The site of the selected photo was Honey Harbor, Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, Ontario, Canada. The Thomas family, including Bob, Cathy and Jim, drove on the usual two lane highways that were typical in the ‘50’s, from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania---a two day trip. They stayed for two weeks at a grand old hotel, The Honey Harbor Hotel. They fished and boated on the island. It was paradise! Today, Jim is a retired anesthesiologist and lives in Raymore, Missouri and Florida. Cathy lives in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania and Bob lives in Lexington, Massachusetts and Florida.
The photo selected for the painting was taken in Kennard, Nebraska in December of 1956, where the sister’s father was a Lutheran pastor from a long line of Danish immigrants. Juel, the oldest, is a Lutheran pastor, chaplain and head of Hands of Hope Hospice in St. Joseph, Missouri. Deb lives in Allison, Iowa, a Butler County Assessor, Mail carrier and farmer; Pat lives in Kansas City, Missouri, a retired legal assistant and baby Susan lives in Denver, Colorado and is a school librarian. As the sisters got older, they sang for community and church groups—had matching dresses—and fancied themselves as the new “Lennon Sisters”.
We fondly recall our family and grandparents all sitting on the porch after dinner in the summertime. When our Mother and Grandmother had finished doing the dishes, we would gather on the screened porch to sing old songs like “Down by the old Mill Stream”, “Shine on Harvest Moon” and, “You are my Sunshine”.
We believe the Adirondack chairs shown in the painting were from our Grandparents screened porch and side yard which was on the East side of their home in Kansas City, Missouri.
Painting the 1938, Chevy coupe, and its relationship to the family was the theme of this work. The car lived in the basement garage of the family home. My mother did not drive and my father had a truck, used for his plumbing business. The Chevy, while in the basement became a hiding place and a driving fantasy for my brother and me, even though we were told to, “stay out of the car”. In reality, because of gasoline rationing, it was our transportation to all the wonderful things in life during the 1940’s, the movies, the circus, family picnics, my grandmother’s house in Humboldt, Kansas, and visiting friends on Sunday afternoon.
“Charlie and Miss Cunningham”
Charlie Paynter commissioned an 18”X18” oil painting in honor of his kindergarten teacher, Miss Cunningham, who taught at the Switzer elementary school at 17th and Summit, in Kansas City. In 1943, women were only allowed to teach if they were unmarried, which changed after the second-world war ended. Miss Cunningham was very special to Charlie, as a nurturing, kind and gentle teacher. She did make Charlie stand in the corner a few times, but she never made him feel like he had been “bad”. A short time after the photo was taken, Charlie fell from the Monkey Bars (in the background), and Miss Cunningham helped him up, while Miss Burke, the Principal drove him to General Hospital in her own car.
The artist truly enjoyed painting this one, particularly Miss Cunningham’s dress. While looking and painting, it is clear that the dress was constructed with immaculate attention to detail, including the grape cluster buttons! They don’t make them like that anymore.
March, 1970, is the date on the two photos used for the painting. The sisters were removed from their in-home environment and each placed within their own space, facing each other. The hand-sewn Easter coats, sewn by their mother, became the focus, along with the hats, gloves and lace tights. The color photos suggested limited use of blue and red tints, outside of the sepias. Abbie now lives in Charlotte, North Carolina and Jessie lives in Grain Valley, Missouri. They talk by phone every morning and are still best friends.
The photo selected for the painting was taken in Libya around 1938. Giuseppe, father of Mary Merola (1917-1996), was a member of the elite company, “The Bersaglieri”. The riflemen sported their unique headgear; a broad-brimmed Moretto Hat decorated with a flowing bunch of black Grouse and Capercaillie feathers hanging down from the right side. The battalions were mounted on motorcycles which saw widespread use in World War II. Giuseppe was captured by the British in Libya and was imprisoned for 6 years in Libya and Egypt. His personal philosophy was “better late, than later, better wounded than dead”.
The Leopard Coats was commissioned by Perry Hunter as a surprise for his wife Abbie and to ensure that there was one painting in the family for each sister. In May, 2012, Perry and Abbie Hunter, and Jessie Hayes commissioned the two sisters in Easter coats (1970) titled Abbie and Jessie, as a gift to their mother, Launita Melton.
Once again, the 2014 painting focuses on the coats. This time a leopard print - their first “store-bought” coats, purchased at Harzfelds department store in the Blue Ridge Mall shopping center. The year was 1967, when Jessie was three and Abbie was 8 years old. The Melton family lived at 74th and Indiana, near Fairyland Park on Prospect, in Kansas City, Missouri.
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A series of triptychs completed since 1976 are my attempt to bring family photographs out of boxes and drawers and into my life and living room. The Family Heirloom Paintings are from snapshots taken with the Kodak Brownie box camera during the early 1940’s and the war years. Our snapshots were usually taken to record a new garage door, a holiday trip, or a special birthday. Memories abound from the photos, particularly the ’38 Chevrolet, which was the “Sunday car”. It was Memorial Day weekend in Kansas City and we were driving to my Aunt’s house for a family picnic and a trip to the cemetery. My mother had packed buckets and mason jars of roses and peonies in the car trunk and my brother is holding the flag that will be placed on one of the family graves. I get to hold the birthday present for my cousin. As the surviving member of the family of four, it is quite comforting to have the paintings of my parents and brother included in the day-to-day activity of my household in the 21st Century.
