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| CHARLOTTE JACKSON PRASS 1925-2013 |
Tim's mom has lost her long battle with Alzheimer's.
We were so thankful to be able to visit her one last time in Michigan
recently. I chose this photo of her back when she was Charlotte Jackson,
the Snow Queen in college.
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| PAUL N PRASS, JR WWII |
And here is a photo of her then
"future" husband, Paul Prass, who named his P-38 QUEEN JACK.
Not that I want a fighter plane named after me, but that is so cool,
don't you think?
I have been swept away as I sort through, organize and
scan the boxes of family photos, albums and letters that Tim has
inherited. The wealth of his family history compared to the half filled
manila folder that contains my entire past leaves me breathless.
So I got this idea to turn some of these photos into
collage artwork. I started with Char, but was not pleased with my initial
experiments. So I changed gears and played with a photo from Paul's childhood that really makes me smile, especially knowing him as an adult. That
rifle has to be twice as tall as Paul. I'm guessing he's only about three
years old here, living on a farm in Texas. No siblings, his friends are
the animals. He had two cows Pete and Repeat. So I made copies and
applied the notes from the backs of photos, maps, paper rifle targets, pages
from his children's books and any ephemera relating to his life on
the farm in the 1920's to a 12"x30" canvas as the foundation.
Then I began painting over top of the foundation,
letting some of the background peek through. I'm still painting and
adding layers to this piece that portrays my father-in-laws early years but
something really hit me about the process. I began thinking about the
ephemera of our lives; those things that were meant to have no lasting
significance, but in fact, became the foundation of who we have become. It's
those words scribbled on the back of a childhood photo that instantly transport
us to that time or place. Or how about the invisible cruel words that
still impact us years later; they all become part of our underlayment, our
foundation. We can't choose the background, but we have the ability to
design what our self-portrait will look like. So it's true when someone
says, "You are a piece of work".
ephemera:
things that are important or useful for only a short time : items that were not meant to have lasting value
1 : something of no lasting significance
2 : ephmera plural : paper items (such as posters, broadsides, and tickets) that were originally meant to be discarded after use but have since become collectibles.
On a side note: I took this into my abstract class to work on (it's as close as I have been able to get to abstract) and one lady told me she found it disturbing on several levels. Tried to explain this was Texas in the early 1920's, no other kids around, etc. Then she said, "You're not going to try and sell this, are you?" This is the same class that encourages creating what pleases you and not others. I'll just add that comment to my self-portrait background. Sigh.
On a side note: I took this into my abstract class to work on (it's as close as I have been able to get to abstract) and one lady told me she found it disturbing on several levels. Tried to explain this was Texas in the early 1920's, no other kids around, etc. Then she said, "You're not going to try and sell this, are you?" This is the same class that encourages creating what pleases you and not others. I'll just add that comment to my self-portrait background. Sigh. 
Tim rented a sailboat. Kids were not impressed. They wanted a speed boat. Papa doesn't do speed boats. Not a windy day. We slowly meandered around Mission Bay. After awhile we noticed we weren't moving and it took Captain Papa some time before he admitted we were stuck in muck. A coastguard boat came kinda near and asked if we were okay. Captain Tim says yup, we're okay. What!!!??? Is that the same as we're not lost in the middle of nowhere? They left and we sat and sat. Tim has this idea that we should all lean way over one side of the boat. No one else liked that idea At All. And it didn't work. Thank God for cell phones, right? Unless the rental people take their phone off the hook! So the highlight (for me) was watching Papa strip down to his skivvies, jump in and basically dig and pull us out. In his defense, Tim had no idea things were so shallow and there were no warning signs. When we returned to the dock the guy said he was told by the coastguards we were stuck but was too busy rescuing others. He says, "Oh people get stuck in that area a lot" and showed us a map hanging on their door. So, being the caring person that I am, I made a few helpful suggestions. Stuff like if you're going to have the phone off the hook maybe show people this handy dandy map as you are taking their deposit and you might have less rescues...just a thought. We had a few laughs with the guy and all is well. Not sure the grandkids are any fonder of sailing though.
Wyatt and Tim spent much time off doing guy things while Amelia and I hung together. On one of the last nights together we switched things up and did something we did with our own kids when they were growing up. DATE NIGHT. We love the opportunity to show them what might soon be a lost art. Amelia was all in; picked out the perfect outfit and felt like a pampered princess. Wyatt quickly stepped up and remembered that Papa always holds the car door for me (even if I'm the chauffeur). He tried to imulate everything he remembered Papa doing at a restaurant and handled himself like a real gentleman and engaging date. It gave Wyatt and I time to talk uninterrupted: really Talk and Listen about hopes and dreams; past and future; whats funny-or not. I will cherish this time as much as I did with Jonathan. Priceless. 
It all started with this lampshade. We were in Target and Tim walked up to me holding this lampshade, knowing I would love it. I stopped dead in my tracks and when he told me it was marked down to $5.98 I instantly had to design a space to put this. I stood right there in the isle and redid the guest bedroom in my head. We snatched up another matching shade and two bases. Total for each lamp- $26.00! I picked out a paint color (Sherwin Williams 6702 Lively Yellow) and found multi-striped sheets on a sales rack for $12.99. I almost hate revealing my cheap sheets, but these were so absolutely perfect and they feel as good as the expensive ones. I don't want to sound like I'm going all cheap on my guests so let's just keep this between us, okay? I got the wicker table for $25 and sprayed it white. The green pillows are Jonathan Adler for JCP and I framed one of my own paintings. I will do more as time allows, especially with fabrics. I am so thrilled with how effortlessly and inexpensively the makeover was falling into place. Normally I hold High Mass over any and all creative decisions so this was a nice surprise. 
