Meaningful Works of Art

You are about to see one of my favorite things.

This collection is very important to me.

Vera Green was my great grandmother.

Ma is my mother's mother.

She was truly amazing.

When I was a little girl, I would stay at her house.

The things I remember the most were the following:

The mornings included Bozo...

speaking of Bozo, where is that guy!  I LOVED watching Bozo.

After Bozo went off, we would watch The Price is Right...

the BEST Price of Right's game, in Ma and my opinion was Plinko.

She would let me go to her pantry and get the cheese puffs off the bottom shelf, plop right in front of the TV and watch until my little heart was content. 

Ma always sat in HER chair.  It was in front of the picture window in the living room.

As I remember, every time I turned around to talk to her or just to check and make sure she was still paying attention to me, she had her bible in her lap.

Around lunch time, we ate a REAL lunch.

You know.  COOKED vegetables...from the garden.

Boiled okra, fried okra, potatoes, carrots, green beans...the good stuff.

Yes....I said boiled okra.

And Yes,  I still LOVE boiled okra.

You should try it...with a side of fried REAL okra. 

Not the "fried" kind that comes in a bag.

The lightly breaded kind that is a tad crunchy and taste great when you grab a bit of your mashed potatoes when you go to scoop your fork.

I'm just saying.

It doesn't hurt to get a little turnip green juice underneath your pile of okra either.

I'm just saying.

Okay.  My mouth is watering for REAL food!

Grandmother, would you mind making a trip to see us and cooking us a real dinner tonight?

Thanks!  See you in a bit! :)

I'm dreaming.

Wake up.

It's peanut butter and jelly for this household tonight!

Anyway, back to Ma.

She would let me play in her jewelry.

Her earrings were always perfect for me.

Why?

Clip-Ons.

Need I say more.

I was too young to have my ears pierced and Ma wouldn't get hers pierced.

I would SOMETIMES sneak and get in her make up.

Which didn't consist of much.

The powder was in a white round box.

With a big puff.

The box had yellow and gold flowers placed sporadically.

I can still remember the smell of that powder.

One day, Ma gave me THE BEST ADVICE.

Are you listening?

Here it is.

"Britanny, you should NEVER date a man who will work with his shirt off."

"Yes, mam."

I never asked any questions.

Wish I would have.

Just out of curiosity.

Like: "Ma, what other characteristics do "men that work with their shirt off" have.  They must all have the same things going on?  Or, better yet, what GOOD qualities do men that DO work with their shirts on have?  Tell me more!  How do you know these things?  Should he also ONLY wear long sleeves when he works outside?  Because I know you have told me that, even when it's HOT HOT HOT, it's best to wear long sleeves.  You will sweat.  The sweat will wet the shirt and the breeze will allow the sweat to cool you off.  This is just what smart hard working people know.

But, Kent is not one to work with his shirt off, so Ma would approve.

On another note, Ma made THE BEST apple pies EVER.

You know the ones that look like little turnovers.

Devine.

Maybe I will try to work on that recipe...

and master it.

Problem is, as you can probably guess, ...

THERE IS NO WRITTEN RECIPE!

A little of this and a little of that!

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So to the point of this post.

Ma's Hat.

My mother inherited Ma's hat after she passed away.

The hat is bright turquoise blue with a small rim and a neatly placed bow on the side.

It resides in a hat box in the top of my mom's closet now.

But, I took it out of it's home for a bit for a project.

When I was in college, we were given an assignment to find any item and include it in 9 different works of art.

The works of art needed to include:

One original drawing of the object and 8 other works based off of famous artist.

The following pictures will show you what I chose to create.

You will find the bright blue hat in EVERY photo except one. 

That photo was abstract and didn't include such defined objects.

We are hoping to hang this collection in our living room OR den.

I can't decide.

Here is the finished framed group!

This is the original photo that I drew of Ma's hat.

Here is the only picture where you won't find the hat.  Abstract.

This is my ALMOST favorite picture.  Love the layers of the flags with the outlines of the hat.

Good 'Ole Andy Warhol inspired photo.

I can't remember the artist that inspired this photo.  All I remember was he was a great cartoonist.

Jackson Pollock inspired

Okay, the above photo is MY FAVORITE.   Paul Klee is the artist that inspired this photo.

Love the playfulness of the little people.  ALSO, LOVED working with watercolor.

Ahhhh...Magritte.  Have you seen the movie The Thomas Crown Affair?

If you haven't, you should.  This famous work of art shows up in this film in a big fun way.

Seurat.  Seurat was famous for his works of pointillism. 

The flash hides alot of the image.

The image is of a woman sitting on the lawn, in a hat, holding an umbrella.

Well, this is my Valentine post for Ma.

So much love for you today and always!

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Disclaimer:  I know this post isn't fluent.  It doesn't read as a story.  But Ma was and has always been very special to me.  For me to include all the goodness of her in a post is, well, unrealistic.  So I typed as thoughts came to my mind.  Hope you enjoy and take the time to remember the qualities your great-grandparents and grandparents taught you today.