I’m flattered that you’d consider my paintings, with story to be used in the “Story Quilt” electronic magazine. I will have to think about it. One of the problems is that it is many years since I have painted a picture. Most of them were done in the later 1970s and early 1980s. I sold quite a few of them at that time. Some were to go outside the province, and even those that were bought by local people would be difficult to trace now. People wanted house portraits and paintings of local churches; some were intended to be given as gifts.
Except for the measly few that I have here, I’ve none to comment on. And my comments would be brief, in any case. Most were done in my own kitchen. Some were inspired by photos Ron took when we were visiting relatives on the South Shore. Some calendar photos and post cards gave me ideas to work with.
The painting on the cupboard door was the main one that was given a lot of thought, but was painted largely from memory. I spent one entire afternoon painting it, with two piano concertos, Schumann and Chopin, on the stereo for inspiration. Of course, I picked at it and changed little things for a day or two afterwards. That was done in 1988, just before I painted my kitchen cabinets a soft blue that matched the painting’s sky. I have since repainted the cabinets without changing the colour very much. I recently read the advice: “If you have kitchen cabinets you don’t like, and can’t afford to renew, paint them a pretty pale blue, and they will look great.” Gee, I made that decision 30 years ago.
Acting on the advice of trusted friends, I signed up for a Continuing Ed. course at Acadia University, given by a local writer who’d retired from his formal writing career. He was a great teacher, used gentle humour to get his points across, and lots of kindly encouragement. I took his final two courses, and he helped us to form a writer’s group that offered us more information and pleasant associations for several years. (I have bought some art supplies, thinking I would try painting again some day. I believe I’m a dabbler. (BA in Music.)
