Early Days

I LOVE this picture of mom in her early days of art! Her art really transformed as I grew up and she finally decided to work mostly in watercolor. The early works here are in oil I believe. What is interesting is the portrait of the girl. The painting media was mixed with coffee grounds. Somehow that stood out to me as a young girl and the painting hung above our fireplace. I kept thinking, "What is that texture?" By then, I was about five and the portrait had hung there awhile. Many people that visited our home asked if it was a self portrait. Mom always said "No." but as you can see in this photo it does resemble her in her young twenties. Mother began her art studies at The Dayton Art Institute in Ohio.