15.1K
I love to collect small paintings, framed or unframed I don’t mind that much. A casual display of mismatched pictures on canvas, board or even card just makes me happy.
The reason behind the huge charm of the old paintings is that they speak to us of another time when knowing how to paint was a normal part of a good education and when they took time to sit down and observe.
In the French school system there is little time given to nurturing a child’s creativity, and even the students who specialise in an artistic discipline are no longer taught how to draw, the curriculum prefers to give them a good grounding in draughtsmen’s software than charcoal and paints. The result is that students who choose to study art or architecture at university, have to spend their first year going back to basics and learning how to … observe.
Because surely that is what art is all about, be it drawing, painting or even writing : the ability to observe and interpret what we see.
Can you tell that I have a bee in my bonnet?!
Last week I was fortunate enough to buy several paintings from the French lady I told you about. I kept this one painted on card, almost certainly by an amateur who just took pleasure in walking out with a box of paints and a folding stool until he found a view that appealed and sat down to paint. He painted this pretty scene of a country lane, and then ….
flipped the card over and painted some trees beside a lake! How could I possibly frame this one, I’d never be able to choose which side I like best!!
So because I know that this is a dying art, and that my children’s generation favour a screen to an easel, I shall continue buying these pieces of amateur art whenever I have the opportunity.
Just yesterday I bought this little painting at our local auction house. Not quite so amateur, since the painters name is known and displayed on the frame, but it still has its charm. He took the time to sit down and paint an ordinary house, to observe, to transmit.
[blank]
42 comments
Oh my!!I love these painting!!…Fabulous!!
Have a nice day!!
Stefy
We dont get many good paintings in junk shops any more, and I am afraid I am not a garage sale person, and auction houses scare the pants off me, but I love these little paintings that you have found, especially as I have a collection in my house, some by a very good painter who was an aunt of my husbands, born about 1880 or earlier so she knew how to paint.
I dont comment often but I love looking at your blog and the finds you have made.
We have a Welsh Pony Stud here in South Australia and my grandchildren and daughters still love their riding.
Hope to make one last trip to France in October, but not absolutely sure, at our age things can never be absolutely sure!
I too adore looking at my paintings, but yours are truly spectacular – really soulful and captivating.
I think that the one thing that really makes me slow down and observe is an open fireplace. It's one of my favourite things to do when the days or nights are cold and drawing in. I often intend to sit by the fire and read a book or magazine, but invariably, I'll find myself simply staring into the flames – completely mesmerised. I can honestly say that this is the only time when my brain calms down and my thoughts remain quiet. Thanks for a lovely post – as always. x
Hi Sharon,
I just adore your collection of paintings and find it disappointing to hear that France has lost it's direction in teaching it's youth to draw and observe.Especially considering the rest of the world looks to France and it artists for direction.
i paint for an income and look to faces for my artistic inspiration, but I walk each day on the beach and find the small treasures I observe on the shores are the things that make me slow down and appreciate life.
Fi x
Dear sharon,
As for framing your two-sided card?….
It's not difficult (or expensive, for that matter) to have such a thing doubled frame (i.e., glass on both sides). I've recently done that with a large (as in 18" x 14"), illuminated page from a 15th century muscial manuscript. (Just for the record?….it was GIVEN to me by an editor pal whose wealthy father bought it in Florence during the late fifties. For better or worse, my friend holds both the his father and his father's tastes in high disdain….so, the manuscript now belongs to Tennessee born&bred; me).
alternatively (and more practically) you could do as I've done with several 18th century letters (including the manuscript for an 18th century ancestor's amusing "A Pithy Sermon For Younge Men", and another ancestor's "Calculations for the Eclipse, 1840"). I simply had several of them sandwiched between sheets of UV-filter acrylic sheets, which are held together by small "flip clips. they can be propped up on bookshelves, and folks can examine them…and they're safe from moisture, dirt, and UV rays. If one falls over or someone drops it…well, no harm done. I like having things about for folks to enjoy, rather than regard as booby traps.
As for painting collections? One of my favorites belongs to yet another friend, who has for years collected a VERY specific genre…namely, small paintings which are obviously by elderly, Southern maiden aunts. this is a genre characterized by a fairly charming ineptitude, an inability to mix colors, and a slavish devotion to magnolia blossoms (LOTS of these…), roses, columned houses, and spanish moss. I think there are about four, at most, approved subjects for well-bred Southern ladies with decades of free time on their hands. My friend has about 100 (paintings, not maiden aunts)hanging in corners and staircases all over his house.
toanswer your question?…I probably should just publicly admit that, actually, I contentedly spend almost all of my days in a very slow bustle, observing and painting things. the only "reminders" I ever get are ones telling me to hurry up, quit observing, and actually get something done….
