My grandmother, Lutecia Adam is a strong and powerful woman, who has always appreciated the pleasures and beauty of life. She is a source of inspiration for me, an example of a resilient creative life! A teacher to many, respected and loved in Venezuela for her knowledge in holistic medicine. Her books, filled with old and popular natural remedies have alleviated many either recovering from an illness or making a peaceful transition to another life by showing them the use of natural herbs, the power of certain foods for healing and the overall changes that a person has to make . Nature’s Laboratory (the names of her 3 books and the weekly column she wrote for more than 15 years in the national newspaper) is where she found her inspiration and wisdom! A survivor herself, twenty years ago, diagnosed terminally ill, she not only cured herself , but she has spent the years after her recovery sharing her knowledge of how we can all achieve a long and healthy life connecting to nature’s wisdom and abundance.
My grandmother is now retired. But it is not easy for a woman like her to settle down. She lives in a small town in the countryside, 2.5 hours drive from Caracas. She still receives visits from patients seeking her advice and is writing two new books: one on her experience through the harsh dictatorship of Marcos Perez Jimenez and another one on foods for cancer patients. Unbelievably she also makes time to run a community garden/ learning center, takes care of her own garden, cooks amazing nutritious feasts and her latest adventure: crochets with plastics bags!
Another characteristics common to her generation, unlike ours, is that she reuses everything!  She took a modest little country house and renovated it into her beautiful home. This house is filled with examples of upcycling, from the colorful glass bottles encrusted in the kitchen wall to the big tire in the garden used as a flower bed, everything get’s a second life with her!
I have no doubt that much of my creative spirit was directly inherited from her and stimulated with her presence in my life! On my last visits to Venezuela I taught her how to make Plarn (plastic yarn) and how to fuse plastics. She has found yet another source of expression for her creativity in these activities and has been producing ever since some amazingly beautiful pieces:
She made this hat by fusing plastics bags:
These two handbags also showcase her artistic talents:
It was my grandmother who patiently taught me how to crochet when I was 12. An activity I have just recently taken up again. I taught her how to use plastic bags to crochet. It has been a wonderful exchange of ideas, knowledge and most of all Love. I Love her and I am so proud of her and she Loves me and is also very proud of me! Thank God for grandmothers, specially for my beautiful, amazing grandmother!
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