By Andrea K. McDaniels The Baltimore Sun contact the reporter
"The paintings lay everywhere.
"Stacked in neat, methodical piles, they filled every room in the tiny apartment. The dining room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom — all full of artwork.
"Cheryl Maxwell stood near the doorway staring at it all in awe before becoming so overwhelmed with emotion she had to sit down.
"'Surreal,' she thought.
"The paintings were the work of her younger sister, Carolyn Anne Watts, who Maxwell discovered had committed suicide at the age of 56. The family didn't know of the secret art until after her death in 2010.
"Watts had suffered from depression her whole life, but her sister hadn't realized how it had consumed her. She saw all the emotions, and the ups and downs her sister suffered, painted on the canvases. Guilt and sadness filled Maxwell's heart. Maybe, she thought, she could have done more.
"While it was too late for her sister, it wasn't for others. Maxwell soon saw how she could open up a dialogue about mental illness through the paintings that had stopped her in her tracks — and maybe save other lives. There were nearly 170 pieces of artwork, she later counted. Enough to fill a small art gallery."
Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bs-hs-art-mental-health-20150306-story.html
I was tipped off to this story by http://journaltimes.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/woman-uses-sister-s-art-to-break-stigma-of-mental/article_007db706-b7c3-5ad7-9f8d-b30e8f1803e2.html
This reminds me of Emily Dickinson. I think the paintings are superb.
"Stacked in neat, methodical piles, they filled every room in the tiny apartment. The dining room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom — all full of artwork.
"Cheryl Maxwell stood near the doorway staring at it all in awe before becoming so overwhelmed with emotion she had to sit down.
"'Surreal,' she thought.
"The paintings were the work of her younger sister, Carolyn Anne Watts, who Maxwell discovered had committed suicide at the age of 56. The family didn't know of the secret art until after her death in 2010.
"Watts had suffered from depression her whole life, but her sister hadn't realized how it had consumed her. She saw all the emotions, and the ups and downs her sister suffered, painted on the canvases. Guilt and sadness filled Maxwell's heart. Maybe, she thought, she could have done more.
"While it was too late for her sister, it wasn't for others. Maxwell soon saw how she could open up a dialogue about mental illness through the paintings that had stopped her in her tracks — and maybe save other lives. There were nearly 170 pieces of artwork, she later counted. Enough to fill a small art gallery."
Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bs-hs-art-mental-health-20150306-story.html
I was tipped off to this story by http://journaltimes.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/woman-uses-sister-s-art-to-break-stigma-of-mental/article_007db706-b7c3-5ad7-9f8d-b30e8f1803e2.html
This reminds me of Emily Dickinson. I think the paintings are superb.
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1 comment:
Her family couldn't have been too involved in her life if her apartment had 170 of her paintings in it and no one knew.
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