Hi Everyone,
I hope all is well for you. A huge welcome goes out to my new friends! Glad to see yah and I hope you come back often!
The weather here has been just absolutely gorgeous. I can't believe how lucky we've been this year. Illinois weather is usually pretty yucky but we've been very blessed this winter. Thank you Lord!
My DFIL was an avid collector of things. He loved going to estate sales, flea markets, auctions, garage sales or whatever kind of place he could find. He would pick through the trinkets and find stuff that he liked and if he picked it up for a song and a dance, out the door it went with him. His dream was to have enough stuff to fill up a trailer and travel around the US selling and trading his stuff. Sadly, he was never able to actually complete his dream and now we are left with all of his stuff. I'm not sure we have the same dream as his. Yes, we'd love to be able to travel around the country and visit tons and tons of different places, but I'm not sure setting out and then picking up all that stuff sounds like fun. lol
But anyway with that knowledge in hand, I'd like to share this pic with you. It is one of dad's finds that was buried in his "little" shed waiting for him to pack it in a trailer and find it a new home. When we ran across it, I was intrigued by it and I guess I still am. The frame is definitely very old. But I can't decide whether the picture is as old as the frame or not. I can't see the artist name on it, the frame hides the bottom part of the painting(?). I haven't wanted to take it all apart and check it out, I'm so afraid I'd mess something up. But I can feel the back of the paper and it does feel like it might be a canvas. It is definitely a hand painted image because you can see the brush strokes but you can't feel them. In fact the front of it is very smooth almost like it is on a laminate board but it is definitely paper. So I'm totally confused. I'm thinking about having an appraisal done but I'm worried I'll pay huge bucks for the appraisal and find out that she's a poster that was printed in 1990 and put into a vintage frame. lol... What do you think? Have you ever seen this painting anywhere? Click on her for an up close view.
I'm thinking it's supposed to be Cleopatra but looking at just the face it reminds me a lot of some of the masters paintings of the Virgin Mary. But, I know no one in their right mind would paint an image like this of the Virgin Mary.. lol
Oh also, it's huge! The inside frame is 19 1/2" x 25 1/2 inches and the width of the frame adds another 6 1/2" to all sides. Like I said, HUGE!
Anyway, I think it's absolutely gorgeous. The whole thing is very intriguing to me and if you have any info or advice to share, I'd love to hear from you.
This week I'd like to share a Military Valentine card. I've included two versions for you, one with the sentiment and one without. As always, make sure you click on it before you save it.
Have a great week, plumb full of smiles!
Peggy