Level best as Ever,
David Terry
http://www.davidterryart.com
beautiful!!! my grandmother was from france and she was quite talented with a paintbrush! a few years ago i was looking in a big box of her things my father has kept and found a lot of beautiful watercolors and charcoal drawings. it breaks my heart they are wasting away in a box under his bed. your collection is fantastic.
Your paintings are so beautiful! I appreciate all the beauty that was 'transferred' into one medium or another…whether a painting, a woven piece of cloth or hand-thrown pottery. It's wonderful to own such a piece of art that has captured a bit of the artisan's soul.
Dear Sharon and Terry,
as I was 18 I got the birthday present from my father a page of 15 century missale dedicated in catholic regula for the day of my birth.It is a manuscript music notes of the offering part of the daily mass.
It is also double framed like Terry's and on the wall that my first glimps in the morning I can see it and remember of the meaning of my existence. Regards Dorka from Hungary http://www.dorottyaudvar.co.hu
I love everything you've shown! I try to fill my home with only things that I love so that EVERYTHING makes me slow down and say ahhhhhh!
Dear Sharon – it is truly sad art has been replaced with television or computer screen – it is lovely to see someone still enjoys the art of the past. I am an artist and smiled when you shared the painting on both sides – wonder how many of mine are floating around. I too use both sides of the paper at times. Take care and God Bless you!
Oh my gosh! what a lesson in subtle soft prettiness
Sharon, I share your lament. I'm a believer in the importance of arts in eduction and know how much learning to observe has changed the way I interact with the world. It's sad to think of this as a dying art. I love your collection of old paintings and wonder what the stories behind each one could be. Thanks for this thought provoking post!
Those paintings are gorgeous! I'm going to have a yard sale this weekend and I toyed with the idea of putting old oil painting of a mill by a stream (I got the painting for $10 a long time ago at an antiques fair) on the sale…but just couldn't. For the very reasons you mention here!
Old / vintage things make me think and look and dream. They inspire stories in my head – where did it come from? Who used it? What did she look like?
Those new paintings just ooze with charm,
I love the arrangement of your paintings and the table.
The colours are so ethereal.
I LOVE every single on of those paintings and love the display too! What a beautiful corner!
So, so lovely.
Beautiful artwork and displayed beautifully. I agree with you that they don't spend nearly enough time on the arts in the school curriculums anymore and it seems that it is the first thing they want to cut out of the schools budget too…art and music.
Everyone of these painting is beautiful and oh the stories they could tell…as in the one you festured that had a painting on both sides. I too love small origional art, even more so because I am not talented in that way at all. I have great admiration for artists.
As for the bee in your bonnet, I do not want to take up too much space here but aside from no art classes, why are we not teaching our children how to write. No more cursive! What are they supposed to do "make their mark: with a big X because they do not have the skills to write, or read. It is incredibly sad to see how advanced in some ways the education of children is and in so many other ways sorely lacking.
Thank you for sharing your beautiful finds! It alwasy brightens my day when I come to "visit" you.
Have a wonderful day, Elizabeth
Good Morning Sharon:
I haven't commented in awhile . . . always on the run! (hmmmm) But, I love original art and especially those who weren't anybody. Taking time to slow down and observe is a little something we all need to be reminded! Your vignettes of the paintings are awesome! Loved this little post!
Mary Anne ox
P.S. What a shame (in so many ways) that modern technology has taken over our "hearts and emotions" I will always believe that no technology, no matter how great, will ever replace the emotions of the soul with paint brush in hand! ox
They are really lovely, and I too wish our children were taught in school to value the creative life. I recall quite a lot more of that in my (long ago) youth!
I must say something (a little bee in my bonnet I guess). If I were the 75 year old woman you had visited earlier, I would be most offended at being referred to as an "old lady", or even, as in your previous post, as an elderly woman. Seventy five is hardly old anymore. I will be that old in 21 short years, and I do not plan to be an old lady! That said, I did love the story about her.
