Art – bringing joy in my life

I am blessed that I have two women in my life who are/were amazing artists and have filled my house with art.  I feel like I am a curator for a mini art gallery and it’s fun to rotate paintings around my little home.

My sister-in-law LeNore is so talented, and my living room showcases her lovely beach paintings.  My goal was to create a beach bungalow/coastal cottage, and when I gaze at her paintings, I want to walk along the beaches that she has created for me.  And get back on a sailboat.

I also love her painting of a girl with a horse that hangs in my kitchen. I recently started riding again, and the horse in her painting looks a lot like my buddy Gus at the PV stables.

Check out her painting that’s in my office. It’s a beautiful backdrop for Zoom calls.

I would like to share a story about my mom.  She was also an amazing artist, but I didn’t know that until she retired with Dad in the late 1980s and moved to Lompoc.   

When I was young, we would spend hours sketching together – usually women in fashionable dresses, which is possibly why I was a cabi fashion stylist for 16 years – but I never realized the extent of her talent.

After she and Dad moved to Lompoc, she took art classes and produced some beautiful paintings, and I’m grateful that I have so much of her work in my home.  She passed in 1998 and her legacy of art remains.

The Lompoc Art Gallery did a show of her work, and it warmed my heart to see that her paintings were appreciated.  My Mom had a show!   How cool is that?!

Here’s the story that warms my heart – about 30 years ago Mom did a charming little painting of geraniums. I loved it!   She gave it to a fellow parishioner and good friend at St. Cross, the church I was born into and still attend.   Well, time passed, and that parishioner died quite a while ago, and recently her husband died.   Here’s the kicker.  The friend’s relative was helping to clear out the family home, and she saw Mom’s painting, recognized the signature and knew it was my Mom.  She is a friend of mine and a few weeks ago she brought the painting to me at church and said she thought I might like to have it back.  Yes!!!

I loved that Mom’s friend got to enjoy her painting for many years, and (rather selfishly) I am happy that the painting is back home.   I smile every time I look at it – and I still need to pick a place to place it. Right now it’s perched on my kitchen buffet and I’ll find a good space.

Having personal artwork around one’s home is so special when there is history behind it. Thank you LeNore and Mom! My house is special because of your amazing talent.