Thursday, July 5, 2012

Found Another Painting

Yes, I found another beautiful painting.  This one at a yard sale in Australia.  I very rarely ever go to yard sales, but my husband and I were visiting our daughter in the spring and he spotted  a yard sale in the neighbourhood so we popped over for a look.  (Plus, I'm an avid Antiques Show watcher, and I've always wanted to find a painting at a yard sale - bonus!)

My daughter's Mother-In-Law, Barbara, was with us.  She picked up the oil painting first and my little heart went pitter-pat.  I waited to see if she was going to take it.  She put it back.  I snagged it quickly, asking her if she was sure she didn't want it.  She didn't.  My son-in-law had been telling me he was going to buy a painting in the next little while, and here it was, a gorgeous painting that would look great in their living room.

The painting is from the Sandy Creek Gallery and the artist is Shirley Docking.  Barb and I are avid Googlers so the minute we got home we both opened our laptops and started Googling to find out about the artist.  Barb found the information first. Unfortunately, the lady who painted this gorgeous work of art was murdered in Sandy Creek by an infamous Australian killer.  Not something I expected to find and not quite the kind of provenance I was hoping to attach to this painting.  You might not be able to tell in the photo but Shirley Docking used mixed mediums in this artwork.  Oils and acrylics.  The acrylics give dimension to the tree bark making it look very real.  A true Australian outback scene.

This painting has found a home where it will be treasured for its intrinsic beauty.  I think, somewhere, Shirley will be happy that her work of art has found a happy home.