Art's Personal Connections

Observe the art on the walls in a house or apartment and you learn the interests of the people who live there, or at least about the person who does the decorating and also those who live with it.  The art doesn't have to be great or fine.  It can be a cat poster or birds or a movie star.  If there's no art, that is a message too.   

When I was a child, my grandparents' home was a wonderful world.  It held school books of my dad and his siblings, piles of magazines, and family memorabilia in every room.  Mamaw, my grandmother, read to me from the school books, and they were the first stories I  ever heard.  I handled the books until they were worn and I knew all the stories by heart. Later, I enjoyed reading the messages and funny things written by my aunts and uncle in these books.  That was my introduction to reading and I loved it.  

The walls of the house were decorated with pictures that I now realize represented Mamaw's interest. I call them "pictures" because they were mostly inexpensive prints that had no monetary value, but they are very valuable to me. Mamaw was religious, but not in a preachy way.  She lived religion and didn't talk about it much.  Many of her pictures had a religious theme. A few of a different sort were drawn by my Aunt Opal, two black cats, a man walking down a road. 

 I am lucky enough to have two of Mamaw's pictures and a copy of another.  My Aunt Sara gave me one, my cousin Connie who bought the house later in life another, and one I found a copy of online.   These pictures are part of my being, but not for their religious meanings.  They are a connection to my past, my family and feelings too deep to disturb with expression. 

When you see them, you realize that Mamaw had a creative spirit and imagination.  She did, in fact, play the piano and guitar.  I loved her stories of riding on horseback to give guitar lessons. 

The pictures:

   This guardian angel watching over two children was in my grandparents' bedroom. It

fascinated me when I was a child. I felt great empathy toward the two children. I had many questions: "Why are the children alone on the bridge?" "Why aren't they wearing shoes?" "Where did the angel come from?" "What is an angel?"  

This is a copy of the print in my grandmother's house that I found online. I have learned the picture was a very popular one in the early 20th Century and there are several different versions of it.  This one is attributed to an artist named Lindberg and is called "Heiliger Schutzengel," Guardian Angel.

    

This motto was on the wall in my grandparents' 

bedroom all my life.  Some time after the house

was empty and had been purchased by my cousin,

she gave it to me.  I had it remounted and framed.

I always enjoyed its colors and design.

This print hung over the fireplace in my grandparents' living room.  I have had it remounted and reframed.  My Aunt Sara gave it to me when both my dad and I admired it. This is a poor photograph of it.  Too many reflections and shadows on the glass distort the look. 
  To the left, a church sits on top of a hill.  A road in front of the church leads to a moonlit lake in front of mountains.  It has been snowing.  A few people walk to the door of the church.  The picture is called "Christmas Eve."  It's serenity represents that night well.