Heather and Mom Stobo, March, 2021.
“I owe it all to chocolate, art books, and young men.”
-Beatrice “Beato” Wood, when asked the secret to her longevity.
Five days into graduate school, I was confronted with the three most difficult questions of my studies. Why? Why? And, why? I botched the first two answers. No matter how many art-world buzzwords I peppered into my responses, my photographic documentation of a pug owned by two lesbians wasn’t really created to symbolize “the dichotomy of women,” or “the proletariat’s ongoing struggle against the patriarchy.” What it correctly signified is the fact that I am gay, and my work is about who I am.
People often taste our chocolate and ask us “Why? Why?” The Pussy Between Us is delicious and Saturday Night at the Voltaire has great historical context, but, really, our company is about Beatrice. “And, why?” The answer is both our motivation and our heartbreak. At age 82, my mother has dementia. I miss her every day and even more so when I’m sitting next to her. At 94, Beatrice created the Bed Stories portfolio and would keep creating and traveling until her death eleven years later. We can’t get my mom's mind back; however, we can celebrate women who live lives filled with Wellness, Creativity, and Pleasure. Is chocolate the secret to healthy longevity?…Beatrice thought as much, so, we’ll go with that.
Stay tuned,
Heather
Co-Founder of Beato Chocolates