Memory Art

We've nicknamed our flat as The Warren, but we could rename it the Gallery. Over the years we've bought art work that has appealed to us but also to support local artists. 

There is one strip of paintings that have special meaning to me. It's like a photo album or framed portraits hanging on the wall or on the family piano, even if we don't have a family piano. 

The top is an Italian scene painted by my grandmother who never had a painting lesson and never was in Italy. Perhaps she copied a postcard or a picture in a book. When I think of her, I can recapture over 150 years of not just our family history but through her stories social life going back to the late 1800s. 

The second is a portrait of our beloved pup Sherlock, painted by a British friend with whom I've shared many wonderful moments. She began painting in retirement. She also made my Annie clock with a portrait of my fictional heroine in my Third Culture Mystery Series and was responsible for me setting one novel in Ely. She has the ability to capture the essence of a person or place on canvas. Time with her (and her husband) is always a gift.

The third was a gift from a very special friend and role model. Latin speakers didn't know it, but the phrase carpe diem was made for her. Hidden in the leaves are goggly eyes. This friend goes around the world from the UK, places in Europe and India leaving googly eyes. I don't know if she knows the story of  Johnny Appleseed, but even if they lived in different centuries, they are kindred spirits.

The last came from my late friend's home. The woman had blond curly hair. She was an anthropologist and a budding cello student. She sang with the local gospel group. At one concert another singer spied the painting for sale and convinced my friend, she had to have it. When I look at it, I can recall kitchen-table conversations in Boston, Toulouse, Geneva CH, Môtiers CH, and Argelès. Memories of meals, books, stories, philosophies, support in crises, laughter in good times tiptoe through my memory. 

Our other art work, most from local artists, makes us smile, but those four works that hang on a bit of wall between our bedroom and my office/snore room are a mental memoir.