Thank you Cheryl, note taken corrections made! 🙂
Well I have to say I wish I could find such paintings as you have. Being an artist myself I most definetly value such pieces of art and every word you've said here. There is actually alot more opportunities for an artist, or those pursueing an art degree, here in the states than there was when I was at University. I began University as an art major but was discouraged in every which way I turned. I knew from as far back as I can remember, age 5, that I was an artist. I grew up answering the age old question "what are you going to be when you grow up?", an artist. But I still got a degree in Foods and Nutrition instead and then went on to remain home, raising my four children, home educating, and now that they are off to careers and University, I have returned to 'being an artist'. My parents are still slow at supporting me but I am at peace knowing it is what I was meant to do all along. Thankfully I was able to teach all four of my children art- drawing, composition, perspective, charcoal, pastels, pen and ink, painting, and sitting quietly to observe. I believe it has helped them in all areas of life and as they've gone on to pursue higher education.
Your collection, and the way you've displayed it, is so charming. We don't learn to draw here in Canada, either. It's a pity.
Five years ago, while visiting Versailles with my husband during the month of June, I was pleased to see groups of French school children with their teachers touring. One such group settled themselves in the grass in one of the gardens and were busily painting and drawing the flowers around them. Truly "en plein air!"
Oh this is the painting I asked if you were going to sell, I guess I got my answer. I can't blame you for keeping it, I LOVE IT!
After reading your post, I moved two of my favorite small paintings to the wall in front of my desk. They had been perched on a bookcase that was in an out-of-the way place. Both of them are special to me and your post reminded me of just that. Thank you so much.
Gorgeous French artwork!
Jennifer:)
Oh Sharon,
I love your entry table and the way you display things there, so easy, so chic!
Fra
Such lovely paintings, you have good taste my dear. I can understand your dilemma about which work you like the best.
In answer to your question regarding what makes me stop or slow down; it's music. Not the popular/rock n'roll kind (though I've been know to party on down). I like to listen to classical music. There is something about it, it just quiets my soul.
Well, all I know for myself is that, if I can help it, you'll never see me with a Kindle as nothing makes me more happy than to pick up a hardcover book as long as I have hands to hold one and eyes to read. Books are cumbersome to move if you have to relocate your home, and I've given hundreds away for the hundred more I bring home, but there's a permanency to them that I have to have for my comfort. Recently, our electrical power was off for five hours and everybody around me freaked out (no computer, no cable television, cell phones couldn't charge) but I was just fine with the light through the window, curled up reading my good book. My mother is age 88 and still lovingly keeps the same books she bought as a young career girl in the 1940s; to me, they're as good a "read" now as then, so 70 years of minor investment has paid for itself many times over.
Another thing I stay away from are electronic greeting cards. At first I thought they were clever to receive; now, I think they are impersonal and cold. This is when I whip out my paper notecards and write to someone with my own (messy) handwriting (at least it's REAL). I have a lot of notes and greeting cards I've received over many years that I keep in small, decorated boxes tied with ribbon. I can pull them out whenever I want, hold them in my hand, trace my finger over the ink on the page. Sometimes I sit on the bed and fan them out in front of me, maybe on a rainy day; memories. Pulling them out of a computer archive somehow doesn't feel quite the same, for me anyway. My cousins say, "But you are wasting trees; it costs money to make paper. This isn't eco-friendly."
I don't like sitting at the computer with a friend, hunched and crowded, trying to look at her travel photos on the computer. My neck was hurting. I'd wished she'd had prints made, put them in a nice (paper) photo album, so I could be relaxed on the sofa, maybe with my feet up, pouring over the pages at my leisure. Perhaps this is too self-indulgent for today's world, but I feel rebellious about it.
I'm currently having a problem with Facebook. My opinion is that a few people I know are Facebook-obsessed; just another addiction and another technology "leash." I look at them and say, "why don't you just pick up the telephone and talk to one another; better yet, sit at a table across from each other and share a cup of tea, so you can see each other's facial expressions, or feel the fabric of their new sweater, smell their signature perfume and be able to wrap your arms around each other and hug each other goodbye, for real, til next time?"
The computer and internet has its own good place and I certainly use both (love the blogs!). As in all things, if we can find balance; moderation…
Something I've recently done is buy a sewing machine. I want to learn to make things. Also, I rescued my grandmother's piano from a hatchet (a long story), plan to restore it, and play its keys much like the 8-year-old child I was when she was still alive. What good are six years of piano lessons, if I have no way to practice? In mid-to-later life, we CAN still do the things we yearn for, or have missed out doing entirely.
Now, if we could only get physical education classes, music AND art back in the classroom, maybe our kids and grandkids could know what we knew, back in OUR day. I felt luckier!
Technology and handcrafts should find a common ground.
