Good morning!
How are you? I hope all is well in your corner of the world.
I made an unexpected trip to help my daughter and her family when their youngest, who is four, had to have an emergency appendectomy. Thankfully he's doing well and everyone else is too.
The surgery came right on the heels of both she and my son-in-law having Covid. So close that they had just been cleared to be out, on the very day that Cohen began feeling ill. They spent that night in the emergency room.
Surgery was successful and after another night at the hospital they came home. I'll be heading home today.
On another note, do you remember a few years back when I bought a painting at a sale at the local artists' guild? I was pretty excited because I could tell it was painted by someone who, at the very least, knew what they were doing.
But I could not for the life of me, figure out who the artist was.
The signature was too hard to read. I could make out the first three letters, but after that I was lost.
Another clue was a torn label on the back, but it only had the the last letter of a word and 1949 written on it.
I searched the internet as best I could, asked around wherever it seemed like someone might know the artist. But all to no avail.
Here's the painting I'm talking about.
Here's the scratchy signature and torn label. Such a mystery!
Then, last weekend, sipping coffee and flipping through the latest copy of Footprints (the alumni magazine for Casper College), I saw an image of a painting that looked similar to mine! The colors were the same and the handling of the shapes really caught my eye in a familiar way.
Do you see the similarities between my painting and the one in the article?
It turns out that the artist was Earl M. Reed, an artist from Chicago who moved to Wyoming in the 1940's. He spent some time in Jackson, WY and later moved to Casper where he became the first art instructor at Casper College.
I am SO excited to have finally solved the mystery of my painting! And I'm tickled to have a piece of local art history.
I'd still like to know the title, if there is one. I've emailed the college to see if anyone has any info about it.
Earl Reed's painting hangs in my dining room where I see it from my seat at the table.I study it almost daily, dwelling on first one area and then another.
I wish I had met him or even better been able to study with him. Since that isn't possible I'll be thankful to have solved the mystery of my favorite painting.
Here's my most recent painting.
Walk With Me 18x24 oil on canvas
Do you see any influence from my Earl Reed painting in Walk With Me?
Till next time, I hope you stay well and happy!
Ginny
PS Upon reflecting about this, I'd say it seems like an awful lot of life is about solving mysteries, great and small. Have you solved any mysteries in your life lately?