Anne Huskey-Lockard went to Heaven today. One more beauty in the flower bed of Heaven. Anne was known to so many of us on the Fiber Pirate list as Queen Punk Anne. She would gladly hoist a grog, swear like the proverbial sailor, take on a Tea Party troll and tear him apart, and create some of the most beautiful, most meaningful art. She loved her “budgies,” created a gorgeous book on her little friend Milo, and chatted us up all the time via Facebook.

I’m quite the introvert, and Facebook has enabled me to come out of my shell and meet and chat with folks all around the world. I never would have met Anne otherwise. She helped set up our Art from the Heart site after the January 8 shootings in Tucson. She created a beautiful work of art for the site that you can see here. She collected everything for her mixed media; she was asking about slide mounts one day on Fiber Pirates, and I mentioned I was cleaning out my slides – I ended up sending her about 300 mounts for unknown projects. She got my blue high school sweater, washed and shrunk it, loved the fact that it was Maple Leaf colors, and proceeded to make slippers out of it.

We would talk over how to make our Zazzle and Cafe Press shops profitable; Anne at least had some really cool stuff to sell, all based on her artwork. We shared our many liberal ideas, all via Internet. Anne was like a close friend you never met in person.

No more gorgeous sunrise photos, no more glorious flowers. No more tales of the budgies. No more travels with the John Deere, dressed in Doc Martins. No more memories and jazz from New Orleans. No more great Halloween photos.

But Anne had faith, a really strong, steadfast faith. She knew she would continue life on another plane. She found a new calling in creating liturgical garments – absolute beauty to celebrate the Lord. Now she is no doubt asking God for the John Deere to maneuver those clouds into some semblance of order, raising a glass when she’s done, and looking after all of us.

Dearest Anne, I will miss you.

Linda and Milo