As I mentioned, earlier today I found a print by Jessie Willcox Smith. It was in a thrift store for 2.99. The very next thrift store I went into I found a frame that was just the right amount of “old” and fit perfectly. I love to find a match that quickly!
It’s a picture of a girl eating porridge with her teddy bear close by.
In case you don’t know of Jessie Willcox Smith (1863-1935), she was a very successful illustrator who grew up in Victorian Philadelphia and became a kindergarten teacher. She had no knowledge of her talent as an artist until she was grown and finding out that teaching small children would be a hardship for her due to her back pain. (She was a tall lady and bending over to teach the children hurt her back.)
Her illustrations of mothers and babies and children are simply heart-touching. Her art is simple and straightforward but full of depth and emotion. It makes me glad to find one of her prints. I have three so far, with another truly old one calling out to me from a local antique store. It’s over 200 dollars though, so it’s not really in the budget.
I also have this one:
And this one:
