With art hanging on the wall made from palm fronds and resembling a blue elephant head, Linda Tiefenthaler holds a basket she wove from pine needles in a weaving class at the Women’s Wisdom Art, a low-cost community art program for women overcoming homelessness, violence, illness or abuse. They are asking Book of Dreams readers for a printer to make greeting cards from their artwork as well as art supplies. Contact LEZLIE STERLING — lsterling@sacbee.com

Linda Tiefenthaler used to spend much of her day on her sofa, reading and avoiding the financial, physical and mental hardships facing her.

She wasn’t eating much. She shuttered herself in her house, unaware of what was happening in the world.
Then came Women’s Wisdom Art, a low-cost community art program for women overcoming homelessness, violence, illness and abuse.

Tiefenthaler began taking ceramics, weaving and jewelry classes, and swiftly fell in love with molding and shaping clay into pieces of art.

Now, she spends more than 40 hours a week producing artwork. She’s participated in art shows and had a quilt she crafted on display in the Crocker Art Museum. She also teaches young people at Allied Ceramic Art Institute in Fair Oaks.

“Women’s Wisdom Art brought me out of my isolation,” she said. “It gave me something to wake up for. It really saved me.”

Story by Healing thru Art/2015