A Tribute to my Artistic Father

In previous posts, I have shared some fabric postcards. This time, I would like to show off some watercolor note cards created by my father, Peter C. Turner. It is always a delight to receive something from him in the mail. My father spent his life as a commercial artist, both in New York and in the Raleigh area. He was talented enough to support his wife and seven children through his art, and that is not easy to do in the competitive world of art! Later in life, he had more time to devote to fine art. His portraits and paintings hang in many homes and offices, and he also has done a series of prints on tobacco farm heritage, mountain scenes, and others. He is now retired and living in the North Carolina mountains, not far from where we are building our cabin. Although he is still technically at the top of his skills, big paintings seem a bit daunting to him as far as time management. However, he is enjoying painting small watercolors just for fun- and I love to be the recipient of them! The Beautiful Blue Ridge is an original painting, and the card with th colored horses is a print that he made into a card for Mother's Day. Thank you, Dad, for your love, for all the great Halloween costumes you designed, prize-winning science projects and spirit week displays you helped us create even when you were swamped with deadlines for your own projects! And how fortunate we are to have all the original art that beautifies my home and others'. One painting I found when I was helping him to move out of his big house in Cary after forty years. It was under a bed in the guest room, being flattened out under some big books. I had to claim that forgotten treasure immediately- a lovely scene of a shrimp boat in Calabash, NC. Another favorite is a painting of the marsh and dunes from the deck of the house we rent every summer in Sunset Beach, NC. Dad, you are not only a wonderful artist, but an amazing person, with knowledge and interest in so many things- planes, sailing ships, wildlife, you name it! And keeper of so many wonderful and humorous stories. I just want to tell the world how much I love and admire you! And thanks for any smidge of artistic talent I may have inherited from you.