Religion and Family Strife

Love Must Overcome

By Dawn Story Burke

[Editor’s Note: My niece wrote this compassionate essay for our Thor’s Day column a bit over ten years ago, on April 4, 2013, and its subject matter seemed pertinent to this Easter time of our current year.]

Last week, I got to emailing with an aunt, an uncle, and a cousin about going to church on Easter. Or, more specifically, about going to church without one’s spouse.

Mary’s Voice: Posthumously Speaking 24

Detail of “Mother Red Bird”

Mother Red Bird

By Mary Alice Condley
(1925-2007)

Editor’s Note: Here is the second of Mary Alice’s two paintings that her niece Dawn Stella Burke found the day after discovering “Morning by the Sea.” The first of the two was “Flowers in Glass.”

Mary’s Voice: Posthumously Speaking 23

Detail of “Flowers in Glass”

Flowers in Glass

By Mary Alice Condley
(1925-2007)

Editor’s Note: The day after Mary Alice’s niece Dawn Stella Burke found “Morning by the Sea,” while searching for a 1949 photograph of her parents, Don & Flo Elowee Story, Dawn Stella found two more of Mary Alice’s paintings, the first of which we’re sharing with you today.

Mary’s Voice: Posthumously Speaking 22

Detail from “Morning by the Sea”

Morning by the Sea

By Mary Alice Condley
(1925-2007)

Editor’s Note: After Mary Alice’s niece Dawn Stella Burke found the three paintings recently shown in this column – “The Barn,” “Autumn Hues,” and “Flowers in Bronze” – she was overjoyed to find a fourth, which we are pleased to share with you today. Says Dawn Stella:

Mary’s Voice: Posthumously Speaking 21

Detail from “Flowers in Bronze”

Flowers in Bronze

By Mary Alice Condley
(1925-2007)

Editor’s Note: Today we present the second of the two of Mary Alice’s still lifes that were brought out of storage in January by her niece Dawn Stella Burke, along with “The Barn.” The other still life was “Autumn Hues.”

Mary’s Voice: Posthumously Speaking 20

Detail from “Autumn Hues”

Autumn Hues

By Mary Alice Condley
(1925-2007)

Editor’s Note: Today we present the first of the two of Mary Alice’s still lifes that were recently brought out of storage by her niece Dawn Stella Burke.
    But first a few words about Mary’s approach to painting, or her technique. My wife remembered Mary’s telling her that she always painted by copying other paintings – or pictures of other paintings, usually in books she owned or borrowed. That is, Mary did not paint from direct observation of the things represented. Mary’s daughter, Karen Abbey, whom I asked about Mary’s barn painting that we presented on January 23, told me:

Mary’s Voice: Posthumously Speaking 19

Detail from “The Barn”

The Barn

By Mary Alice Condley
(1925-2007)

Editor’s Note: I am grateful to my niece Dawn Stella Burke for bringing out of storage three recently discovered, previously unspoken paintings of my sister (Dawn’s aunt) Mary Alice Condley, of whom Dawn says, “She did so many wonderful paintings and other creative things, she was a great cook, and a lovely person.”
    We will share with you soon the two other paintings that Dawn Stella brought out of storage – still lifes of flowers.

“The Barn,” 16" x 20" (1986? – see numerals below signature)

Copyright © 2023 by Moristotle

Mary’s Voice: Posthumously Speaking 17

Detail

Back in the country

By Mary Alice Condley (1925-2007)

[Editor’s Note: I am grateful for the second time in a row to Mary’s & my niece Dawn Stella Story Burke, daughter of our sister Flo Elowee, for sharing two more paintings by Mary that Dawn acquired after Flo went into a nursing home. These show Mary again in her beloved countryside.]

Mary’s Voice: Posthumously Speaking 16

Detail

Still life

By Mary Alice Condley (1925-2007)

[Editor’s Note: I am grateful to Mary’s niece Dawn Stella Story Burke, only daughter of our sister Flo Elowee, for sharing these four still-life paintings by Mary, which Dawn inherited from Flo when her frailty required that she be moved to a nursing home. (Flo’s husband, William Don Story, had died the year before. I remember him well; he taught me as a young teenager how to drive, shave, & tie a double Windsor knot.) These still lifes are so peaceful and eternal, I feel that Mary must have been especially at home with the close-at-hand.]

The hawk comes

By Dawn Burke

[Editor’s Note: “The hawk comes” is a line from Robert Penn Warren’s poem, “Evening Hawk.”]

On Saturday evening, October 1, about an hour and a half before sundown, I went out with my new camera, a Nikon D3200. My grandchildren Isaiah and Ale were already out there, playing, about 30 feet away from a tree close to our neighborhood playground. Suddenly they called to me loudly, pointing at the tree. When I realized that a hawk was perched on a low branch, I was amazed the kids hadn’t already scared it off. I immediately motioned to them to be quiet and not move!

First Monday with Characters

[From ozphoter.com]

Susan C. Price, recently in Italy

This was REQUESTED, so...if it’s not funny or interesting, blame the requestor :-) (Oh, and yes, i have a sort of shopping...interest / addiction / whatever. In the years when i was working it made sense, as i wore something different five days a week. i still have the appetite...but not the...oh, lets call it “need”…I buy things anyway...and...i’m working on it, so judge away...but don’t expect me to listen.)

First Monday with Characters

What long legs Envious has!

