The Gift of Art!

As I was growing up mom was always drawing, always creating. This bode well for my sister and I who followed in her footsteps, and loved to get messy with a craft project or two, not to mention her students at school that benefitted from awesome bulletin boards in their classroom, and fabulous art projects during class!

When Mom retired she took up painting again, she had learned to paint with her grandmother whom everyone called "Nana." She told us how Nana would have her paint and repaint pictures over and over practicing brush strokes and techniques. She mostly worked in acrylics but dabbled some in oils. 

Cleaning out mom's easel and paints was the one of the most difficult parts about closing up mom's estate.  (Second only to her music collection.) Mom loved creating, painting, that form of creative expression of taking an idea in your mind's eye and transferring it to a visible media. How do you just put them away to be silenced forever? 

Her easel sat for quite some time, I had a difficult time touching it. Mom never expected to be in the hospital more than a few days, her painting was there waiting for her to finish. Just like my sister and I kept feeling like we were waiting for her to come home. But she never came home, and so there her easel sat on the sun porch. Patiently waiting for someone to come use it. There her painting sat waiting for mom to finish it...but she never will. 

I saved some of her paints and brushes for my personal use, but I never mastered painting let alone drawing with any major skill.  I  didn't have the space for the easel and knew mom would want them to be used. So with my sisters blessing, I was able to share mom's easel and some supplies with my BFF's husband. Sherri and I have known each other since birth and she is part of the family, her husband Jason, fit right in with the rest of us and connected with mom because of his love of art and ability to paint. Use them well Jason!