I am Mary Margaret Green and my mermaid is Sadie, the Sea Island Quilter.  I have been intrigued with the whole fiberglass public art phenomenon since Chicago started it all with their cows on parade.  I followed the Beaufort cow and pig extravaganzas and was lucky enough to see the Atlanta cows at Olympic Park just before they were sent to their various venues.  When I saw the news articles in the Beaufort Gazette about the Big Swim, I began thinking about creating my own mermaid, incorporating the designs I use on my underwater fantasy quilts. As I was mulling over the possibilities, I received a call from Sea Island Quilters guild member Barbara Everette who wanted to do one for the guild.  She was hoping the guild could purchase a mermaid for the guild to keep but we discovered that the cost would be too much.  I decided to go ahead and submit a design as I had originally planned.  Maybe a member would bid on her at the auction.  

I wanted the mermaid to be holding a quilt similar to my underwater themed quilts.  Her body would be covered with a fabric collage in a quilt pattern.  When I finally received my mermaid in early November, I sanded and primed her then began cutting out a few squares to glue to her body.  I quickly discovered that squares would not fit on the bodacious curves of her body so had to pull those pieces off.  I then began drawing distorted four sided shapes that fit her curves using a flexible tape measure.  I tried to maintain proportions that would look like the skin had been stretched over her body.  I began to have a true appreciation for the NASA engineers that have to create each and every tile on the shuttle one by one to fit the contours of the space ship.  As I was laying on the floor, applying fabric shapes that were carefully cut to the drawn shapes, losing circulation in my arms from working over my head, and sometimes thinking nasty thoughts about missing Thanksgiving with my family so I could get this THING finished, my quilter's name suddenly popped in my head.  SADIE!!! Just the name for a troublesome, mischievous, yet charming entity.  These mythical figures are not known to be particularly kind.  After all they have a reputation for seducing sailors; well some of them, anyway.  Once she had a name, I found the work much more enjoyable and the fabric began to fly on her body.  I decided to use fabrics donated by guild members to create the scales on her tail.  I scrounged around in my fabric stash and found the perfect piece to cut into flowing strips for her hair.  About 3 a.m. one morning, I woke with the thought that she needed BIG flowing hair. I visited the crafts department of our local Wally World to buy wired ribbon but spotted the willow branches and knew instantly it was perfect.  The shells on her bodice and in her tiara came from my extensive collection of sea treasures from around the world.  The final touch was a dusting of mermaid bronzing powder to give her a freckled glow.  All she needed now was her quilt.  This was made of two layers of fabric glued on brass sculpture mesh.  Fabrics were cut and shaped to form the underwater reef and collaged to the top layer.  Everything was coated with many layers of outdoor varnish to withstand the sometimes harsh weather.

Installation day in early December was cold but beautifully sunny.  We created a bit of stir as Sadie was installed on her pedestal under the clock on Bay Street.  I couldn't have had a better spot, I thought.  Alas, this was not to happen.  In early January, Sadie disappeared!  Fortunately she was found after several days and the culprits captured and arraigned.  See the Gazette for details-the story of Sadie was THE news for several days. She has been repaired and final touches will be made soon.  Though I was concerned about her disappearance and damage, I was not surprised.  I knew from the beginning that public art is subject to vandalism and that Sadie was in a vulnerable location.  She was no longer mine-- she belonged to the Arts Council.  As artists learn, every art work will hopefully belong to someone else and that is part of the process.  I figured it was worth the risk to create Sadie so others could see my vision of the Big Swim and leave my mark before I retire from teaching art for 28 years and move back to be with my Dad in Alabama.  I hope Sadie finds a good home where she will be protected and appreciated.  Her early life has been an adventure for sure.