Preserving Memories

There are more photographs taken today than there ever before. Now that our phones are also cameras, everyone can be a photographer. We record our every action, every meal. We record the sunrise, the sunset, a storm, a sunny day. Parents take thousands of photos of their kids at all stages of their lives.

We take these photos to remember; to record; to preserve. The reality however is a little different. A high percentage of these images remain tucked away on a computer and seldom see the light of day once filed away there.

When I was growing up, family photographs were taken, developed and placed lovingly in albums. A lot of these prints succumbed to early photographic processing and have faded and became yellow. Some families only took a few photos and often not many remain to preserve family memories.

 Mother – watercolour on paper © Carol Lee Beckx 2016 

Such was the case with a family who commissioned some watercolours at the end of last year. My client's husband had only three photos of his parents. Although these had been kept safely, the photos had faded considerably. I was asked to re-create the photographs as watercolour paintings. These paintings would be a special, secret Christmas present.

Dad and friend with Chevrolet Impala (with the iconic Aussie Hills Hoist)  

watercolour on paper © Carol Lee Beckx 2016

I borrowed the photos, scanned them and returned the originals. Modern technology facilitated my task of enlarging the images and boosting the clarity and colours. The aim was not for bright, vivid paintings, but rather a gentler enhancement.

A little detective work, thanks to Mr. Google, allowed me to establish the make and model of the car in a couple of the photos. I could also use images of 1950's chairs to help with the drawing of the chairs.

Mother, Father, son and friend - A picnic under the trees and again the much-loved Chevy is in the frame  watercolour on paper © Carol Lee Beckx 2016

I'm told that the present (and the surprise) was a great success and received with more than a little emotion on the part of the recipient.

I don't like to make people cry but in this case I'm rather pleased that I did. 

If you have some photographic memories that you would like to preserve, please let me know how I can help.

One more Portrait

Here is one more in my continuing theme of portraits. This time it’s a recent commission for a local family. I painted the little boy a couple of years ago and now it was time for the whole family to have a group portrait.

The backdrop is a view from the top of Table Mountain which has significance for both the family and for me since we both have ties to South Africa. It seemed fitting to recreate a holiday photograph taken on the mountain in their family portrait.

Family Portrait - oil on canvas - 24" x 30" 

©2014 Carol Lee Beckx

I did a photo shoot with the family and then worked with a number of different photographs for each family member’s face.

I am so happy to be able to photo shop with paint rather than computer software. I would rather wield a brush any day.

Family Heirlooms



Still Life # 3 - Silver Jug - watercolour on paper -120mm x 120mm

©Carol Lee Beckx



This little silver jug has been in my son-in-law's family since April 1876. It's so reassuring that some things have been treasured and passed down through the generations.

Our society is so focussed on the here and now. Essentially we live in a world where so much is transient and disposable. Even family photographs seldom make it to a printed form but live in a digital format only. 

What legacy will we leave our children?

A Trip down memory lane.

The process of moving involves so much more that clearing cupboards and sorting cups and saucers. It is a time for reflection. Frequently one is brought face to face with people and events from the past. Another box  brings all manner of memories to the surface.

You discover that you have a box belonging to your Mother filled with her treasures – the lace handkerchief from her wedding day, a birthday card you had made, a photograph of yourself in a mermaid costume. The costume was a work of art – made of sea-green satin with a carefully stitched tail and cellophane scales. Photographs of our home when I was a child were also tucked away in a small album. You realise that these were kept with love.

You come across a photograph of a bride bending to greet a little boy – it’s your mother and perhaps an older cousin – it’s an evocative image and you realise with surprise that you had forgotten how beautiful she was.

It’s impossible to simply throw these away, but it can’t all go with me. Modern technology comes to the rescue, allowing me to scan the images and take them with me in digital format. Now I think of ways the images could find their way into future drawings.

Then, in the last packet of documents and photographs, I find a leather document case belonging to my father. Inside are letters of reference written to my paternal grandfather from companies for whom he had worked – in the most beautiful copperplate handwriting – and one of the few photographs of him, striding down the road in Bournemouth – a stern figure, much as I remember him.

A few days ago, a friend who lives out of town phoned me to say she had found letter from me. She had been trying to clear out a drawer. It was jammed and when the drawer eventually opened there was the letter.

It was something we rarely see  today, a proper letter - on paper - written with a fountain pen, thanking her for her support and friendship after I had spent some time on her farm. I hadn’t dated the letter but I knew exactly when it had been written as I had some entries in an old art journal describing the time on the farm. The journal had drawings that echo current ideas, similar themes and ideas, and the ongoing struggle to be creative.  

Then I found something quite different. A slip of paper was amongst the usual debris that gathers in a bedside table drawer. It was a diary page from 2003; scrawled on it was the title and author of a book that I’d been trying to remember for years. It’s the most amazing story of Christina Dodwell’s journey across China, A Traveller in China .

Now I will be able to read the book again, knowing what to look for. You realize that the important things find you when you stop looking.