Arty Farty Friday ~ A rare, 3-generation, Female Painting Dynasty.

First, and most importantly:

Many Arty Farty Friday posts relate to male artists, today a refreshing change, not only one female but three - a three generational female painting dynasty!


Margarete Bagshaw (November 11, 1964 – March 19, 2015) was an American painter and potter. She was the daughter of artist Helen Hardin and grand daughter of artist Pablita Velarde. Together, they formed one of the only three generational female painting dynasties known. Their work is on permanent exhibit at the Golden Dawn Gallery in Santa Fe.

To write full rundowns on each lady would be taxing for both writer and reader so I'll mainly be linking to other sources regarding biographies and artwork; here I'll do nutshell bios, show something representative of their artwork, and compare their natal charts, looking for familial similarities, if any.

Margarete Bagshaw, born this day, 11 November in 1964, she sadly died last year, aged only 50. She had been diagnosed with a brain tumor and suffered a stroke, leading to her death.

From an obituary By New Mexico reporter Jackie Jadrnak HERE

“Painting in complex compositions that feature a dynamic color palette, her work is instantly recognizable. Her large monumental canvases honor the work of her mother and grandmother, and are truly a testament to the significant place the women of her family hold in the art world …,” says the Golden Dawn Gallery website in describing her work.

She often worked on several paintings at a time, like a chess master moving down a row of tables playing multiple games.

Kate Nelson, author of the Helen Hardin biography, wrote in a tribute to Bagshaw, “… she emboldened her friends to dream big and strive past their supposed limits. She donated her time, money and heart – even a kidney in 2002 – to various causes and people.

“She held a rock-hard work ethic and lived with gusto. She threw lavish dinner parties, loved dogs (especially Maggie the goldendoodle) and indulged an unapologetic weakness for cute shoes. Her laugh could melt icicles.”

McGuinness called Bagshaw “without a doubt the most spiritual person I ever met,” adding that she was anti-religion. “She saw things differently, in more ways than one.”

More at pdf on THIS website




and for examples of her artwork see Google Image HERE

Wikipedia:

Margarete's mother, Helen Hardin (May 28, 1943 – June 9, 1984) (also known as Tsa-sah-wee-eh, which means "Little Standing Spruce") was an American painter. Her parents were Santa Clara Pueblo artist, Pablita Velarde and a Caucasian former police officer and Chief of Public Safety, Herbert Hardin..........Hardin's relationship with her high school boyfriend, Pat Terrazas, continued after graduation and they had a daughter, Margarete Bagshaw, in 1964. Hardin had to sneak opportunities to paint because both her boyfriend and her mother disapproved. She went to Bogotá, Columbia in 1968 as a respite from the abusive relationship with Terrazas and an unhealthy relationship with her mother. She said of that time, "I awoke to the fact that I was twenty-four years old, I was locked into an unhappy [relationship], and I was not painting. I didn't know who I was or what I was. In search of personal freedom, I took Margarete... and left the country."

In 1973 she married Cradoc Bagshaw. Her relationship with her mother improved in the 1980s, and Velarde began to be supportive of her work. Hardin was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1981 and died in New Mexico in 1984.

Pablita Velarde (September 19, 1918 – January 12, 2006), Helen's mother and Margarete's grandmother.

Wikipedia

Velarde was born on Santa Clara Pueblo near Española, New Mexico. After the death of her mother when Pablita was about five years old, she and two of her sisters were sent to St Catherine's Indian School in Santa Fe. At the age of fourteen, she was accepted to Dorothy Dunn's Santa Fe Studio Art School at the Santa Fe Indian School. There, she becomes an accomplished painter in the Dunn style, known as "flat painting".............In 1942, Pablita married Herbert Hardin, a graduate of the University of California who she had known for some time. Her daughter, Helen Hardin, and her granddaughter Margarete Bagshaw became prominent artists in their own right.

Pablita Velarde's paintings via Google Image



ASTROLOGY

(All 3 charts are set for 12 noon, times of birth unknown.)

Margarete Bagshaw born 11 November 1964 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Helen Hardin born 28 May 1943 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Pablita Velarde born 19 September 1918, Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico.

