Vera Grace Bell
Born 5 Sept 1905 Tyngsboro, MA Married 18 Jan 1932 Died 24 May 1979 Bakersfield, CA
Spouse: Harry Livermore
Children
Nancy
Lorraine
Janie
Beatrice (Bea)
Mother, Seamstress, Artist
Growing up I always heard of my Great Grandma, Vera Grace Bell. She was an Artist. She painted the most beautiful flowers and butterflies on black glass that glittered and danced. Her watercolors flowed effortlessly throughout the page, and her ink drawings laughed at me as if I could see her smile as she finished the last touches.
My Vera Grace has always been in my heart. She is the heart of my company, I never met her but I know her. I never could paint, but as my mom always told me I was an artist in my music. There we intertwined our lives, and I felt closer to her. Vera's artwork is the heart, the roots, it Is the tree, of my company and me.
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| Painted while moving across United States with Family in 1940s |
Ink Drawings
Nana's ink work was always close to a cartoon-like work, with humor coming through. This is where I could always imagine seeing more of her personality coming across her work.
Watercolors crossing the US
In the 1940's Nana's husband got a job building ships in California. So they packed their family up with 3 girls and drove across the country. Not to lose a chance to paint what she saw Nana sketched, journaled, and painted scenes from their travels.
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| Watercolor crossing the plains |
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| Watercolor in the Rockies |
Her glass work always fascinated me as I could never understand how the light bounced back to me. I have now seen the insides of her art work, and even though it took a little of the mystery away, knowing that she did these at a time foil was scarce, and had to ask for spare foil from friends and family just amazes me. She found a way to do art when resources were scarce. I am working on getting our local museum to feature artists of WWII era who found ways to create art despite what was going on around them.
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| Painted glass with Tin foil behind |
