My Grandmother's Drawings

[TaylorsDame]

Well, folks... here is something special. My uncle just emailed these to me tonight. They are four of the six surviving drawings that my grandmother did over sixty years ago, when she was very young and still living in her native Italy. According to her, during the 1940's, there was nothing more glamourous to the Italians than American movie stars. These were my grandmother's artistic tribute to them:

Ann Sheridan:


Deanna Durbin:


Joan Crawford:


And last one... alas I don't recognize. Um... help?

[keb]

OMG they are beautiful!

[Speak Out]

OMG! What wonderful heirlooms for you TD! They are magnificent!

I see where you got your talent from! Are you going to have them all matted and framed? Such treasures!

I'm thinking the last one might be Vivian Leigh or Lana Turner. I'm not sure though.

[TaylorsDame]

Thanks, y'all! They are treasures aren't they? And my mom and I were just talking this afternoon about how my work looks like my grandmother's. Mom was especially raving about the two drawings I did for my uncle. She also said that there is a dramatic difference in the "Mitakuye Oyasin" drawing from the summer of 2000, to the David Archuleta drawing that I did just this past May. You see, around the third week of May, my normally very healthy grandmother had a very sudden spell of mini-strokes. In the weeks that followed, her body was recovering and she seemed nearly back to normal, but I could feel her spirit pulling away from us. We lost her to a very sudden heart attack on June 28th. My mother, very much a spiritual believer, if not much of a church-go-er, is quite convinced that somehow, my grandmother "gifted" her artistic abilites to me in her last weeks. I don't know about that, but I can say that it was odd that I would very suddenly wake up at 6am on a late May Saturday, pick up the one art pad I had, and a plain ole #2 pencil, and start drawing again after eight years. My hand felt guided that day, and sometimes, it still does.

Anyhooooo... I do want to frame these, but I can't afford the fancy custom framework. Soooo... it's a good thing that I'm friends with the framing dept manager at Michael's, cuz she knows the cheap way to make something look custom-framed!

[Speak Out]

I'm so sorry to hear of the loss of your beloved grandmother.

I totally believe what your mother is saying to be true. Her legacy lives on through your art.

You can but frames in Walmart that are already matted. Maybe one that holds all four. They're quite inexpensive.

[~FT~]

Wow those are really beautiful drawings...such a treasure to have!

[dg90001]

Oh Steph they are beautiful! I know how close you were with your Grandmother. It must be so special to have them now.

I am so glad you are going to frame them - like Speak Out said they are wonderful heirlooms to keep forever.

[TMW]

You must frame and display them Steph. How wonderful that your uncle sent them to you. And I too beleive that part of her spirit lives on in you.

[RedSonja]

Steph, your grandmother's drawings are beautiful. As a classic movie lover, I'm telling myself they are so good that I would've known the subjects without the captions. For the one you don't recognize, the first name that popped into my head was Carole Lombard. But I'm also thinking maybe Greta Garbo.

I definitely agree that you should frame them. I was watching HGTV one day, and one of the designers turned old wooden windows into frames.

[blueyedsongstress]

Hi Steph...I whole heartedly agree with preserving those precious treasures. I just picked up a book about past screen and t.v. personalities and that last picture looks a lot like a picture of Jeanette MacDonald. I may be way off...but just thought I would toss that out there.

You are wonderfully talented...obviously runs in the genes. I look forward to seeing more of your work.[/b]

I will post drawings of my own (and my father's) when I get my scanner fixed (or replaced...but the furnace has to come first! )