Wild Root Creations

Wild Root Creations Arts & Education Custom Affordable and Unique Artwork and Classes For All Ages!

Leading Lady Edna Marie Bolz Hussman is considered to be a “Radium Girl”. Edna worked for the U.S. Radium Corporation in...
08/26/2026

Leading Lady Edna Marie Bolz Hussman is considered to be a “Radium Girl”. Edna worked for the U.S. Radium Corporation in Orange, New Jersey for two years as a dial painter. She became the fourth person to pass away from radium poisoning. Edna was one of five women who participated in a groundbreaking lawsuit against Radium Dial in 1927. The suit was settled out of court in 1928, providing the women a settlement, annuity, legal and medical expenses. However, the company took no liability for poisoning employees in exchange for the settlement.

Learn about Edna and the other dial painters. Collect each paper doll in the Leading Ladies Radium Girls series. The artwork created for Edna’s paper doll is my artistic interpretation of her likeness based on the sources available to me. Please note that the sources and information regarding the Radium Girls contains graphic content pertaining to what happened to the dial painters, and caution should be heeded when read and viewed by young audiences. It is important to learn our history, even when it is difficult to do so.

The Leading Ladies Radium Girls series is a capsule collection created to honor the many women who lost their lives and health to radium. These women bravely shared the truth of what happened to them. Many were never compensated and spent years of their lives experiencing health complications due to exposure to radium from time working at U.S. Radium and Radium Dial. All artwork is the creation of InterArtist Jen Haefeli, Wild Root Creations®.

Leading Lady Mary Ellen “Ella” Cruse is considered to be a “Radium Girl”. She worked for Radium Dial in Ottawa, Illinois...
08/20/2026

Leading Lady Mary Ellen “Ella” Cruse is considered to be a “Radium Girl”. She worked for Radium Dial in Ottawa, Illinois for four years. Ella’s case of radium poisoning is the first known case from the Ottawa, Illinois dial plant. After Ella passed away, her parents filed the first known case against Radium Dial on behalf of a dial painter. It was the first case outside of New Jersey filed on behalf of a dial painter.

Ella was just 24 years old when she passed away from radium poisoning.

Learn about Ella Cruse, and how her case impacted the laws in place to help protect workers in factories today. Learn about why the Environmental Protection Agency is working to protect cities like Ottawa from the radiated, dispersed soil so that homes, businesses, and water in cities in Illinois will be safe.

The artwork created for Ella’s paper doll  is my artistic interpretation of her likeness based on the sources available to me. Please note that the sources and information regarding the “Radium Girls” contains graphic content pertaining to what happened to the dial painters, and caution should be heeded when read and viewed by young audiences. It is important to learn our history, even when it is difficult to share, learn, and understand the facts of it.

The "Radium Girls" series is a capsule collection created to honor the many women who lost their lives and health to radium. These women bravely shared the truth of what happened to them. Many were never compensated and spent years of their lives experiencing health complications due to exposure to radium from time working at U.S. Radium and Radium Dial. All artwork is the creation of InterArtist Jen Haefeli, Wild Root Creations®.

Leading Lady Grace Fryer is considered to be a “Radium Girl”, but she was much more than that. Grace happened to be a di...
08/12/2026