Edited by 
Morris Dean

Bettina Sperry, off to the races

While work on the farm had been settling down during the hot days of August, focus on my racehorse heated up significantly. There is so much more to horseracing than appears. Horses themselves can pose problems and race unpredictably, as has been the case with my boy. Horseracing is arguably hard on the people involved, for myriad reasons, though from the outside this can be conceivably difficult to understand. It is a world of constant problem solving, competition, and working towards improvement in racing – at the slow pace of one race at a time.
    I am also enjoying Franklin Hill's new thoroughbred foal [see photo]. Her name is Envious. At just a few months of age, she is gorgeous. She's a rough and tumble foal, and is mean spirited. She has been biting and kicking since day one on the farm. She recently left for her new home where she will be managed professionally during the months ahead. She is clearly a racehorse in the making.

First Monday with Characters

Edited by
Morris Dean

James Knudsen, from the 4th row

Among my many, hidden treasures – some hidden so well that I can’t find them, is a collection of old concert T-shirts from the 1980’s. As a teen-ager I made several trips to Fresno’s Selland Arena to see the headliners of the day; Cheap Trick, Van Halen, and The Scorpions were some of the acts I was lucky enough to see. And if my budget allowed, I would purchase a T-shirt that I would proudly wear to school the next day, and it would declare, “Yeah, I was there!”

First Monday with Characters

Edited by Morris Dean

Susan C. Price, in juried art show

i have been working (not hard, just now and then ) on seeing if "fine" art (really, i cannot think of my work as fine...seems a silly term to me in this context...maybe ...interesting, bright...but not, fine) can "work" for me. By "work," i think i mean acclaim, notice, and cash. My brother claims it's just acclaim and notice...

Thor's Day: Why not just leave it at "you believe or you don't"?

"The tradition of the West is embodied in the 
Great Conversation that began in the dawn 
of history and that continues to the present day."
–Robert Maynard Hutchins

Beliefs matter, and detrimental beliefs need to be challenged

By Morris Dean

A kind, diplomatically worded comment on last week's Thor's Day column, "Why God just has to exist: There's proof!" gave me pause to consider. The comment was from my niece, Dawn Burke, who lives in Springdale, Arkansas. My wife and I visited Dawn and her family in January, less than four months before her mother my sister Flo passed away in nearby Bentonville. Dawn commented:

First Monday with Characters

Edited by Morris Dean

Geoffrey Dean, visiting

After a birthday and pre-Christmas celebration on the 21st, I and my significant other flew to Minneapolis to spend Christmas with her family before heading to the San Francisco Bay Area to visit my sister and relatives on my mother’s side.
    I hadn’t been to California in about a decade, and it was especially interesting to see it at this traditionally chilly time of year. California cold is, well, warmer than in most other places. The dark green pine foliage and high palm trees give the western shore of the Bay Area a Rome-meets-the-tropics feel. I enjoyed Christa’s enthusiasm on seeing the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time, and she called Sausalito “charming” rather than “touristy,” the preferred descriptive, I imagine, of the average Californian.

First Monday with Characters

Edited by Morris Dean

Kyle Garza, proposing

I proposed to my girlfriend of the last two blissful years, McKenzie, on November 16th, and she sobbingly said yes (tears of joy, to be sure).
    We went out on a casual Sunday after-church date to a monarch butterfly grove in Goleta, a verdant and picturesque spot flourishing with eucalyptus and ivy that most folks imagine is an enchanted forest when they see pictures. I had a handful of friends from church help me out with the proposal. They hid in bushes until a certain point in our walk along the park’s main trail: two musician friends who helped me serenade her with “our song” (All I Want Is You) and two others who worked photography and videography.
    Now we will start to endure the stresses of wedding planning and figuring out where to live together in the midst of a busy school year (since I teach and am working on my MA online and she is a full-time student working on her BS in Mechanical Engineering from CSU Northridge).
    If you know of anyone who knows a good So Cal wedding venue or realtor, please let us know!

Tuesday Voice: Posthumously Speaking 6

”The Lighthouse,” detail

From the lighthouse

By Mary Alice Condley (1925-2007)

[Editor's Note: Today’s painting is the 17th we’ve shown by the artist. It belongs to the artist’s niece Dawn Stella Burke, who says of her aunt, “She always did such sweet things for everyone. I have so many wonderful memories of her and Uncle Eb. She was a special one to all of us.” Dawn is the daughter of Mary’s sister Flo Elowee Story.
    Four paintings in the collection of the artist’s sister Patsy Ruth Garza were shown on October 14.]

First Monday with Characters

Edited by Morris Dean

Tom Lowe, in remembrance

Fella by the name of Clemens complained years ago, “The coldest Winter I ever spent was a Summer in San Francisco”....He left too soon. From the middle of September to around Thanksgiving the Bay Area experiences the warmest part of its year. That’s where we are right now, with afternoon temperatures in the mid-eighties some days, and foggy mornings. A good season to get some work done, I’m hoping. Finishing my “Spring cleaning” would be a start.

First Monday with Characters

Edited by Morris Dean

André Duvall, in accompaniment & solo

Last week, I performed with four other musicians in the second annual Peanut Butter & Jelly Concert for the Mid-South Food Bank, which services over thirty counties in West Tennessee and Northern Mississippi. We raised several pounds of non-perishable items, as well as a good supplement of cash donations, for the Food Bank. For the majority of the concert, I accompanied three of the performers, including soprano Kallen Esperian. Kallen is dearly loved in Memphis and is sort of our “home town” opera star, having performed in almost all the major opera houses in Europe and toured with Pavarotti many years ago, and we were very fortunate to have her come and support our efforts. I also played some solo works for piano and organ for this concert.