James William and Robert Henry (Jim and Bob), fraternal twins, in Ohio, C. 1914, a much loved father and uncle. Their father was an insurance agent, who often rode horseback to serve his customers. Jim, on the right, lived to be 98 years of age. He often shared stories about his very good life, recounting to Nancy and her cousins, the shenanigans he and his brother and other siblings were involved in during a time when life was much simpler—sitting on the front porch, counting the roadsters or Fords occasionally passing by, building a secret clubhouse and harmless pranks.
This site in Penn Valley Park in Kansas City, Missouri was the location where Charlie (and the rest of his family) often went to just hang out. The original photograph taken for this painting was snapped around 1945.
The story of “Kids on the Beach”, by Val Thomas (grandmother of the kids)
The beach has always held a special magic for me and I have tried to instill a love for the beach and ocean life in the grandchildren. This is something special that I can share with them as I did with my parents and grandparents. At the beach we can all be kids, body surfing, digging in the sand, hunting for seashells, and starfish. Palmer seems to be enthralled with digging holes for himself. In this painting, the girls take advantage of a prime opportunity for giving Palmer a thorough dousing. He happens to be the only boy of 6 grandchildren. I don’t remember if he was expecting this water treatment or not, but the girls are obviously enjoying it. I love the quote from a Russian writer, ”The soul is healed by being with children”. This feeling has obviously been a driving force in my career as a pediatric nurse practitioner and in my personal life with my children and now especially with my grandchildren. Palmer F. is in the hole at the bottom of the painting, while his sister Merritt F. (middle) and cousins Sloane K. (far left) and Ava K. (far right) are enjoying giving Palmer the dousing. I think this painting exemplifies the fun, carefree days of childhood and why being with them for these experiences heals my soul! The original photo was taken at Bonita Springs Beach, Florida, Spring break, March, 2015.
The Cardinal’s Game, circa 1950’s was commissioned as a gift from a little sister to her big brother. The reference photo for the painting was taken by a “street photographer” in St. Louis, Missouri. The family was taking their annual 300+ mile trip from the far corner of Macdonald County in Goodman, Missouri. The annual track to the “big city” happened on old Route 66.
Circa the 1940’s, Mom and Grandmother was commissioned by the baby in the paintings Granddaughter. This portrait was painted from a snapshot taken in front of the family home, toward the end of WWII. The photo was sent to Dad who probably hadn’t met his new daughter who was born while he was overseas.
Circa 1940’s, commissioned by the subjects daughter and granddaughter and installed in niches on either side of the granddaughters fireplace (along with the portrait, Mom and Grandmother). The inspiration for this painting was taken from a photograph of Grandfather while stationed in Italy. He probably sent this snapshot to his wife and family in the US. Before he made it home, both his wife and daughter contracted Polio. His wife never walked again and his daughter lost the use of her arm.
Although the Burdines look like chic 1920’s movie actors in this nostalgic painting, this scene actually took place in 1984 when the family decked themselves out for a costume fundraiser called the Great Gatsby Benefit Ball.
Robert Burdine (shown in the snazzy white suit), his wife Betty (flapper extraordinaire) and their two dashing sons Greg and Butler (the commissioner of the painting), posed in front of a classic roadster at the Lake Tate Estate (a historic southern plantation home in Florence, Alabama).
Butler, a 17 year-old Jr. in high school, was designated by the ball committee as the male dance host for the event. He remembers this night as his first experience with hair tonic. Never one to skimp on hair product, Butler decided to use an entire bottle to get the look of the true movie matinee idol he was going for. It was a HOT Alabama night with a temperature around 100 degrees. Butler looks back and remembers the hair tonic oozing down the back of his neck.
He was a sweaty and sticky dashing dance partner that evening!
Esther Valborg was one of five sisters, born as the middle child in Odense, Denmark, the city of Hans Christian Anderson. There was nothing recorded on how she met her husband, but it remembered that they were an “item” in Odense. Esther left town for Copenhagen (reason unknown) and took a job. Her future husband, Mr. Jorgensen followed her to Copenhagen where they were married. Bente was born 8 months later, a sister Hanna, followed in 3 years, and in 7 years, a brother Erik. In Bente’s memory, her mother was a homemaker who did beautiful knitting, crocheting, and embroidering and all her children were grateful recipients of much of her creative work. She died in Copenhagen at age 93.
This painting was planned to look across the living room to the hallway space where her daughters Family Heirloom Portrait is installed, painted by Sharon in 2005. The photo of Bente was taken as she was leaving Copenhagen for the United States in 1960. So mother and daughter will now live together for decades, if not for centuries.
