The Green Tree - circa 1973

Yet another little barn done in oil. This too seems older to me than the previous similar painting. Perhaps this is even 1972. It is defiantly in the era of the Covered Bridge. Unfortunately there was no date or signature on this one either. The Green Tree stands out and there is something oddly interesting about the painting's evenly balanced compositions. The dried corn or wheat on the right really destroy the sense of scale. That shape makes the tree and the house so much smaller then I believe mom intended it. 

The Green Tree

The Green Tree detail: Mom always seemed to have fun with these little flourishes and accents. 

The Green Tree detail :  odd little red barn

The Green Tree detail :  The Green Tree ( I titled it ) I really like this tree.  It is just so impressionistic and loose and well, green. 

Seascape - oil 1973

Another oil from 1973. A prolific year, Mom must have gotten into a routine with taking care of Lisa, Chris and I, that she found time to take painting classes and to paint. She really jumped into painting oils this year. Probably mom's first seascape, an area she would comeback to a few more times, it being her first it is somewhat developmental: the water having a more solid feel then liquid, except for the foam area (noted below) almost belongs in another painting. The sky is quite nice and you can see she is developing here.

"Seascape" oil on canvas board 1973

detail: this crashing wave lacks the power she develops in some later seascapes

detail:  the foamy surf is actually quite nice, I can feel and hear it. 

detail: signed Capobianco '73, establishing this painting in her early getting back into her painting 

detail: 1973 nicely dated

More Early School Work

Another early religious work by mom. This one is obviously Christ and not as strong as the Angel. Mom seemed to feel the same, since this was stashed away amongst other old art pieces and forgotten. I had never known about it until we were cleaning out the house and collecting her art. 

Christ; Pastel  1960

 I do wonder if she was copying from another painting or if in class she used a model. Perhaps, she was doing this from her imagination.  The other interesting thing is the art we have from my mom's school period are all pastels, which makes me wonder if she dabbled in other mediums especially watercolor. Her preferred paint form of choice in later years. 

The most interesting thing about this painting is the signature. Mom has abandoned "BmS" for her full name and we see for the first time "Barbara Sisko' .  Again, she kindly put the date on the painting. 

The Angel

Another early school work, this painting - a pastel - always hung in our basement, tucked away, part of the wallpaper, part of my childhood. I had always thought of the figure in the painting as a girl with a hat on and found it beguiling if not for some reason a little unsettling. Then of course one day I realized the hat was a halo and that this was either the boy Christ or an angel and having never given it much thought as to who painted it I realized my mom had painted it very early on. Unfortunately, like so many things, I never asked my mom about it. Thinking it was a girl I always thought she looked like my mom and I was always captivated by the image. All of which is fitting since my mom was an angel put on this earth after all. 

My mom's signature obviously BmS for Barbara Mary Sisko and the date 1959. So mom painted it when she was 17

The Girl

A piece that must be my mom's earliest art at least from school. She never mentioned this piece and it was tucked away in one of her many portfolios. I would of loved to of asked her about it. Was it an assignment? Knowing my mom and her kindness the bleak subject of this girl against a war torn setting is intriguing and  shows a different side to her that she rarely showed.

charcoal pastel

detail - mom rarely painted people or had people in her paintings. Again this makes this piece particularly unique for me. 

Mom's signature, like her painting style, changed over time. Here she signed "BmS". Barbara Mary Sisko

I don't know much about my mom's early art education. This would be interesting to learn. I would think she had some art instruction since she always pursued art classes well into her 50's.