Long before photographs, social media posts, or written records, people painted. They painted on cave walls, scraps of paper, church ceilings, and stretched canvases because humans have always feared the same thing: disappearing without leaving evidence that they were here. Art became more than decoration. It became preservation of memory, emotion, identity, and the way someone once saw the world.
My grandmother’s paintings will never hang in a famous museum. Most exist quietly inside homes, resting above fireplaces or tucked into hallways where everyday life moves right past them without much thought. But the longer I looked at them, the more I realized they were saying something far greater than what first appeared on the canvas. The paintings were not simply landscapes, flowers, or rural scenes. They were reflections of patience, faith, memory, and the quiet way one person understood the world around her.
Looking into my grandmother’s artwork I began to learn more about her. She explained to me that her artwork was not only an expression of creativity but a place to escape.
“I first started(painting) to give myself some peace of mind and some solitude,” she said. “The business we were in required me to work long days. I needed a place and time where everything else in the world would go away.”
Much of my Grandmother’s art is rooted in nature. From fluorescent sunsets, to babbling brooks, and swaying trees. She loves the concept that divinity doesn’t have to transcend reality.
“There is beauty all around us, you just have to open your eyes and look,” she said. “My inspiration for some pieces is kind of something whimsical or eclectic. I love natural colors and basing my artwork off things I see right outside my front door.”
In the end, my Grandmother’s artworks are so much more than paint being stretched across a canvas. They won’t end up being bought for millions of dollars or hanging in some fancy museum, but I would say the life, emotion, and memories put into these paintings are just as special.
