Environmentally Friendly Recycled Cedar Shingles

Emmeline Pankhurst

In the U.K., women were not granted the right to vote until 1928. The suffragist movement began in the mid-1800s, following a peaceful, non-confrontational approach.

According to the British Library,

"From the perspective of some campaigners, the suffragists failed to achieve votes for women by peaceful, ‘respectable’ methods. Many disillusioned women began to advocate a more militant approach. These groups became known as the suffragettes, and they adopted the motto 'Deeds not Words'.

"In Manchester in 1903 Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) with her daughters Christabel and Sylvia. The organisation grew to include branches all over Britain and involved more working-class women. The WSPU adopted militant, direct action tactics. They chained themselves to railings, disrupted public meetings and damaged public property. In 1913, Emily Davison stepped out in front of the King's horse at the Epsom Derby. Her purpose remains unclear, but she was hit and later died from her injuries.

"Suffragettes were arrested and imprisoned, but continued their protest in prison by hunger strike. Although initially they were fed by force, in 1913 the Prisoners Temporary Discharge for Ill-Health Act was passed in parliament. Commonly known as the Cat and Mouse Act, this allowed prison authorities to release hunger-striking women prisoners when they became too weak, and re-arrest them when they had recovered. Emmeline Pankhurst was jailed and released on 11 occasions.

My painting is based on a photography of Emmeline being arrested outside Buckingham Palace in 1914.

acrylic paint on recycled cedar shingle, 6" x 24"