Leading Lady Grace Fryer is considered to be a “Radium Girl”, but she was much more than that. Grace happened to be a dial painter with U.S. Radium Corporation, a group of skilled women who painted glow in the dark clock and watch faces leading up to WWI. The dials were particularly important during this time, as they did not require the use of power to be read, providing soldiers the ability to tell time. Grace’s dream was to become a bank teller. She achieved her dream job and left U.S. Radium after working to paint dials after two years. However, the toxicity of radium poison had already impacted her and she became ill. Fated to pass from radium poisoning, Grace became an advocate for the women poisoned by radium during their dial painting for U.S. Radium.
Grace lead the effort to sue the company. Learn all about Grace and the “Radium Girls”, and how they fought to prevent U.S. Radium Corporation from concealing the truth of what was happening to the women who painted their dials.
The artwork created for Grace’s paper doll is my artistic interpretation of Grace Fryer’s likeness based on the sources available to me. Please note that the sources and information regarding the “Radium Girls” contains graphic content pertaining to what happened to the women, and caution should be heeded when read and viewed by young audiences. It is important to learn our history, even when it is difficult to share, read, and learn absorb the facts of it.
The "Radium Girls" series is a capsule collection created to honor the many women who lost their lives and health to radium, who bravely shared the truth of what happened to them. Many were never compensated and spent years of their lives experiencing health complications due to the exposure to radium from their time working at U.S. Radium Corporation. All artwork is the creation of InterArtist Jen Haefeli, Wild Root Creations®.

Grace's paper doll pattern and bio are available now on WildRootCreations.com - more dolls in the Leading Ladies "Radium Girls" collection coming soon. Stay Tuned!

This month I will be focusing on the Radium Girls. Stay Tuned.
08/06/2026

This month I will be focusing on the Radium Girls.

Stay Tuned.

Leading Lady Deborah Sampson Gannett became the first and only woman to serve as an active duty Continental soldier for ...
07/30/2026

Leading Lady Deborah Sampson Gannett became the first and only woman to serve as an active duty Continental soldier for the Revolutionary War, disguised as a male soldier. She served for 17 months as a member of the Light Company of the 4th Massachusetts Regiment under the command of Captain George Webb, and was provided an honorable discharge when injuries revealed her gender.

Deborah was a farmer, a lecturer, a teacher, a weaver, a tool maker, and she is the only woman who received a pension for serving active duty during the Revolutionary War. She was posthumously designated the Official Heroine of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She was posthumously honored with the U.S. Capitol Historical Society Commemorative Medal. Deborah earned the respect of the congressman who helped her secure the pension she earned, the General she served under, as well as Paul Revere, who she called her friends.

Learn the story of Deborah Sampson Gannett. Her paper doll is available now. Deborah’s bio, complete with sources to do more research on her, is available as part of her paper doll pattern download on WildRootCreations.com.

The artwork created for Deborah’s paper doll is my artistic interpretation of Deborah Sampson Gannet’s likeness based on the sources and description available to me. All artwork is the creation of InterArtist Jen Haefeli, Wild Root Creations®.

Leading Lady Mercy Otis Warren was a Revolutionary era poet, author, pro-Revolution political playwright, dramatist, and...
07/22/2026

Leading Lady Mercy Otis Warren was a Revolutionary era poet, author, pro-Revolution political playwright, dramatist, and historian, and the third female published author in the United States. Mercy became a prominent antifederalist voice during the Constitutional Convention, a time when women were typically dissuaded from political involvement. Instead, Mercy was encouraged to write and publish her work. Considered to be the first woman who published her political views to encourage and influence others, Mercy helped galvanize support for the Revolution. She then prompted foundational leaders to re-evaluate the Constitution, and she is credited with being a strong proponent for having a Bill of Rights, freedom of the press, prevention of search and seizure without a warrant, trial by jury, prevention of military oppression, the institution of annual elections, term limits for elected officials, access to elected representatives, and control over local taxation.

Learn why Mercy’s unabashed approach of sharing a woman’s perspective helped instill the awareness that women were a valued and needed force in the founding of the country. Mercy is a leading lady who utilized her platform as a rebel call for revolution. Mercy's bio, complete with sources to do more research on her, is available as part of her paper doll pattern download on WildRootCreations.com.

The artwork created for Mercy's paper doll is my artistic interpretation of Mercy Otis Warren's likeness based on the sources available to me. All artwork is the creation of InterArtist Jen Haefeli, Wild Root Creations®.

