16×20 Red, Blue & Green Mixed Media Collage Painting
Flower Series No 175
Available here

I watched a sweet documentary on Netflix last week called Packed in a Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Lake Wilkinson that I thought I’d share with you. 

PACKED IN A TRUNK uncovers the story of artist Edith Lake Wilkinson, committed to an asylum in 1924 and never heard from again. We follow the journey of Edith’s great-niece as she pieces together the mystery of Edith’s life and returns her work to Provincetown.

I’m not going to say too much about the film because I don’t want to spoil it for you, but I will say I give it 5 stars. Watching it made me wonder if any of my ancestors were artists. I come from a large family, but no one besides Mom painted (that I know of), and she never had the passion or drive like I do. Makes me wonder where all this comes from because it seems Edith’s great-niece inherited the desire to paint from her.

It fascinates and intrigues me. Maybe I should sign up for Ancestry, and start digging? I know that my family’s last name Chandler means maker and seller of candles, which is artistic, so perhaps I’ll find a great aunt who painted, also? One can only hope.

A little side note: before I started painting full-time, I had considered making & selling candles, scents, and soap, but the pull to paint was too great, and won out. Later when I read about my family name, I got chills thinking back to those days when I was mulling over which I wanted to do. So, there’s a chance there was someone else in the family just like me, who chose painting over candle making, also. 

Do you know your family’s history? Were any of them artists like you? Have you ever used Ancestry.com? How helpful was it? Let me know in the comments below. 

 

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