RAY PHILLIPS

Sometime in the late 1960s, early 1970s, my parents met Ray Phillips, who (according to my sister) may have lived down the road from us, but I don't recall. I do know that he was from Lewistown, Illinois at some point, perhaps even retiring down in Florida, but I just don't know. But, he was a painter, mostly folk style, on bells, cans, pottery, and really lovely Christmas cards. He sent several to my family. They usually consisted of two paintings, one cut out to overlap and reveal another scene beneath. One of these cards, the first I will post, shows our home on Keystone Lake in Odessa, Florida, the place where I grew up from 1970 to 1979. For us it was the homestead, the place the Tidds resided the longest (1970 to 2004).

Here are some other cards, not sure the locations depicted in most of them:

This one I do know, it is a painting of Bernadotte Bridge, a metal highway bridge in Fulton County, Illinois; I have seen a full painting of it by the same artist.