It used to be the home of Lester and Dorothy Baptie.
They had no children, and my father took care of Dorothy
in her elder years after Lester died.
She had known my father for many, many years, and when Dorothy
passed away she left the property to him and he has cared for it since then.
For the past few years he has allowed me to use the house as my "studio",
and I often think about what memories the walls of this house must have absorbed
from the many years when Lester and Dorothy lived there.
When I found the box of pictures,
I felt as if the house was sharing its memories with me.
This is a photo I found of Dorothy as a young girl, taken perhaps at her childhood home.
On the reverse, someone has written "American Beauty" August 1920"
I don't know if this caption was an original idea by the photographer or if
it was inspired by the 1913 song "American Beauty Rag", but it certainly is an
apt title for this wonderful photo of a vibrant and beautiful girl, her skirt billowing
in the breeze of a summer day.
This is a photo that I found of a party that was taken outside of the farmhouse that is
now my studio. There is no caption on this photograph. I think Dorothy is front row right.
I don't see Lester. Perhaps he took the picture.
I love this photo. I could look at it for hours. The expressions. The body language.
The clothes. The cigarettes. The teacup on the window sill.
There is a poem by Linda Ellis entitled "The Dash Poem"
It speaks about the important dates in our lives: the day we were born, the day we died.
These are the dates that are shown on our tombstone.
But it is the "dash" between them that is most important.
The dash represents what we did in the years between those dates.
These are just some photos that capture a few moments of Lester and Dorothy's dash.
They still remain in the house that they shared.
I thank them and my father for allowing me to use this space to create my art.