Family Art Help Us Understand History

March 25, 2020

"Clara's View" is a water color painting created by our Grandmother Clara Meeker.  

Our family found it again, when we were going through items in storage.

The image was painted on the back of a poster, advertising the Farmers & Merchants State Bank in Bixby, OK - established in or around 1902.   The poster, itself, was created sometime between 1911 and 12/15/1914, when the bank was liquidated.  (Many thanks to my childhood friend from LaCrosse, Kansas, Julia McDaniel Dubreuil, for her research!)

We're having trouble dating this artwork as Grandmother Clara did not sign her painting, much less date it . . . the date of the poster board does not necessarily correspond to the painting's creation date.

Grandmother Clara started her career as a teacher in Nebraska.  After moving to Enid, OK, she became among the early female Methodist ministers in the nation.

We would very much appreciate getting an idea of the age of the painting - possibly through the scene painted.  (She might have painted the scene from memory of a location she had admired at some time.)

Many of my family members are / were, talented artists  in a variety of genres - and produce beautiful works while serving, or having served,  their communities as teachers, military service personnel, nurses, doctors, engineers, accountants, etc.

Sometimes, we don't learn of their achievements - until they have passed on.

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