\u2018I get happy looking at it,\u2019 says 86-year-old Pauline Gordon after her children made stunning discovery this weekend at Cambridge antique market<\/p>\n
A painting created by an Orillia woman more than half a century ago has found its way back home after a\u00a0chance discovery by two of her children at an antique market in Cambridge.<\/p>\n
Pauline Gordon, now 86, painted the piece in Orillia in February 1975. She believes it was later displayed in a local art show and purchased by someone she never knew. Then it disappeared from her life for more than 50 years\u00a0\u2014\u00a0until this past weekend.<\/p>\n
Gordon\u2019s son, Stephen, 64, who lives in Quebec City, was visiting his sister, Cathie Martin, 63, and her family in Cambridge when a combination of circumstances led the siblings to Southworks Antiques, a large antique\u00a0market in downtown Cambridge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The family had initially considered visiting the St. Jacobs Market, but with it closed on Fridays and a heat warning in effect, they opted instead to walk indoors and browse antiques. They had only been inside for a few minutes when Stephen spotted a painting hanging in one of the booths and called his sister over.<\/p>\n
The signature read simply: \u201cPauline.\u201d Both siblings already had paintings by their mother in their homes, and the signature looked strikingly familiar.<\/p>\n
They tried calling Gordon in Orillia, but she didn\u2019t answer. Stephen sent her an email asking about the painting, but forgot to attach the photograph he had taken. Then Martin turned the painting around. Written in small pencil lettering on the back were the words: \u201cPauline Gordon \/ February 1975.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was their mother\u2019s full name, in her handwriting. The siblings bought the painting, and Stephen brought it with him when he travelled to Orillia the following day to visit his mother.<\/p>\n
Gordon said she was told to sit down because her children had something to show her.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood thing I was sitting down,\u201d she laughed. \u201cI thought, oh my goodness, what are the odds?”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her first reaction could be summed up in one word.<\/p>\n
\u201cGobsmacked,\u201d she said. \u201cI couldn’t believe it.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gordon has lived in Orillia since 1964 and painted the piece here during a period when art was one of many creative pursuits in a busy life. She believes the painting was entered into a local art show by a woman who taught her lessons.<\/p>\n
\u201cI suspect somebody bought it, and then, it went out of my mind completely,\u201d she said. “I’m not an artist that’s out there for money. I was doing it as a hobby for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gordon said she did not immediately recognize the specific painting when it resurfaced, but the subject matter fit a phase she remembers clearly.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt that period I seemed to be painting little, you know, kids on a chair,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Another painting, now owned by her son, depicts a boy sitting on a chair and tying his shoelace. She also remembers painting a boy minnow fishing and another piece featuring a little girl on a chair.<\/p>\n
\u201cI seemed to like to do that,\u201d she said. \u201cI seemed to go through a little phase where I was painting that kind of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 1975, Gordon was raising three children and pursuing music alongside her painting. A singer, she performed at Fern Resort for about 14 years and spent nearly 50 years involved with a folk mass at her church. She has also been part of the Alex Band for what she estimates is roughly four decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was kind of busy, and I had three kids,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Painting eventually fell away as other parts of life took over.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I just got really busy with those other things that I was doing, and you can’t do everything,\u201d Gordon said. \u201cSo,\u00a0I dropped painting.\u201d<\/p>\n
She estimates she created about 30 paintings over the years, many of which were given to relatives.<\/p>\n
\u201cI gave a lot of them to family,” she said. “Once you give something, you don’t hold on to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her early experiences showing her work had included a surprising success. Gordon recalled a friend telling her that her first painting would be entered into an art show.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it sold, I thought, oh my goodness,\u201d she said. \u201cI don’t think I’m that talented. I seem to know how to put colours together, but I’m not that good of a\u00a0sketcher. But I managed to do something that somebody wanted, so that’s OK.\u201d<\/p>\n
More than five decades later, holding one of those long-departed paintings\u00a0brought an entirely different feeling.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s no words,\u201d Gordon said. \u201cMy heart was thumping … I can’t believe it.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Gordon,\u00a0the most remarkable part is the chain of events required for the painting to return to her: sold decades ago, its whereabouts unknown, somehow ending up in Cambridge, and then being spotted by her own son while he happened to be visiting his sister.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was unbelievable, especially the dynamics of what had to happen for that painting to get back to me,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was very unusual.\u201d<\/p>\n
The family is now hoping to learn more about the painting\u2019s mysterious journey. Stephen left his contact information with the antique market cashier in hopes of tracing the dealer who supplied the painting and discovering where it had been before appearing in the Cambridge booth.<\/p>\n
For now, the painting is exactly where Gordon believes it belongs. After the painting returned, she took another piece down in her dining room and gave her rediscovered work a prominent place.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just very refreshing to look at it,\u201d she said. \u201cI get happy looking at it. It makes me happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The story may not end with the painting simply hanging on the wall. After decades away from the hobby, Gordon said seeing her old work again has her thinking about picking up a brush.<\/p>\n
Her garage has been converted into a sewing room, a space connected to another chapter of her creative life. Gordon said she has spent years sewing hundreds of drum bags for Rama. Now that she is sewing less, she is considering giving the room another purpose.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe I’ll convert it into a place where I can do art,\u201d she said. “I’m thinking seriously of doing that.”\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u2018I get happy looking at it,\u2019 says 86-year-old Pauline Gordon after her children made stunning discovery this weekend…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":536248,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,93,61,60,227919],"class_list":["post-536247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-pauline-gordon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}