Leading Lady Phillis Wheatley Peters was an American Revolutionary Era Poet Laureate. She was the first enslaved person ...
07/15/2026

Leading Lady Phillis Wheatley Peters was an American Revolutionary Era Poet Laureate. She was the first enslaved person documented to publish poetry, the first African-American author of a published book of poetry, the first African-American woman to publish a book of poetry, the first African-American author to make a living from published works, and the only enslaved person to exchange letters with president George Washington.

Learn about the unprecedented life and work of Leading Lady Phillis Wheatley Peters, and why her impact on the world has lasted 250 years. Phillis’ paper doll pattern is available now! There is only one known image of Phillis. The frontispiece of her book was created by a fellow enslaved young man, her neighbor, Scipio Moorhead, or S.M. Leading Lady Phillis Wheatley Peters’ paper doll is my artistic interpretation of Phillis based on the sources available to me, namely the carving created by Scipio Moorhead.

All artwork is the creation of InterArtist Jen Haefeli, Wild Root Creations®.
www.WildRootCreations.com

Leading Lady Penelope Padgett Hodgson Craven Barker was the organizer of the Edenton Tea Party, a Colonial Activist know...
07/09/2026

Leading Lady Penelope Padgett Hodgson Craven Barker was the organizer of the Edenton Tea Party, a Colonial Activist known as the leader of one of the first women’s political demonstrations in the United States, and the first women’s political demonstration in North Carolina.

The boycotting of goods became a popular way to strike back against Britain for the taxing of goods sent to the colonies. Learn about how Leading Lady Penelope Barker and the fifty-one women known as the Edenton Ladies Patriotic Guild strategized their purchases to leverage their own battle against the Crown in response to the 1773 Tea Act. Penelope's paper doll is available now on WildRootCreations.com.

There is one known image of Penelope. It is located at the Cupola House in Edmonton, North Carolina. This is my artistic interpretation of Penelope Barker's likeness based on the sources available to me.

The All artwork is the creation of InterArtist Jen Haefeli, Wild Root Creations®.

Leading Lady Mary Katharine Goddard was a Revolutionary Heroine, the first female newspaper printer, the first female po...
07/01/2026

Leading Lady Mary Katharine Goddard was a Revolutionary Heroine, the first female newspaper printer, the first female postmaster in the U.S., the first female postmaster in the colonies, the first postmaster of Baltimore, and possibly the first female employee of the U.S. government. She was a journalist, a publisher, and she printed the Declaration of Independence.

Mary Katharine’s story is unique for many reasons. Learn more about her, and why I have chosen her for the Leading Ladies series. The Revolutionary Women Series is a capsule collection created for America 250. It explores the early settlement of the United States, highlighting selected women and folk heroines. This series explores delicate and difficult themes, while providing historical insight into the lives of women and girls that is often not taught. It is important that we learn it, have a better understanding of it, and learn from it.

All artwork is the creation of InterArtist Jen Haefeli, Wild Root Creations®.

Join us for a special performance by Vïïï Dorsey and art workshop by Jen Haefeli for the Closing Party for the Aesthetic...
06/24/2026

Join us for a special performance by Vïïï Dorsey and art workshop by Jen Haefeli for the Closing Party for the Aesthetics of Care exhibition
🎉 Friday, June 26, 6-8 pm
at Radiant Hall Studios, 308 Seventh Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15222

🌀Interdisciplinary artist and medicinal sound folk-scientist Viii Dorsey shares an immersive performance that explores radical self-care for transformation, liberatory joy, and reclamation of one’s highest self.

🎨 Tertiary Transcendence is an art workshop offering by artist Jen Haefeli: Create your own personal art piece using silhouette layers painted in a variety of tones and collage techniques.

Image Descriptions:
1) Viii Dorsey in a bright earth toned patterned shirt, Jean shirt, turquoise necklace, short curly hair, and her studio of richly collaged art pieces and artifacts of many different mediums.
2) Painting by Jen Haefeli of complimentary and contrasting tones based on moods to build layers; misty and yellow pink gray blue washes.

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