Mary’s Voice: Posthumously Speaking 25

Detail of “Visiting Birds,”
by Geneva Metzler

Geneva Metzler’s
“Visiting Birds”

By Mary Alice Condley
(1925-2007)

Editor’s Note: In the notes on “Autumn Hues,” Mary Alice’s daughter, Karen Abbey, told us that she has a painting by her mother’s painting teacher, Geneva Metzler. Karen bought it at a showing of Geneva’s, in Sanger, California. “When I saw the picture I knew I had to have it! I think it cost $75.”

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

Father’s Art: Works of Billy Charles Duvall [6]

Detail of “Island Woman”

Two Paintings
and a Bonus

By André Duvall

As you may have gathered from the Father’s Art posts so far, Dad favors working with oil paint. “Island Woman” is one of the few cases in which he uses some acrylic, in order to give a flat, two-dimensional look to the black portion of the painting. He also chose to use the rough side of the Masonite to give it more of a canvas look and texture. “Island Woman” is Dad’s second open-frame painting, inspired by the use of black in his first one, which will be featured in a future post.

Mary’s Voice: Posthumously Speaking 18

Detail: signature, year

On the occasion of her 95th birthday (tomorrow)

By Mary Alice Condley (1925-2007)

[Editor’s Note: I am grateful to Mary’s & my cousin Billy Charles Duvall, the son of our mother’s sister Florine, for his discovery of today’s painting, and to his son, André Duvall, for explaining its background in tomorrow’s installment of his Father’s Art column. Thank readers in advance for their 24 hours of patience!]

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.]

Mary’s Voice: Posthumously Speaking 15

Detail of lighthouse painting

From field to shore

By Mary Alice Condley (1925-2007)

[Editor’s Note: I am grateful to Mary’s & my nephew Bruce Story, eldest offspring of our sister Flo Elowee, for sharing these three paintings by Mary. Her love of simple, traditional things sings sweetly through them.]

Mary’s Voice: Posthumously Speaking 14

(8" x 10" canvas board)

“Barn on a Bluff” revisited

By Mary Alice Condley (1925-2007)

[Editor’s Note: We are grateful to Billy Charles Duvall for sharing this painting by my sister Mary Alice Condley, and grateful to his son, Columnist André Duvall, for spotting an earlier painting of a similar scene, which we posted as “Posthumously speaking 5” on October 14, 2014, and identified as “‘Barn on a Bluff,’ 1970s (12" x 16").” Billy’s painting is quite a bit smaller.]

Mary’s Voice: Posthumously Speaking 13

Detail “San Simeon Lighthouse”

San Simeon Lighthouse 
& Cabin in the Mountains

By Mary Alice Condley (1925-2007)

[Editor’s Note: We are grateful to Maryjo Williams for sharing two more paintings by my sister Mary Alice Condley. Maryjo is the daughter of Chloe, a sister of Mary’s husband, Elbert O. Condley.

Correspondence: Light & verity

Edited by Moristotle

[Editor’s Note: Two years ago today, we shared another photograph of my sister Mary Alice Condley’s painting, “Barn on a Bluff.” Today’s new photo was submitted by a loving niece of Mary’s.]

Mary’s Voice: Posthumously Speaking 12

(detail)

Mountain chapel

By Mary Alice Condley (1925-2007)

[Editor’s Note: A few weeks ago, my sister Mary’s daughter, Karen Abbey, came across a photograph of yet another of her mother’s paintings. “I think the picture is one of her best!” Karen reports the following note on the back of the photo:

Mary’s Voice: Posthumously Speaking 11

(detail)

Country barn

By Mary Alice Condley (1925-2007)

[Editor’s Note: Another painting of Mary Alice Condley came to the attention recently of her daughter, Karen Abbey, whom her (and my) cousins Richard & Joyce Frost told they had a painting. “Mary gave Richard & me this barn painting years ago and it proudly hangs in our hallway.”

Tuesday Voice: Posthumously Speaking 10

Detail

Morro Rock

By Mary Alice Condley (1925-2007)

[Editor’s Note: The artist’s daughter, Karen Abbey, recently brought to my attention that her oldest son, Mark Denham, has his grandmother’s painting of Morro Rock, near where Karen and her husband Cliff lived for many years, in and around Morro Bay, California. The rock is a 581-foot volcanic plug located just offshore from Morro Bay, at the entrance to Morro Bay Harbor.

Tuesday Voice: Posthumously Speaking 9

Hand tools

By Mary Alice Condley (1925-2007)

[Correction: The artist's granddaughter has informed us that her father doesn't think Mary did the shovel painting. (May 27)]

[Editor's Note: The artist's granddaughter Suzanne Dawn Condley recently brought to my attention that her father, my nephew Jeffrey Condley, Mary's second of two sons, has a number of his mother's paintings, several of which were done on hand tools – the first such paintings of hers that I was aware of.

Tuesday Voice: Posthumously Speaking 8

Detail

Homestead

By Mary Alice Condley (1925-2007)

[Editor's Note: The artist seems to have given this painting to her sister Flo Elowee Story for her birthday, for on the back, in Flo's calligraphic hand, is penned:

June 14, 1997
From DEAR Mary
My Sister