The Better Half
Today brings exciting news from The Better Half curtesy of my mother. I realize after countless hours of "free" research on the internet what an unbelievable treasure trove of information is included in this article. I have been hesitant, for reasons I am not sure why, to officially pay for any sites. But, I plan to breakdown and just do it. I will keep you posted on that.
In the article by Ellen McCann, The Better Half, McCann, based on an interview with Nona, lays out some fantastic information that gives me significant leads. I also received a copy of a letter written to my father by my grandfather about Nona. Nona was born Nona Frances Bunn in 1892 and she passed away in 1980, when I was just nine years old. I only have one memory of Nona when we visited her room at the assisted living facility. I remember painted canvases everywhere and the smell of paint and turpentine can still be conjured up in my memory.
Her parents moved to Kingsport, Tennessee when she was just a small girl where they ran a boarding house. This would have been before the turn of the century and boarding houses were in essence the hotels of the day. Patrons would have included salesmen, politicians, families visiting town, just about anyone and everyone would have stayed at their boarding house. My parents recall that as a young lady, Nona was engaged to several young men at once. When the young suitors would come to town she would have trouble remembering which engagement ring was given to her by which suitor. Fortunately, one young suitor eventually won her heart. She married Luther Hodge in 1911 and only had one son, my grandfather. She also had one brother and one sister.
The letter confirms that she graduated from Sullins College with a degree in art in May of 1911 and that she studied art at Columbia University in New York. He mentioned that she was a pupil of Maud Mason and she studied fine arts, interior decorating, costume design, commercial art, china painting, and craft. He further states that she did research in Italy, London, and Paris in 1930 and she studied at the New York School of Fine & Applied Art in 1926.
I am overwhelmed with this information and while excited, I now don't know where to go next. The story of her life has just been given a form upon which I can now build; the story of her life as an artist begins when she is just a little girl. What inspired her? Who guided her and encouraged her to chase her dreams? Who else did she study under and who did she meet along the way?