When we first started thinking about moving my mother-in-law to a smaller place, one decision was easy - what to take to hang on her walls. My brother-in-law is an artist and the walls of my mother-in-law's apartment are covered in his paintings.
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| My brother's photography; paintings by The Big Guy's nephew and brother |
Our situation would be largely the same. In fact, our families are loaded with artistic skill. The Big Guy's brother, nephew, and niece are all artists as was my great-grandmother. My brother is a skilled photographer and Mini-me is majoring in Studio Art so you can imagine that, even in a smaller place, most of the artwork I'd take along would be works by our family members.
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| Paintings by my great-grandmother |
Even in the scenario where we only have an hour to save as much as we can, these treasures would be grabbed from the walls to be saved. My great-grandmother's paintings, in particular, are irreplaceable.
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| "The Angelus" by Jean Francois Millet |
Drawing that line, though, is where things get tough. My grandparents had a print of Jean-Francois Millet's "The Angelus" that hung in their house all of my life. It's a fairly common print,
not technically irreplaceable. Yet the copy I have hanging in my dining room now, the one that makes me think of my grandparents every time I see it, seems irreplaceable to me.
Do you have things like this, things that spark memories that make them feel irreplaceable? Are there things hanging on your walls that you absolutely would have to save?
I'm not very sentimental, but I do have a few pieces of art that mind me of when I was a little girl.
ReplyDeleteYour grandmother was a talented artist.
I have a few photographs that I am very sentimental about, and one painting that my cousin Lois did before I was born that speaks to me, but not much else. I am beginning to suspect that my daughter will be a great painter one day, and that some of her art will grace my walls, but she is still young, and trying things out.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a lot of artwork. I usually fill up my walls with montages of family photos. But I did find one at Costco a couple years back that I fell in love with and now hangs in my room. I would have a hard time parting with that one.
ReplyDeleteSuch beautifully talented artists in your family!
There are several drawings of my brother's that I would need to keep and some from both of my boys that I've framed. I do have a huge painting my Grandmother bought from an estate sale of a sad clown that I love and would take with me.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness you know me... I can tell you this, from experience, you will leave everything behind in an unplanned event.
ReplyDeletePhotos are also irreplaceable. Our fire (1998) was before digital, before we used the internet for such things. I sadly have very few memories to reflect on which I think it why 'experiencing' is so important to me.
It's a tough thing you are doing right now. Embrace the memories, hug family, enjoy the time together while going through everything. It's healing. hugs!
Oh yes - I do have a few things I could never part with. Would it be crazy to admit that greeting cards do that to me? I find it hard to get rid of them - I guess the fact that you get even less of them nowadays than many years ago makes it hard to throw the few that I get.
ReplyDelete