Saturday 14 February 2009

Ada and Stelman Pennington

Out of fondness I painted this picture of my aunt and uncle. They are standing on the side porch of their home. It was one of the old brown shingle homes. She always raised beautiful plants in old tin cans or what ever container she could find. The rich mountain soil produced beautiful plants. Stell farmed and Ada ran the Dry Fork Post office in the front room of their home. This room also contained what amounted to a penny candy store. They sold penny candy to the children who attended Dry Fork Grade school next to their house. The Grade School and their home are now torn down.
We always stopped at their small house on our way to my grandmothers. Anytime you would visit, Ada would insist that you sit down and eat. This is part of the mountain culture. I was told that it came out of the depression period. If you had food to share, a visitor should never be allowed to leave your home hungry. Anyway, Ada would quickly remove the table cloth that covered the food, fresh bread, canned jams and home made pies. She would set the table with plates, silverware and serve Kool-Aid or fresh milk for the kids and coffee for the adults. I was always fascinated watching Stell sip his coffee from a saucer. Now that I think about it, I don't ever remember Ada sitting down and having dinner or a snack with us. She was always busy making sure everyone had what they needed.
Oils on a 16x20 inch canvas

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