Starting from the eldest of the trio, Pablita's chart, last of the 3 above: her Uranus in Aquarius (its own sign of rulership) and in opposition to Aquarius' traditional ruler, Saturn, might be seen as translating into her daughter Helen's natal chart as Sun conjunct Uranus and Saturn. This was, perhaps, an echo of their seeming incompatibility. Pablita's Sun/Mercury/Venus in Virgo would have reflected a rather strict, critical nature in the mother figure, especially difficult for her rebellious Sun/Uranus daughter. The mother's nature was, however softened by a natal Moon somewhere in Pisces, and Jupiter in Cancer.

Helen, Pablita's daughter, had Sun/Saturn/Uranus in Gemini, a heady mix to deal with I guess! Her natal Moon would have been found in either Aries or Pisces. Pisces Moon would have matched her mother's Moon, but Aries Moon would add fire to that Airy Gemini trio, possibly more potential for trouble - of which she appears to have experienced a bundle!

Margarete, daughter of Helen, grand daughter of Pablita, had Sun conjunct Neptune in Scorpio (17 and 19 degrees), close to her grandmother's Mars at 21 Scorpio - possible an astro inheritance. Her Aquarius Moon, degree is uncertain without knowing time of birth, and Saturn at 29 Aquarius could echo another "inheritance" from grandmother's Uranus at 24 Aquarius. Pluto/Uranus/Mars in Virgo in Margarete's chart are yet another reflection of the Virgo flavour of her grandmother.

Astrological Hand-me-downs

I first posted on this topic in 2007. Time for another look:

I've always felt fairly confident, from personal experience, observation and a little bit of Aquarian logic, that astrological traits flow through families, but it seems that when subjected to rigorous testing the theory doesn't hold up. Michel Gauquelin carried out exhaustive research in the 1960s and 70s without finding anything as conclusive as astrologers might have expected.

I have a copy of Gauquelin's book "Planetary Heredity". It's not easy reading! Here's what he had concluded by
Chapter 9:

"For the convenience of the reader, let me summarize the main findings. My investigations of over 25,000 deliveries have found that children tend to be born when the same significant celestial body (the Moon, Venus, Mars, Jupiter or Saturn) is in the same diurnal zone (rise culmination, or outside) as it was at the birth of their parents. There is no effect for the Sun or other planets, or for astrological signs, aspects and houses. The effect is not influenced by sex, duration of labor or birth order. It is increased if both parents share the same diurnal positions. It tends to disappear if the birth is artificially induced. The effect is not large, but is reproducible and statistically highly significant."

So "something is going on", but not exactly as previously surmised. I just wonder though, if going up close with a powerful microscope, as Monsieur Gauquelin did so efficiently, doesn't blind us to the bigger picture. If you examine an oil painting up close with a magnifying glass, you do not see what the painting portrays, you see only random, meaningless brush strokes.

Astrologer C.E.O. Carter points out in his Encyclopedia of Psychological Astrology :

"However, it cannot be doubted that any part of the nativity may represent an inherited trait, and the examination of the nativities of members of the same family confirms this. In a case known to the writer, the father and his three sons, and six out of ten grandchildren, had Saturn in either Aries or Cancer! It is also frequently found that the same sign is prominent in the great majority of the horoscopes of a family, containing, as a rule, one of the Lights, or the ascendant."

I can't help thinking that there's something else - something important that we just don't know yet, which needs to be included in the equation, before scientists like M. Gauquelin can get a clear view of the big picture.

Some comments from 2007:

I am right there with you with the astrology / genetics connection, which I see as incredibly strong. Even though astrology is part of the holographic universe that has a foot in other dimensions as well as this one, I still think that this could be a “theory” that has weight which could be demonstrated using the scientific method. Perhaps we need to look at different variables.
(Melody)


I'm also interested in analyzing the astrological family patterns.
I've written an article about an interesting case found on my activity:
http://www.ciuboda.com/post/family-patterns-ceres-grand-cross/80
(Dan)


