Marion Gunderson Art (and the Farmer's Daughter)

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A watercolor of Mother’s (Marion Gunderson) I have long admired is that of — Pumpkins.  Mother painted it in 1971.  It now belongs to my four-years-older sister.  Peggy lives in Michigan and was traveling to Iowa last fall.  I went out on a limb asking her if she might consider bringing her Pumpkins painting to Iowa so I could have it taken out of the frame, scanned, profiled, and a print made for me.

"Pumpkins" (painted in 1971) prints are readily available in two sizes. Click photo to enlarge. Medium-sized limited edition prints are 6" x 16.25", $25. The smallest Pumpkins prints are 4.5" x 12.25", $15. (For prints and/or more information, contact me at mariongundersonart@gmail.com, or Mona at Wild Faces Gallery.)

Peggy was immediately up for it.  She brought the painting to Iowa without me knowing where I was going to get all of this done.  I only knew I was going to ask Mona at Wild Faces Gallery if she would reassemble the painting, frame, etc., after I’d had a print made … somewhere.  Until I asked her the “reassemble” question, I had no idea that Mona’s husband, Mike, makes giclee prints from original art in the Wild Faces Giclee side of their business.

When I made this discovery via talking with Mona, both Peggy and I were at the gallery.  Peggy then gave Mike permission to make prints of Peggy’s Pumpkins painting.  Mike did all of the scanning/profiling/printing work.  I got to decide the quantity and sizes of prints I wanted within my budget.  Mona then shrink-wrapped the prints.

Last fall, little did I know we would be going “public” by offering prints of the Pumpkins as part of a fund-raiser for the Rolfe Public Library.  (In case you didn’t know, Mother worked at the library for thirty-five years before passing away in 2004.  She was Marion the Librarian.)

Jim and Bill with THE FIRST BOTTLE! (David Weiser was involved with the yeast and other initial steps of the process. Scott Finneseth will join them in their brewmeister efforts.)

What does Mother’s Pumpkins painting have to do with this photo? Let’s see — pumpkins mature in October, beer –THAT’S IT —OKTOBERFEST!  (Most of you who know me are aware of my loose associations!)

Actually, I just couldn’t contain my enthusiasm.  Last night Bill and our good friend Jim Eaton bottled their first batch of home brew.  Every step was an adventure with resulting satisfaction.  On their first attempt, they ended up with some pretty darn good (and quite hoppy) IPA.  They named this batch “Bear Spit.”

Besides that definite pumpkins/beer “connection,” another connection is that Mother always said one of the many things she appreciated about Bill was that he’d sit down with her, have a beverage with her, and have good conversation with her.  Here’s to Mother.

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This entry was posted on June 19, 2009 at 1:03 pm and is filed under Beer Making, Marion Gunderson, Pumpkins, Watercolor image. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.