Wednesday, April 25, 2012

My Garden Treasures #2

My father passed away 30 years ago at a very young age  of 59 years.  He was part owner in a local men's clothing store in Lafayette, but on the weekends he dabbled in photography, loved to fish and collect antiques/treasures. I have several of his treasures that are special to me and I've been painting the ones in my flower gardens. Here are a few of them:


"St. Jude"
(6 x 6 - original oil painting on canvas panel)


The treasure most special to me is a statue of St. Jude.  My father had a huge devotion to St. Jude, purchased this statue and mounted it in an old tree stump at our home where I grew up. The statue was moved from there when my mom sold the house and it now resides with me.  Hopefully one of my children will give him a home when I am gone.  His feet were broken off in one of the moves but he is buried in the ground and stays vigilant in this spot looking after our home.


"Boy Fishing"
(8 x 8 - original oil painting on masonite panel)


I also inherited the statue of this little boy fishing.  It was kind of special because my father purchased it and the two urns I painted and blogged about previously, from a local restaurant.  The restaurant located on the banks of the Vermilion River near the bridge on Pinhook Road was closed in 1977 and the business reopened at its current location near Broussard, LA.  The restaurant was and is a very popular icon in this area, "Poor Boys Riverside Inn".

"Iron Pot"
(6 x 6 - original oil painting on canvas panel)


Another treasure to me are two old iron pots that I have planted flowers in (I believe my father also purchased these from Poor Boys Riverside Inn).  The pots are so weathered, once painted black and then white and now a combination of both colors and rust.  I didn't paint in the feet on the bottom of the pot in this painting, but that will be in another painting.

Stay tuned, more to follow....

2 comments:

  1. These are all so wonderful. My favorite is St.Jude. Everything about this painting works. I really love the way you positioned the statue and the colors are magical. Thanks for sharing.

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  2. You have done a great job on all of these, Maria. Your brush work is so nice and fluid and you have a sensitive eye.

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