This gorgeous blue forest scene is from a Christmas card. I only have the front of the card, the back having been torn off some time ago, likely before it came into my possession. Still, I felt it was unmistakably a Leanin' Tree card.
You will notice that the artist has signed his or her name simply "GARE". I was very curious to learn more about the artist, so did a bit of research.
Here is some of what I found out: Margaret Wynnfred Williams, aka Gare Barks, was born in Hilo, Hawaii. She was born Margaret Wynnfred Williams on December 6, 1917. Since there were two Margarets in her class at school, she elected to use the shortened name of Garé. She was educated in Honolulu and in Boston, eventually becoming a commercial artist. In 1954 she married Carl Barks, who was also an artist. Many of Gare's paintings ended up as greeting cards with Leanin' Tree, and can be seen at the Leanin' Tree Western Art Museum. During the Gulf War, Leanin' Tree chose one of her paintings to send as a greeting card to the troops to remind them of home. Gare Barks died on March 10, 1993.
Isn't this scene beautiful? If you look closely, back by the evergreen tree in the middle of the picture, there are two deer.
And here is the lovely poem that was inside the cover of this card:
Hope you have enjoyed this lovely winter forest scene and poem, as well as learning a little bit about the artist!
How interesting that you were actually able to research more about the artist. Blue scenes are not always my favorites, but this one is lovely. I am definitely not a fan of Hawaii scenes...the tropics do not appeal so it is also interesting that this daughter of Hawaii painted scenes from other parts of the world.
ReplyDeleteYes, I thought that was really interesting! I didn't really expect to find much info about the artist, but I sure did and found it fascinating! 💙🎄
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