All week I have been thinking of this lovely portrait of my Grandma taken a few years before she was a Grandma.
Her parents were photographers. Her mother handpainted this portrait with oil paints. Wasn’t she so talented? I love all of her handpainted portraits.
But this week, I am especially grateful for this particular portrait.
It’s such a beautiful photo of my Grandma in her prime. A happy reminder of her life.
I scanned this a few years ago. I need to scan it again as a .tiff file at a much higher resolution so that I and my family members can have a nice sized print made to frame. I think I’ll be taking it with me to the Family History Center tonight. And probably several others as well.
Do you have any special photos that need to be scanned or re-scanned?
My heart is full. There is so much to say, both here, and privately. So many things that need to be recorded and preserved. My Grandmas were both instrumental in helping me begin my genealogy journey. Both are now gone. Grandma Deane shared with me everything she could. Photos, documents, stories, facts, family rumors and legends. Everything.
I was able to be with her the last two days of her life. What a tender, difficult, healing, heartbreaking, and precious time. I wiped the last tears she ever shed. I held her hands. I swabbed her mouth with a wet sponge. I rubbed her feet and legs. I kissed her forehead. I stroked her cheek. I told her I loved her again and again. But I will never be able to repay all that she did for me.
Farewell to my oldest and truest genealogy partner-in-crime, cheerleader, and occasional corrector. When I called to share my discoveries, I was greeted with a “well hi, sweetheart”, with her unique Pacific Northwest accent flavored by her family’s recent English and French immigrants. I will miss that. I imagine the next few new discoveries will be bittersweet because I won’t be able to call and talk to her about them.
I found these two photos in an old oval frame at my mom’s house. I rescued them and the frame. My mom wants the top photo back, I think I’ll hand deliver it rather than mail it. But that bottom photo – I think I am going to repair the oval frame and display this photo in it. Estelle is my great grandmother. She was likely the person who hand painted these with oil paints. She left a wonderful legacy of photos. I am so grateful.
I recently found this beautiful 8×10 photo of my grandmother in pristine condition, in a picture frame, in a stack of picture frames, in the closet of a guest room in my parent’s home. With my mother’s permission, I rescued the dusty frame from the pile.
This adorable little girl was the only child at the time this photo was taken. She was 22 months old. The photo was taken at The Twitter Studio in Great Falls, Montana. The photo was later hand-painted with oil paints. Because there is evidence that the photograph was removed and returned to the frame – the paper backing is torn and taped back together with very old cellophane tape with the studio sticker still on the paper backing – I believe that it was hand-painted by my great grandmother Hope Estelle Maffit.
I love her little dress, socks, and shoes. I also love that her hair isn’t overly styled. It looks like her mother just worked with her natural curls. I wonder if the stuffed dog belonged to my grandmother or if it was a toy in the studio used to help children hold still?
I’m so delighted that my mother was willing to let me rescue and scan this photo while it was still in such perfect condition. A treasure for sure!
Lately I’ve been sharing a lot of photos from my Dad’s side of the family. Today I thought I would bounce back over to my Mom’s side.
This is my Mom’s Grandpa – Francis Henry Duval. The photo was taken and then hand painted with oil paints by his wife Estelle, my great grandmother. She was very talented. I love looking at her work.
Frank & Deane Duval. 12 September 1938 in Divide, Montana. Photo taken by their father.
Photo back with Francis Henry Duval’s notes.
I love this photo of my grandmother and her brother playing on a fence. I also love the notes on the back written by their father, my great grandfather. He was developing his photography skills and like all good students, he was a note taker.
You may notice how light my grandmother’s eyes are. She has very bright blue eyes. So does her brother.
This is my great grandfather, Frank Duval and his grandson, my Uncle Craig. My great grandfather was a hard worker and an excellent do-it-yourselfer. I imagine there were lots of moments like this one with Grandpa Duval inviting his children or grandchildren to help him with a project. His descendants include quite a few do-it-yourselfers – I don’t think that is a coincidence.
