What comes to mind when someone mentions “Legacy”, or speaks of a or their own legacy?
Chances are it stirs thoughts of wealth in some capital or valued asset/s. And if you take the time and dig deep enough within the heart of almost every parent is the desire to leave something of value for their children, family or someone close to them, or even an institution.
I love the definition of legacy that speaks of the richness of an individual’s life, that includes what they accomplished and the impact they had on others, including the environments they lived and worked in. The story of a person’s life effectively reflects their legacy.
“Legacy” is the title of the drawing below – unframed it is 100mm x 100mm. It is the first miniature artwork I have every attempted.
The work was framed by Colin Wells Framing in Port Elizabeth – they did such a brilliant framing job for me, given the stringent rules governing miniature art. Ref their website https://www.colinwellsframing.co.za/
The image is rich with legacy in so many ways:
MY GRANDFATHER, THEODORE:
- passed away when my mom was one month pregnant with me, so I obviously never knew him.
- I “inherited” his name. My middle name is “Theodore”, which no-one has ever used, including my parents – I carry something of a memory of him, by name, and genes.
- I understand he was very handy. His marriage certificate states him as a “Bricklayer”; for some reason the certificate in those days had to reflect the persons occupation.
- He was married to a special lady, my granny, Emily Freese. Both of them were of German origin and life for them and their relatives was tough. I recall one story my mom loved to tell was of a relative who had beautiful stud horses during the Anglo Boer war period. Some British cavalry arrived on his farm one day and simply took all his prized horses, because they needed them for the war effort – his legacy