The Albino Mola Maker
Lynn Veach Sadler
Sanford NC
I was born male
but albino,
so I sat among
the women,
sewed the molas.
This is where,
I think,
I became an
artist,
for no two
molas must ever be alike.
Not even on the
same blouse
can front and
back be the same.
The makers of
molas must
Crete, create,
create.
Else are they
shamed.
We are proud of
our handiwork,
wear the
blouses ourselves,
at least the
five-swatched ones,
until we tire
of them.
Then and only
then
are they sold
to tourists.
This is not a
cheating,
for only the
greatest of the molas
are worn by
ourselves.
To have one of
the blouses
we have
discarded is no small thing,
is much sought
by the collectors.
If I have had
success as an artist,
it is because
of what I remembered
from making the
molas.
No critic seems
to guess that
“the
Albino-Eduardo Technique”
is only an
adaptation of the appliqué
and cut work of
molas.
I use the
strong colors of the mola,
the animals and
scenes of molas.
Albino-Eduardo
the Artist was first
the Albino Mola
Maker.