My Aunty Betty was an amazing artist and in memory and celebration of her life I want to share some of the legacy she left behind. The photos don't do these pieces justice but will give you an inkling of the talent that effused everything she did.
Oil painting of our Basenji dog Quarry 1977
Watercolor Horse and Donkey
Pen and ink (yes ballpoint Bic pen!) The Oakville People's Tree
Scale model of mom's Florida room
Pen and ink doodle of my family 1970's
Oil painting of wildflowers
Oil of winter trees
Betty and Nosey Parker
Our beach memorial October 24, 2010
I came across this poem and thought it said what was in my heart and soul better than I am able right now:
A Parable of Immortality
I am standing upon the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze
and starts for the blue ocean.
She is an object of beauty and strength,
and I stand and watch until at last she hangs
like a speck of white cloud
just where the sea and sky come down to mingle with each other.
Then someone at my side says,
" There she goes! "
Gone where?
Gone from my sight . . . that is all.
She is just as large in mast and hull and spar
as she was when she left my side
and just as able to bear her load of living freight
to the place of destination.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her.
And just at the moment
when someone at my side says,
" There she goes! "
there are other eyes watching her coming . . .
and other voices ready to take up the glad shout . . .
" Here she comes! "
~Henry Van Dyke
Thank you for sharing your memories…especially the poem. I read it somewhere before and I always think of it when someone I know “goes away” but I didn’t get the author’s name or remember the exact words so I’m glad to see it again. I hope it gives you comfort in your time of loss. What beautiful works of art!
What a talented auntie you have! Your memorial to Aunt Betty is beautiful and I especially like the poem by Henry Van Dyke. Thanks for sharing!