For as long as she can remember, Jane Parish has loved Lucy.
“I grew up watching ‘I Love Lucy’ with my mother,” she recalled. “I passed that on to my daughter and she began collecting ‘I Love Lucy’ memorabilia right after college. We have all the DVDs and we’ve watched all the movies.”
As it turns out, her daughter married a fan of another classic television show – The Andy Griffith Show.
“Our family enjoys watching Lucy and Andy now,” she said.
It’s classic TV family affair with an artistic twist.
“My mother was artistic, though she didn’t do a lot with it as she was very busy raising three girls,” recalled Parish.
“Eventually she began to drag out old paintings and I didn’t even know she had painted. It was a wonderful surprise. She took an oil painting class in her 70’s.”
Other relatives were also artistic – including a second cousin who was involved in the movie ‘Evan Almighty.’
As it turns out, Parish got some of those “artistic genes” herself.
“I picked up a newspaper when I was about six and I drew one of the cartoons,” she said. “My grandmother was amazed that I could do that.”
In 7th grade, however, some skeptical students challenged her.
“We were given the assignment to draw Abraham Lincoln and I remember a couple of kids didn’t believe I had really drawn it,” she recalled. “I guess it was very good, but their skepticism must have discouraged me a bit.”
In fact, she didn’t draw again until she retired.
“When I turned 65, I entered a picture of Louie the Chimpanzee in the Art is Ageless® contest here at the Manor and I won,” she shared. “I couldn’t wait to turn 65 so I could enter that contest!”
More recently, it was announced that her ‘I Love Lucy’ painting is now a greeting card in the 2024 Art is Ageless® calendar, quite an accomplishment.
For Parish, art is now a way of life. She paints, she’s involved in crafting and dabbles in other artistic endeavors as well. Of course, she’s also busy with family, including grandchildren.
“I’m very blessed,” she smiled.
