senior Scoops

An inspiration for starting something new

That little voice in my head is talking to me again: “You’re too old to start a blog.” “Nobody is interested in what you have to say.” You know the voice I’m talking about, our old friend self-doubt, that little guy who hangs out between our ears. It’s the voice so many of us have paid far too much attention to. If this blog post delivers just one message, it would be this: DON’T LISTEN!

Be like Anna Mary Robertson 1860-1961

Anna grew up in a small town in Upstate New York. She spent most of her early life as hired help, working on other people’s farms. In her early twenties she moved to Virginia where there was more work.

While working one of these jobs, she met and eventually married her husband, Thomas Moses. Anna and Thomas had ten children, but sadly only five survived infancy. After about 20 years of working in Virginia, the family moved back to Anna’s hometown in New York. There, they purchased a farm of their own.

In 1927, tragedy struck Anna again when her husband Thomas suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 67. With the help of her son, she continued to work the farm until 1936. She then moved in with her daughter apparently to live out her life in quiet retirement.

Not Anna, at 76 years old she was just getting started.

A new beginning

Anna had an interest in art since childhood. When she moved in with her daughter, she began taking her passion more seriously. Her paintings drew upon her experiences and surroundings, and she later became known for her “primitive” or “American Folk” style. After completing several canvases, she put them up for sale in a drugstore window in Hoosick Falls, NY, not far from her home. As fortune would have it, a local art collector named Louis Caldor saw them and purchased several of Anna’s paintings for $3 to $5 each. Caldor then introduced Anna’s talents to his art connections in New York City.

City lights

Anna’s name was out there. She was invited to The Big City where her paintings were included in a show for unknown artists at The Museum of Modern Art.  Her first solo exhibition, “What a Farm Wife Painted,” opened in 1940 at Galerie St. Etienne, on 57th St. also in NYC. Her work eventually, having gained international acclaim, toured throughout North America and Europe.

American legend

The artist referred to here is the American icon known as Grandma Moses. Despite leading a life far from the limelight, she gained international recognition for her paintings. It’s unclear what moved her to put her work on display in that drugstore window. Perhaps there was a little voice telling her, “Anna, nobody will buy these paintings.” If there was, the world is a better place because she didn’t listen.

In 1950, The National Press Club named her one of America’s five most newsworthy women. At the age of 88, Mademoiselle Magazine named her “Young Woman of the Year,” proving that age is just a number. On September 7, 1960, Nelson Rockefeller, Governor of New York, declared it “Grandma Moses Day” in honor of her 100th birthday. She was also recognized by President Truman and received a host of other awards. In 2006, her painting “Sugaring Off” sold for $1.2 million.

Anna Mary Robertson-Moses when she was deep into her seventies, showed the world what she was capable of. She took a chance and put her talents on display for the world to see. The world took notice.

Anna has shown us that great things are possible when we follow a passion. It is not my contention that we will all be rewarded or recognized as she was. What I do suspect is that once we have made the effort and done the things that we always dreamed of; our souls will become more content. In her 1952 autobiography, Anna says “…life is what you make it, always has been, always will be.” Anna died on December 13, 1961, at the age of 101.

The largest collection of Grandma Moses’ work can be found at the Benington Museum in Bennington, Vt.

Other pieces are on display at The Art Institute of Chicago, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC