So, I was at Mom & Dad’s on Sunday. My niece asked about the 2 pictures on the living room wall. Mom explained that they were both done by her grandmother. One is a needlepoint of 2 pheasants. The other is a folk art picture of a farm boy feeding pigs in front of a farm house. My great-grandmother had used a picture of my grandfather as a boy to draw on a piece of wood. She probably found other pictures of the tree, the house and the pigs in magazines. Because my Grandpa swears they never had pigs when he was a boy. Then Grandma D. took a pen knife and cut a relief of the drawing into the wood, and painted in the picture in.
Who knows where she got the idea. Or how she decided to do it. But Mom says she always signed and dated these little projects of hers.
It’s kind of nice to know. This impulse to do a little project. To see something, or just dream it up, and think “Oh, I could do that.” The little pleasures of working out details. Overcoming the little hitches that come. That tiny, secret grin and the feeling of “aren’t I clever” when you’ve made something from nothing. It’s all genetic. All carried down in blood and bone.
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4 comments:
Very clever. Good idea to sign and date a hand made item which will be expected to last. Possibly someone could write out the history of this and how it came about and attach it to the back. Future generations could view it and at least know something about it.
I know the birds are noted, but I don't think Mom has done the farm picture yet.
The funny thing about the farm picture is that at first glance you'd think it was a modern repro. It's held up well, being solid wood, and it's exactly what a person today would make trying to make something that looked old. Ironically, so authentic it looks fake. Wonder what they'd make of it on Antiques Roadshow.
folk art is the best because the only motivation is from the heart - no desire to impress, sell, etc.
There is just this undeniable charm to that picture. I can't help but think that she had fun doing it.
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