Nancy-Dailey

Author | Artist | Educator
Browsing Miniature painting

Discovery at a Garage Sale!

April4
Portrait of a Gentleman

Portrait of a Gentleman

Yesterday morning I stopped at a garage sale near my house.  I was enjoying seeing what all was there.  My eye was drawn first to a small yellow frame, then to the small portrait.  It looked very much like my work from several years ago.  Looking closer, I discovered my own signature on the painting!  What a find!

In the late sixties through the eighties I painted quite a few miniature portraits on commission.  Needless to say, I no longer remember who this gentleman is.  (Does anybody happen to recognize him?  If you do, I would appreciate your letting me know.)

When I went to purchase the painting (along with a few other items), the fellow in charge of the garage sale started “singing the praises” of this “actual painting” (as he put it).  When I told him I had painted it, he smiled and said, “Well, you can just have it!”

And now,  one little painting that left my hands twenty? thirty? years ago is  back with me.  It brings a smile to my face.

The size of the painting

The size of the painting

A quarter helps to show the actual size of the miniature painting.

Nancy Dailey

I have always loved to draw and paint.  In high school I got caught drawing a teacher.  I knew I was in big trouble when she took the drawing and left the room.  Sure enough, I was soon called out.  But what happened astounded me.  My schedule of classes had been quickly rearranged and changed to include art!  If anyone had told me then that I would teach art for over thirty years, the size of my eyes would’ve outgrown my face — that was so impossible!

Writing crept up on me while I was busy teaching and raising a family.  Finally, encouraged by my husband I enrolled in the Institute of Children’s Literature of West Redding, Connecticut.  I was amazed at what began to flow from my pen!

As an educator I was always looking for something to enhance the classroom experience, something involving looking at things in a different way — both literally and figuratively.  I experimented, researched, and sometimes learned along with my students.

These days I’m painting for myself, currently ocean scenes in watercolor.  I also make one-of-a-kind pendants from seashells.  I’ve illustrated a children’s book which has been published in Holland.  I’ve begun writing again.  Currently I am working on two books: a picture book and a fictionalized biography.