Black Neck Stilts - Acrylic
Amazing things happen all the time but rarely do they happen to me! This is a short story, really, but I'll just make a condensed version here:
I painted this acrylic painting of Black Neck Stilts in 1968. At that time I was still painting on very large canvases. Several of my paintings sold during an art show/sale that was a part of Westminster Presbyterian Church's Annual Fall Festival. Many artists who belonged to that church brought their paintings to the festival and displayed them there. The festival was always well attended and sales were brisk. I sold several paintings, prints and pen and ink drawings that day. A couple from Grants Pass purchased this piece. They were very excited to purchase this one and hang it in their newly acquired home.
In October, 2009, (exactly 41 years later) I received a telephone call from a woman living in Winston, Oregon. She asked if I were the Pat Blair in Medford who painted and had I ever painted a clutch of black and white birds with long legs. When I answered yes, she explained that she had inherited the painting from a dear friend who had passed away recently. The woman said she had no room on her walls for a painting this large (30" x 34") and that the colors nor subject matter would match her decor. She wanted it to return to the original artist. She dropped the painting off just this past December 20th and asked that I take a photo of the painting with me and my three daughters sitting in front of the painting.
Below is an original photo of me and my three daughters taken in 1968 and also the photo and my three daughters taken in December 2009.