Artists in Living – Anne Higginson and Vibe Spicer
Many prominent Kenilworth residents, including Vibe and Anne Spicer were active in the late 19th century Arts and Crafts Movement.
A guild was founded in Kenilworth in 1896. Characterized by individual artistic expression and the creation of art as an escape from the increasingly dense, industrialized and mechanized city, the Arts and Crafts Guild included many enthusiastic Kenilworth residents.
The Spicers moved to Kenilworth in 1896. After a period of renting a house, they asked architect George Maher to design a home for them at 312 Essex Road. They called their house “Tilfredshaden,” a Norwegian word for contentment. Anne created an elaborate garden on the property. The appeal of the Spicer home and garden was recorded by a tribute written by early Kenilworth resident, Louise Kirkland Sanborn, “The heart of the Spicer house was a big red brick fireplace facing the front door, warm and grateful welcome as one came in out of the cold… Later they built the Mushroom Shop where they could turn their clever fingers to the things they were both so much interested, carpentry, weaving, pottery (Vibe set up a potter’s wheel and built a kiln), and before long charming bowls, tiles, vases and similar treasures began to flow into their friends’ houses.”
Anne was a creative writer as well. She published her poetry in two volumes and she was a contributor to a popular column in the Chicago Tribune called, “A Line ‘O Type or Two.” The published name she chose was “Anchusa,” a flowering plant. The following poem was dedicated by Anne to a Mrs. Lee who had sent Anne seeds of the Anchusa Capensis.
“I wonder if they’ll grow! Surely they must
If warmth and welcoming love can make it so.
How I shall watch till the first seedlings show,
Chrysoprase piercing through the earthy crust.
Bursting their casings, how they will upthrust
And push and reach up where the sunlit glow
Works golden alchemy to make things grow-
Sweet tiny miracles, out of dust!
Then I shall lift them from their sheltering frame
And plant them in the sunny garden beds
Where they will wink at me with flowery eyes
And smile in the friendliness and speak your name.
And I shall bend to pet their little heads-
Deepened reflections of these April skies.”
