"Eleanor" A portrait of my Grandma by my Great Uncle Alan AlexanderAbout 2 weeks ago my Grandma sent me an email asking me to help out with a project (she's pretty tech savvy and an avid follower of my blog - Hi Grandma! I love you!). She had gone onto Yahoo and on a hunch entered Alan Alexander, my great Uncle and an artist. She found he had a website under construction that was being put together by his son Bryce. Bryce was asking for anyone who had copies of Alan's paintings to take pictures and send them in for the sight.
Naturally, as a follower of my blog, Grandma knew I had just gotten my fancy new camera and was learning how to photograph my artwork. She asked me to help take pictures and I agreed.
Last sunday I took the photos of the pieces she had in her home, and arranged with my Aunt Judi and Aunt Sue to get photos of the other two paintings our family had in their possession.
As I photographed the artwork, it was the first time I really looked at the paintings. How had it escaped me that someone in my family was this talented? How had I not taken the time before? His paintings are beautiful, and he was immensely talented.
Today, I sat down to crop the photos and send them to Bryce. In typing the email, I found myself becoming very emotional and missing my Grandpa so much. I miss him so much. He was a wonderful grandpa and I loved him with all my heart. I loved his grandpa hat that he wore, how he cursed all the time, how he loved candy, and had a grandpa smell. I miss his laugh too and getting to see him.
I also wish I had been able to know my Great Uncle Alan. I wonder what I could have learned from him and what he might have thought of my artwork? I wish I had appreciated his talent when he was alive so that I might have been able to get his insight on some of his pieces, on where he got his inspiration.
None of this can be changed though, and all I can do is help with collecting photos of Alan's artwork. And as I do this I can watch as his site grows and draw inspiration from his pieces collected together. I can hope that my artwork will be as wide spread one day and I can remember all the wonderful memories I have of my Grandpa, Alan's older brother Al, and find peace and love in that.
