Monday, April 16, 2012

Thanks Meme

My grandmother
Over the weekend I decided to tackle a huge mess in my house. The room that will become our library became a giant closet. It had some unused furniture, art supplies, framing supplies and piles of papers that needed to be filed. My 14 year old and I spent the better part of Saturday filing, organizing and discarding. I am almost done clearing it out to begin painting the walls.


 My grandmother was an artist and art professor. I called her Meme which is the familiar French term for Grandmother, much like calling her "Nana" in English. After my grandfather died 2 1/2 years ago, I found the art supplies (and more) pictured above. I shoved them back in the bag and they were forgotten and put into storage pending our move.
They reappeared Saturday.
Among the collection were tubes of acrylic paint that were still good. These had to be from the 1970s!
There was a tube of "Iridescent White". I was so excited I almost cried. I had been wanting to try "Iridescent White" but the name had me thinking glitter and at $10 a tube I just didn't want to experiment but there it was. I said, "Thanks, Meme." out loud and grabbed a canvas.


I can tell you that the "Iridescent White" is not the gaudy glittery thing I imagined. It is faintly pearlescent and understated. I love it. I added touches of metallic gold where there are yellow gold tones in the painting and just a few pearly accents where there is white. It is so hard to get that to show in a photo. The painting is 18"w x 24"h x 1.5"d.

The title is "Thanks, Meme"

P. S. There is not a good way to post this on Etsy but if you are interested in a painting of mine but wish it were larger I do take those commissions. Just not the ones where you tell me what to paint. :)

7 comments:

julielorusso@gmail.com said...

very pretty -- both the painting and your Meme.

I totally understand the not wanting to be told what to paint. It always takes the fun out creating when someone tells you what to create. I feel the same way.

Anonymous said...

Kerry,

My kids called their grandparents "Meme" and "Papaw. Not very many kids call their grandmother "Meme.

Your painting turned out lovely! That iridescent white really made your painting "pop!.

Anonymous said...

Kerry,

My kids called their grandparents "Meme" and "Papaw. Not very many kids call their grandmother "Meme.

Your painting turned out lovely! That iridescent white really made your painting "pop!.

Karena said...

Kerry my grandchildren call me Mimi!! What a gift to rediscover from her. I love your new painting!!

I have a $100 Gift Card Giveaway from Soft Surroundings if you would like to enter!!

xoxo
Karena
Art by Karena

Unknown said...

That is a beautiful photo of your grandmother. It reminds me of my mom when she was younger...sigh.
Love your new work. Keep creating!
Nancy
Powellbrowerhome.com

Linda {Calling it Home} said...

I like to call that a happy accident! That painting is beautiful. Can't you put in a "Larger version of my work + x" on your Etsy?

The Pink Pagoda said...

Your grandmother was beautiful. And so is your new painting! I don't blame you for not wanting to be told what to paint. Do you get that a lot? What about colors?