It was an ordinary day. Deciding which paintings I wanted to keep that mom had painted. After her death the job started of deciding who would get what. Just about everything that had been in her room at Moravian Manor where she was a resident we donated to the the Manor. They told us they could use her recliner, lamp, chest-of-drawers, drawing board, painting materials and other similar items for residents who did not have any. We also donated her clothes that were still usable. Some items in her closet still had tags on them so I'm sure they were appreciated by other residents. Then the chore of distributing what remained started. I asked family members to take a look at what remained and take what they wanted. I decided to keep an antique desk with chair that she had loved and had with her at Moravian Manor. And, I am also keeping four paintings that she did during the last 25 years of so of her life. All are watercolors and done in the Grandma Moses style. After my brother Steve and I got married and moved from mom and dad's home on Janet Avenue, she took up painting as well as just about anything that dealt with fabric. She became known as the Grandma Moses of Janet Avenue. For those who don't know about Anna Mary Robertson "Grandma" Moses, she was a resident of New York who began to produce embroidery pictures after her husband died in the mid-1920s and she became too frail to do the manual work of the farm. When arthritis impaired her embroidering, she turned to painting, primarily watercolors. In 1938, at the age of 78, she had her first exhibition in a neighborhood drugstore where her paintings sold for $3 to $5. She produced naively or primitively executed scenes of turn-of-the-century rural life. On her 100th birthday in 1960, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller proclaimed the day "Grandma Moses Day" in her honor. Shortly after she turned 100 she illustrated Clement Moore's A Visit from St. Nicholas. She died the following year. Her paintings have been reproduced on Christmas and other holiday cards, tiles and fabrics in America and abroad. Now, my mom doesn't have the notoriety that Anna Mary did with her paintings, but they are still done in the same primitive style that she used. Mom displayed and sold them at our church during the fall when our church participated in what was known as "Town Fair" when many of the downtown churches as well as the YWCA opened their doors for the two night event that featured work of the congregations and a few special evening meals. Mom did sell a few, but mostly gave them away. Sound like the same background story of Anna Mary? I have decided to keep most of them just in case ........ You never know!! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - The following photos and artwork are a pix of Grandma Moses and Grandma Woods with their work. Remember to click on the image to enlarge it.
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Grandma Moses
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Advent Calendar of her work
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1969 Postage Stamp
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Grandma Woods
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This watercolor and the following three are works of Grandma Woods
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