Inspirational Christian Art, Florida Artwork, Aviation Art

Lu and Her Quilt.
33” x 36”
Oil on canvas
1979
Private Collection

Lu Makes Things Look Like New

Being a maid is honorable work
Especially the artistry done by Lu,
She has that certain touch
For making things look like new.

She cheerfully offers to help
In many needs along the way,
Enjoying what she can do
Thankful to God each day.

We loaned her skills to neighbors
When their burdens were so profound,
They knew the load would lighten
By having friend Lu around.

Many lives have been enriched
From young to the very old,
By a faithful lady named Lu
Their love for her being told.

To have her in our employ
Over thirty some odd years,
Is a blessing in every way
With shared laughter and tears.

Never downgrade the maid
Whatever color she may be,
That loves God from her heart
Those who know her can see.

Lu and Her Quilt

I wanted to paint Lu and decided her favorite creativity, quilting, had to be expressed. I used this painting on a Bicentennial Celebration card with the following message:

Preamble
“We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

A stitch in time saves nine!
Old saying that makes sense and saves cents.

Getting it All Together
In a peaceful setting, unwasteful Lu is putting together scraps saved to form her own design, something useful and beautiful. May we, the people of the United States of America, continue to make good contributions that form a more perfect Union in unwastefulness, usefulness and beauty. May we stitch together prayer, patience, and perseverance for, * “ With God, all things are possible.”

* Saint Mark 10:27

Responses to Lu and Her Quilt

April 3, 1991
On loan to the Orange County Historical Society, Inc. for the 1991 Quilt Show prompted this comment: "It is a beautiful painting and fits in so well with the exhibit. You could have painted with the exhibit in mind."

Sara Van Arsel, Executive Director

Dearest Ann:

When the new city hall was opened, Ed and I went to see the art exhibit. We started at the right side of the room, as you went in, and were very disappointed in it. But as we came around the far corner, I spotted one picture from across the room and told Ed there was one picture that we would like, I was sure. Imagine my surprise when we got closer and I recognized Lu with her quilt! It was by far the best thing in the whole building!

Excerpt from Alvy Boyd's 1992 letter

NOTE: My mother and I met Lu and Alvy for the first time in the early 1950s when visiting Madge Nelson in her home which she had turned into a gift shop to survive. Mother and Madge used to visit shut-in members of their Sunday school class together and had been out of touch for years until a visiting minister told us about Madge being crippled and bedridden by rheumatoid arthritis. That meant she could no longer play the piano for a living (she used to be employed by a musical instrument shop). Her late husband was an alcoholic and wiped out their joint bank account.

Stalwart Madge, by faith, developed another God-given ability through all her suffering and paid off her mortgage while skillfully selling her beautiful gifts. Alvy and Lu were an important part of this endeavor. When anyone would respond to a phone call from Madge with, "How are you, Madge?" they would hear a cheerful, "Nothing wrong with me!" I was encouraged in my art by this amazing friend when she asked me to show my paintings in one of her rooms, my first one-woman show. Her kindnesses were many, such as, individually and beautifully wrapped gifts for each child in a crippled children's home. God knows all the rest.

What an example you set Madge!