That's what I'm finding is great about etsy; lots of people selling their hand-crafted items, reaching a bigger audience via the web. So, maybe we're doing better than we think.
Wow, I'm sorry I took up so much space with such a long comment again. I have to find a way to edit. The comment form is for everybody, not just me. Rants over!
Okay, absolutely last comment for me today but, going back thru the comments on this post, I think you really hit a nerve with your audience! We're all looking for authenticity, aren't we. And, truly, I found everyone's comments here in addition to yours very soulful. When I was young, I didn't much respect the old things–Mother would reverently hold a bit of broken ceramic or bring home a trinket from a second-hand shop, and I just couldn't understand the thrill. I liked new and contemporary things; not hand-me-downs from some stranger's era. As I've gotten older, it's so apparent how thoughtfully and well-made are some of the things people had from the past, both useful items and things of a decorative nature. Such pride in workmanship. Even carefully-constructed, custom-made houses of an earlier vintage with all of the many extras to create real character for a home (different/unique windows, or clever built-in nooks, etc.). Particularly in the last decades here in the U.S., and I speak oh-so generally from maybe 1960s-1970s, we'd gotten kind of bland in everyday life. Maybe it's too much mass-produced stuff. It just seems like more in the past 20 years or so, that people put more emphasis on building and decorating their nests and, of course, now there are many shows on television (and books!) about home/garden, decorating and design…which has obviously filled a need. So much is said about what we collect and surround ourselves with; how it's a reflection of who we are, and home should be haven. Comfort. I keep coming back to that word. We need comfort from the weary world. Home. Wasn't it Rachel Ashwell who said that everything in and for the home should have beauty, function…and comfort?
Dear "vicki",
Having just read over your previous comments (including your apology for taking up "so much space), all I have to say is "Please write more.. and more often". Those were genuinely useful and fascinating musings. I'll look forward to reading more of them in the future.
To answer your last, direct question? I don't know who Rachel Ashwell is (was?), but she's copping ("paraphrasing" would, I expect, be a more delicate way of phrasing the matter) the famous, late 19th century, Arts & Crafts, English designer/aesthete/artist/craftsman William Morris…..whose quite simple and quite useful dictum was "Have nothing in your house which you do not find either useful or beautiful".
Basically, don't surround yourself with things that don't give you a very satisfying moment of genuine pleasure when you use or look at them. It's a very healthy way of ridding one's life and household of "bling".
That is, indeed, invaluable advice. Whenever I force myself to recall it (it's easy to forget in these acquisitive days), I find myself suddenly and easily throwing out or giving away (one man's trash is another man's treasure) that fancy toaster I never use…or that set of delicate stemware that was an obviously expensive gift, but which I regard as a booby-trap for guests, just when I'd prefer that they simply enjoy an evening here….etcetera.
thanks for your long and good responses. I enjoyed them greatly.
sincerely,
David Terry
http://www.davidterryart.com
Hi, I am from Brazil. I would like to know if you sell some picture from unknow painters. Thank you for your attention. Helena
Such lovely paintings!
Oh my goodness! Amazing article dude! Thanks, However I am experiencing troubles with your RSS.
I don’t know why I am unable to subscribe to it. Is there anybody having
similar RSS problems? Anybody who knows the solution will you kindly
respond? Thanx!!
When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment
is added I get four e-mails with the same comment. Is there any way
you can remove me from that service? Thank you!
People on forums say there is no working roulette system, you can’t beat it in the long run,
but i’m using bluehand roulette system for weeks and it earns me decent money everyday, maybe couple of weeks is not a long run, maybe i am lucky
Hello there! This is kind of off topic but I need some guidance from an well-known blog.
Is it hard to set up your own blog? I’m not very complicated but I can figure things out pretty fast.
I’m thinking about making my own but I’m not sure where to begin. Do you have any ideas or suggestions?
Cheers
Wow that was odd. I just wrote an incredibly long comment but after I
clicked submit my comment didn’t appear. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over
again. Anyway, just wanted to say superb blog!
my homepage: شركة تنظيف منازل بالطائف
Do you mind if I quote a few of your articles as long as I provide credit and sources back to your webpage?
My website is in the very same area of interest as yours and my visitors would
genuinely benefit from some of the information you provide here.
Please let me know if this alright with you. Thanks a lot!
This is why older couples get excited about
just about all fertility situations. ‘ Fetal death, fetal growth restriction, and
preterm birth. Of course, you need to choose organic produce
where available.