New paintings, hot off the easel, and some thoughts on art and life ...

    (originally posted 8/9/11)

The painting above is not my work – it was painted by my aunt, Rosemary Clark.  She was a physician, but also a late-blooming artist – one who took up painting after she was in her forties.  Or so I thought.  But after she died and I inherited this painting, I decided to have it reframed, and I got a surprise.  When the framer opened the backing of the picture and carefully pulled out the painting (it was a tempera painting made on paper and framed under glass) I saw a date penciled on the back in a spidery hand – 1949.  She would have been twenty three. 

I had assumed that she painted it in the 70s, or maybe the 60s at the earliest because that’s when I remembered seeing her painting.  I had the impression that it was a new hobby for her.  Now I know that, like most artists, she had the desire and the ability to draw early in life.

As a child I remember her as exciting and slightly eccentric, especially in the way she used to dress.  I thought she had more sophistication, more style, than any other woman in my family.  That’s my recollection, although I can’t actually remember any particular thing she wore except for one - a mink hat.  It enthralled me.  I remember it now, years after she died. 

I suppose that as children we often form impressions of our relatives based on chance observations and flimsy guesses.  Sometimes our impressions turn out to be wrong, but I know I’m right that my Aunt Rosemary was a strong independent woman and a talented artist.