Though by no means proven, I've tended to see that elements tend to run in families, through the Sun, Moon, and Ascendant. My family are all Water signs and I am the lone Earth Sign; this explains a lot about why I always felt like the odd one out of the bunch. My mother's family is full of Water, too, especially Cancer (my Dad is a Cancer); the exceptions are the two "rebels" of the family: My aunt will Earth Sun and Moon and my uncle with Air Sun and Moon.
My Dad's family (his planets are all clustered in Cancer and Libra with only Mercury in Leo) also has this strong focus on Water and Air, though both my Aunts have Earth Ascendants (I seem to get along better with members of my family that have a strong earth placement).
In my immediate family, we all have Water or Earth Suns and Fire or Air Moons. I also share a Leo Moon with my mother. The Ascendants are all Water or Air too (the most prominent signs), except for my Capricorn Rising.
My cousin's daughter was born Saturday, and is a Virgo Sun, Taurus Moon with Scorpio Rising. Her father is Sun in Taurus, Moon in Pisces and her mother is Sun in Capricorn Moon in Cancer (unkown ascendants). I find it rare in family charts to see kids who are elementally different to their parents.
Also, I have seen many charts where the Mother shares the moon sign with one of her children or it is in the same element (also, kids with moon signs that share the same planetary ruler). In my immediate family, the exception is my brother, but his Aquarius Moon opposes (by sign, not degree) both mine and my Mom's! So it's not completely unrelated. My other brother has a Sag Moon.
(RCSL)

Original post & comments here.


My own credentials for thinking that there are astrological hand-me-downs in family circles :
My mother had three planets in Cancer, I had Cancer rising natally. She also had Jupiter in Pisces, as do I. My father had Sun in Aquarius as do I, he had Saturn in Aries, as do I, and Mercury in Capricorn, as do I. Degrees are different in each case, but zodiac signs are the same. I don't have birth times for my parents, so can't compare rising signs. Mother had Sun in Libra, making us an Airy trio. My Dad's family has quite a strong Aquarius influence among my uncles and cousins. I can only assume it was inherited from my paternal grandfather's unknown father. My mother's father had Sun in Gemini, more Airiness. She inherited the Cancer emphasis from her Taurus Sun mother who also had emphasis on Cancer.


Some links to other material on this topic:

Astrology and Heredity: a Personal Detective Story by Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum.

The Australian Parent-Child Astrological Research Project by Bernadette Brady.

Astrology and Heredity: The Thread of Life a book by Rosemary Peel

The Astrology of Family Dynamics by Erin Sullivan (I like the look of this one - read pages from it at Google Books

All in the Family: Cloning, Genetics & Astrology by Valerie Vaughan.

Another post of mine: Family Astrology ~ Family Portraits

Family Astrology ~ Family Portraits

As seen in Friday's post on the Vernet family of artists, astrology via the natal chart, as well as heredity via DNA, can be seen to have connection.
ISAR, International Society for Astrological research some time ago began a project to investigate this:

"We are convinced that astrological heredity research is a
promising field. Some results have already been found, and
a great deal of good quality research material, i.e. family
birth data, is simply waiting to be exploited to reveal its
secrets. "

There's a pdf file on some preliminary work HERE.

Michel Gauquelin wrote about family astrology in his books Planetary Heredity and Cosmic Influences on Human Behavior.

From introduction to Planetary Heredity:

"Over one hundred years ago, Gregor Mendel discovered the fundamental laws of genetic heredity. His work was too revolutionary for the authorities of that time to accept. But, today, Nobel prizes are numerous in the science of genetics. Michael Gauquelin may have made a discovery of the same nature. Through extremely hard work (gathering the birth data of more than 100,000 deliveries) he has demonstrated that we were born under similar cosmic conditions as prevailed at the birth of our parents. Thus, he is the founder of a new genetic science. Mendel, an obscure monk working with plants, discovered patterns of human heredity. Gauquelin graphs a relationship between human heredity & the stars.... "

From a review of Cosmic Influences on Human Behavior

Chapter 14. Cosmic Genetics shows that statistically children have more chances to have the Moon, Venus, Saturn, Mars or Jupiter on angles if their parents had them. It is an argument which sustain astrological heredity which is more complex and can be observed easily manifesting in other ways like: planets in the same signs, the same planetary aspects etc.

Speaking of families - and just because I can, I'm borrowing some vintage photographs of families, identities and astrology unknown, from my husband's collection at Lost Gallery and Flickr

If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people.
Thich Nhat Hanh quotes (Vietnamese Monk, Activist and Writer. born 1926)

The family is one of nature's masterpieces.
George Santayana

Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life! ~Albert Einstein

The Only child?

In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future.
Alex Haley

Proud Relatives of Sons "called to arms"?

A family is a unit composed not only of children but of men, women, an occasional animal, and the common cold. ~Ogden Nash

"The occasional animal" (+ my husband's caption)

Oh. I was just looking for my um...ball. Yeah, that's it. Pork chop? No. No, I haven't seen any pork chop.