A SHEEP PICTURE BY AN ECCENTRIC ARTIST

In February 2009 I did a post about some of the early 20th century sheep lithograph prints we have collected (click here).  In that post I promised I would show you some of my step-great-grandmother's art.  Better late than never -- it's only been five years.

A back story of the artist -- My great-grandfather, after being widowed with two young boys, came to Colorado from Maine in the 1880s to start a new life.  After his boys were raised, he sent for 'Auntie Evelyn' to come west to be his new wife in 1897.  She was considered to be a spinster at the age of 29 when she was dispatched to Colorado!  We have the train ticket that he sent her for her journey.  To us, she was always called 'Auntie Evelyn' -- I guess because she never really mothered anyone.  

AUNTIE EVELYN IN 1935

They were married for 41 years until his death in 1938; she lived until 1950 in the West, far from her family and in a place that must have felt so foreign to her.  She was an untrained artist, but with considerable talent.  Her drawings and paintings are done on whatever materials available - cardboard, etc.  She never had much money for her art supplies, and probably was considered just an amateur 'Sunday' painter.

In the 1960s someone who knew a little about art told me that all she did was copy other works - could be true as they are very similar to the lithograph prints of the early 1900s.  I'm sure this was her way of learning more about art -- a common practice for the unschooled.  This particular drawing is done in charcoal/chalk and it needs to be restored. Several years ago when I tried to take it apart to better photograph it; a lot of the charcoal remained on the glass.  I stopped right there and reassembled it!

For several generations, my family was in the sheep ranching business; and this picture hung over the mantle in my grand-parent's home for years.  My grandmother gave it to me in 1961.  Later on, I inherited two more drawings and three of Auntie Evelyn's oil paintings plus some of her furniture.  No one but me seemed to want them.
The family just considered her an "eccentric artist".  She ended her own life by hanging herself in the barn under very dramatic circumstances -- such a contradiction to her serene and comforting art work.

I promise I'll show you some more of her artwork before another five years fly by.

Joining in:
Sunday View for Inspired Sunday
Better With Age for Give Me The Goods Monday
The Dedicated House for Make It Pretty Monday
Confessions of a Plate Addict for The Scoop Tuesday
A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday
Knick of Time Interiors for Knick of Time Vintage Tuesday
Ivy and Elephants for What's It Wednesday
Have a Daily Cup for Share Your Cup Thursday
The Vintage Farmhouse for Creative Things Thursday
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday
Common Ground for Be Inspired Friday
Nancherrow for Fridays Unfolded
Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday

COMMONPLACE BOOKS

There is an Altered Art Party going on at the
French Cupboard.
I thought I would join in even though I am not very creative when attempting altered art, but I happen to have my step-great-grandmother's commonplace book from the 1890s to show off.

Are you familiar with Commonplace Books? They are the predecessor of what today we know as altered art. Essentially they are scrapbooks filled with every kind of written word: quotes, letters, poems, tables, obituaries, drawings, etc. Readers, students, etc. used them as an aid for remembering things they had learned. Below is my step-great-grandmother's commonplace book from the 1890s. Always using what she had on hand, she took a previously read book and pasted her notes and clippings on the pages. She then embroidered a new cover for her scrapbook.

Tucked inside the front cover are some clippings that she never found time to glue in, including a news article about some one's suicide.

Tables of Weights and Measures and Marriage Anniversaries

Obituaries and Poems

Cute drawings for inspiration, as she was an artist.

Programs

Going through this book has given me a glimpse of a woman I barely knew. My great-grandfather, after being widowed with two young boys, came to Colorado from Maine in the 1880s to start a new life. After his boys were raised, he sent for 'Auntie Evelyn' to come west to be his new wife in 1897. She was considered a spinster at the age of 29 when she was dispatched to Colorado! We have the train ticket that he sent her for her journey. They were married for 41 years until his death in 1938; she lived until 1950 in the West, far from her family and in a place that must have felt so foreign to her.

Just a look into another time and era.

AUNTIE EVELYN'S DESK

This is my great-grandfather and step great-grandmother in 1935. My step great-grandmother was known in the family as 'Auntie Evelyn' as she married into the family late in life. I only met her once when I was eight years old, but I was fascinated by her. She was an artist, and I remember her desk being filled with paints, potions, glue, scraps of paper - all kinds of interesting stuff!!

I was 12 when she died, and there was a note on this desk that I was to have it.

My very first antique!! I was in love with anything old from that time on.

I've cherished this desk now for 58 years, and am so glad that Auntie Evelyn and I connected that one time all of those years ago.

The book under the "A Wish for You" book was Auntie Evelyn's "commonplace book". It was a book that she no longer needed for it's original purpose, and she glued clippings of interest, obituaries, recipes, etc. onto the original pages. "Commonplace books" are said to be the precursor to scrapbooking and even blogs.



Thanks for stopping by,
Sally