her specialty as well.
Since most of the matriarchs of the Pitchford family have passed on,
Marva was like the Big Mama (without the Big Body!) of the family.
I always looked forward to having traditional holiday dinners at her place
with our beloved Ernestine! (Who could also throw down!)
Traditional in the word, but never in the sense of food.
Black beans, black eyed peas, cous-cous and baked sweet potatoes
were just a few of my favorites!
Marva could cook!
Truly a Southern Girl with a Northern Flair!
(Now you know that's where I got that intro for my bio!)
Marva and I both knew people who knew us individually,
but didn't know we were cousins.
I met a young lady at the Catalyst Ranch here in Chicago
some years ago where I was the Keynote Speaker for a women's
business networking event where my Champaign, CheeseCake
and Conversations Seminar was featured.
One of the attendees, Shuli Eshelle, is a Chicago Film Maker.
During the course of our conversation, I discovered that she knew
Marva and had filmed a documentary (MudPeoples) on our family farm
down in Crenshaw Mississipp. Small world!
Shuli and I became friends and when Marva showed up at Shuli's birthday party,
we just laughed and had a good time. The last time I saw Marva was up on
Devon Ave. Shopping. I would run into her from time to time, and even made it
by the house for family occasions.
My only regret is that I forgot to call her on her birthday this year September 11th!
I forgave myself, knowing that she knows where my heart is!
(You know we can sometimes be a little hard on ourselves!) It gave me much comfort
when my sister Vivian told me that Marva would always, always ask about me
when there was an impromtu family gathering that I had missed.
Marva is a Master @ what she does, and I love her spirit!
She taught me so much, just by being who she is. I remember a family dinner
when we were just sitting around shooting the breeze with all the family,
and the conversation was around The Course in Miracles (A MUST READ!)
and it got a little heated between my sister and I.
Marva in her Master Matriarchial way simply used one of the MasterMinding
principles on us, calming us down, keeping us focused!
It's just the little things is life that are so very important and dear to your spirit!
It's never about what you have or don't have, how much money or things you've
acquired, but how you've made a difference with the life you've been given.
I remember a friend cracked a ceramic piece Marva had given me and I snapped!
Their reply was “it's just a piece of pottery!” NO! It's not! It's part of my
Marva Jolly Collection! You can't buy that in a store!
Only at private events or in galleries!
Even more important, it was a gift from
her heart to mine!
It was made from the mud, to a family mud member.
Hence, mudpeoples!
I am still working on getting over the attachment to things.
You know we can't take it with us right? It's a process!
It's a journey!
Transition is a journey we all must travel.
Thank you cousin Marva for sharing your journey with me!
I'll always cherish our times together!
Marva Pitchford Jolly, family Matriarch, Chicago History Maker,
retired Chicago State University, world traveler, sisterfriend, Aunt to many,
Master Ceramics Instructor, and loved by all who knew her and her art!
R.I.P.
Memorial Sat. Nov. 3rd
11am - Visitation
12 Noon Memorial Service
Kenny Brothers Funeral Home
3600 W. 95th Street
  Marva in Black and White! Classic!  At Chicago State, doing what she does best! Create!          P.S. If you want to make your life better, make someone else's life better!
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Shelomith Yisrael
aka
Zelda Robinson
www.HigherLearningNetwork.org
www.ZeldaSpeaks.com
www.InspirationalConversations.comhttp://inspirationalconversations.blogspot.com/
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