During my last trip to New England, we drove up to Bennington, VT for the day to see the museum there. With us was my good friend Patricia, a Bennington College alum, and a perfect guide for our time there!
   My original desire to visit The Bennington Museum was to see their collection of Grandma Moses works (which, sadly, could not be photographed….but believe me! Its a gorgeous collection, and even includes the table she painted on!)
   While visiting the rest of the museum’s collections though, I found that they have an amazing collection of folk art! Wonderful old toys, gadgets, pottery and household objects, but oh my— their folk art paintings! They were stunning!

   Ever since my visit there, I have had a renewed interest in Early American portraits and seek them out where ever I can when I’m in an antique shop or a museum. There is no way I could ever afford a real one….But I can paint them!
   My love for Early American portraits inspired me to create this painting, that I decided to call “Mrs. Hawthorne.” Whoever buys her can give her her first name:

   Currently she’s on display at Blue Heron Mercantile in Jenks, OK. but I’ve also got her listed in my etsy shop for any out of town buyers. She measures 18×24, so its a large painting. The sides are painted black so the canvas can be hung unframed, but I think she’d look simply gorgeous with an old fashioned frame on her!

    This spring I hope to offer even more Americana inspired folk art, and already have some on my painting desk to finish up! So please come back soon to visit and see what’s new!~
~H