Tag: Hendersonville

Well I started my first Stained Glass window project over the weekend. My husband, Robert purchased a kit online containing all the necessary items to get us started into the art of “painting on glass”. You know the saying, “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure”; these windows were discarded in the woods behind our flooring store, Hennessy Floor Company in Hendersonville, NC. What better way to turn trash into treasure, by creating window stained glass art!

My design is of one of my favorite trees, the weeping willow. Weeping willow trees have many meanings throughout history and culture. When searching about the weeping willow tree, I came across this interesting article by Marion Sipe, eHow Contributor. Her quote made me think:

There are many folklore tales and beliefs about willow trees. Some of the most prominent sources are Greek and Native American lore, and the Victorian-era “language of flowers,” and the willow, especially the weeping willow, has often been used as symbol in art. The weeping willow is a native of China and was not introduced into the Western world until the 15th century. The tree’s association with life, death and rebirth stretches back into ancient times.

To read more, click to The Meaning of the Willow Tree.

This past month, I suffered a great loss. My Grandmother Eileen McCain suffered a massive stroke, and passed away March 26, 2012.

Francis Eileen McCain was born November 1, 1922 to Charles and Ethel (Hobbs) Hobbs in Windfall, Indiana.

Eileen worked as a Licensed Practical  Nurse for St. Vincent Hospital and earned the Employee of the year award at  St. Vincent Hospital in 1982. After retirement from St. Vincent she was a housemother at Alpha Phi Sorority at DePauw University in Greencastle, IN.  She was an avid reader and traveled the world. Eileen and her husband owned  and operated two grocery stores, McCain’s IGA store in Sheridan for forty  plus years and the IGA grocery in Lebanon, IN; and she was a member of First  Christian Church of Sheridan.

I have so many wonderful memories of visiting my Grandma Eileen in her charming white house situated just North of Indianapolis in the small town called Sheridan, Indiana. Throughout my life during visits to grandma’s house, we would sit around the kitchen table, gaze out her picture window at the birds, and beautiful trees in her yard, while listening to her seemingly endless stories and words of wisdom. Click Here to view obituary.

One of my favorite artist’s, Claude Monet painted a series of Willow Trees at his water garden in Giverny, to honor the fallen soldiers of World War I. My front yard now has a weeping willow tree to honor and remember my Grandma Eileen. Just as the weeping willow’s beauty is admired by so many, my stained glass window of the weeping willow tree and the willow in my front yard, will be a reminder of the vibrant life my beautiful grandmother lived, the countless lives she touched, and her energetic, contagious laugh that I shall never forget.