Very Proud!

My grandmother (my mom's mom) is an artist. She does portraits in oil and pastel. When I was a teen one summer she showed me how to use oil paints. (They refused to show us in school...I was told it was a fire hazard.) I painted a bird of paradise that summer and I still have it hanging in my home today...but that is another blog post.



Back to my grandmother. When I went to visit her, while visiting my mom after Easter this year, I took these pictures of portraits she has done for herself over the years. I started to walk around her house and take pictures of her artwork. While doing this she asked me if I could take more pictures. She told me she had been trying to take pictures of her artwork for a while now and the photos didn't come back looking quite right. She wanted pictures of her artwork to put into a portfolio. I, of course, was more than happy to help her out. I am so proud because she is 81 looking for portrait work!! What an inspiration! I hope I have as much spunk as my grandmother does when I am 81!

This is a pencil drawing she did at age 15. Oh btw, she was told by her art teacher she had no tallent. Nice right!?!?

This is a portrait she did of herself. It is one of her first paintings she did. While at her house she told me about her outfit and where she was. When she told the story, it felt like she remembered it like it would have been yesterday.This painting sparked my grandmother asking me to take more photos. I took this one outside.A close up.My mother.My Aunt Karoyln.my Aunt Lisa as a teenager with her kitty LouLou...
my aunt Lisa as a child.Grandpa George (her husband).Anna Louise Bishup Ball. (Grandma's Dad's Mom) Turns out she did a second one of these. Never realized that there were 2 until I looked through the photos.
What my son reffered to as the naked lady.My cousin (the most receint one she has done that I took pictures of).This wall hanging was done from a still life. She told me it was her favorite pieces she has done so far.This is a portrait of my grandmother's mom, her aunt and her grandmother.Growing up this screen my grandmother painted was in my grandmother's living room. Now it's her headboard.Now it is in her bedroom and one day she took a picture of my aunt Lisa and with her children and she created this from that photo. Love you grandma! Last year for Christmas she did a pastel of my children for me. I will cherish it for many years to come. (sorry, I need to take some photos)