Maybe I'll do one in January, to show you what I will be wearing later tonight when RJ and I will be joining my parents and my sister for a glass of champagne to welcome 2013 in style. But for now, let me show you these two beautiful paintings:
They were done by my great-grandfather. He died when my Mum was still a little girl, so I had no chance of ever meeting him. He came originally from Silesia and settled in what eventually became our family's hometown, Ludwigsburg. I don't know neither what year he came here, nor what was the actual reason for the move, but I know what he did once he arrived: he worked as a porcelain painter at Ludwigsburg's own bone china manufactory. The manufactory is still working, still selling, still training artists, and my great-grandfather was one of them.
His art was, as you can see, not limited to working on china; he painted on canvas, on cardboard, on wood - whatever was available to him. If I remember correctly, my Mum once told me that sometimes he would pay for goods or services with a painting instead of money, so I assume there are several houses in Ludwigsburg where one can find a painting by my great-grandfather.
These two paintings were, as long as I can remember (and much longer than that), in my grandparents' house. They were beautifully displayed in a wall niche in the living room, and I've always known and loved them. Can't you smell the scent of the peaches in the one painting, and the roses in the other? Don't you want to pick one of the grapes and let its sweet juice tickle your mouth as you eat it?
When our grandmother died in January of 2001 and it was decided that my Mum and her brother would be selling the house, emptying it was a monumental task, which took our family almost a year. Among many other things (such as the furniture that is now in my living room - as you can see here -, or the cream china with the gold rim I eat off every day), the two paintings were given to me.
I was very happy to have them, and they were on the wall in our Third Room until my late husband decided to redecorate the flat in October 2009. He washed the last paint off his paint brushes on the morning of the day of his death. I never put the pictures back up, and they remained in the cellar where he had stored them before redecorating.
Last week, our relatives from France came visiting - I mentioned that in my previous post. My cousins spent many a summer holiday at our grandparents' house when they were children, and they, too, have fond memories of the place. Only now, during this visit, I learnt from my cousin that he and his siblings had not known about the sale of the house and distribution of its contents - their father had, sadly, not told them anything. Therefore, neither of my cousins received any tangible memory after our grandmother died. This touched me very much, and I instantly thought of those paintings.
When we were back at my place an hour or so later, I offered them to my cousins. At first, they did not want to take them, although I could tell they loved them; they ended up taking the paintings when they came to say good-bye the next day. My cousin said he already knows exactly where they will go at their house, and he has promised to send me a picture.
I feel better for having done this; the paintings still remain in the family, and I already have so much from my grandparents, and they had nothing.
Happy New Year to everyone!
