FARMINGTON – It’s not often that life goes as planned.
For better or worse, we carry the same cards all along, regardless of whether we’re trotting merrily down the path our parents envisioned for us, or we are careening off route, mud flying appropriately.
Of course, careening is not necessarily the joker in the deck. For some, going off route simply leads them back to the right path- messy though it may be.
For Meredith Mustard and Judy Foss, careening lead them home. To each other, to their work and fortunately for Franklin County, to a quiet hilltop just outside of town.
Together, Mustard and Foss are Two Imagine Studios- a creative catchall hub that serves as the longtime friends’ business entity. Though the name holds meaning (an alignment, a sisterhood, a past life, perhaps) the business hardly ever fits neatly into one title. Creativity commands the two women’s lives, showing up in their homes, their clothes, their gardens and their livelihoods. Two Imagine offers workshops, coaching, the place cards at your dream wedding, the stockings on your mantelpiece, your sister’s birthday card, or the framed fine art hanging in your bedroom.
“Just sitting down across the table from each other and working on a project…it was just magic…it was absolute magic,” Foss said.
It wasn’t always magic between the pair. For 16 years they didn’t speak to one another, pushed apart by differing business styles and major life events. Though they each continued to make art, they did so separately, with a complete unawareness of what the other was doing. Years later, they realized their lives had been mirroring one another all along, which made the reunion that much more sensible.
After a lengthy healing process, Two Imagines was born again, this time from their separate homes- Foss in Maine and Mustard in Pennsylvania. The women would take turns trekking across New England to meet up and create art together, often monthly. Finally, Mustard made the decision to join Foss on her hilltop in Maine, reinforcing the success of Two Imagine in the basement studio of Foss’ home.
The business hasn’t changed much since it started in the early eighties, but Foss and Mustard leave plenty of space to test out new ideas or artistic style. From blind calligraphy and ink slinging (“…it’s about loosening people up”) to intricately designed stockings (“I went looking and couldn’t find anything…so I sat down and made my own”) the clear, blue Maine sky is the limit for Two Imagine.
