Robert F. Winne drawer unit repainted (and dealing with grief)

Plywood Camping drawer unit made by Robert F. Winne

(he used to take this on camping trips to Cape Cod to store matches, writing utensils, swimming goggles, mini flashlights, et al)

repainted by Lise Winne (his daughter) to help her through the grieving process of losing her dad (or Dood, as he was called by his children and grandchildren)

This drawer unit is in use in Lise Winne's studio

Each drawer has art supplies in it at the moment to help Lise get inspired and to help her feel that her inspirations come through her father

I was responding to a friend on Facebook who was going through a soul crushing experience with grief at losing the love of her life. 

This was my advice: What I do in dealing with the grief is wear his shirts (been wearing them since he passed away), reading his "I love you" notes to me, reading some of the many papers he left behind, contemplating how he would view an experience (which happens to be most of the time), researching subjects thoroughly (which he also liked to do), painting commemorative pieces (which this drawer unit is just one example), trying to live by his example, trying to love others the way he had loved me, thinking about him in challenging situations and what kind of guidance he would give me. When I feel like I can't live without him, I just don't: I live with him in my mind and spirit, even through mundane life experiences, and particularly while I am creating art.

A favorite photo

Robert F. Winne in his sixties

at Cape Cod

Commemorative Art: Robert F. Winne and Lise Winne art

Robert F. Winne and Lise Winne pattern art

© 2014

Robert F. Winne (father): center art

Lise Winne (daughter): complementary border

commemorative art for the one year anniversary of Robert F. Winne's passing

RPI faculty meeting sketch doodles

RPI faculty meeting sketch doodles I and II

by Robert F. Winne

Professor Winne has a lot of little doodles he made during faculty meetings at R.P.I. These are just two of them out of around 150 of them.  

Was he bored at these meetings? If he was like me (which I suspect he was, since I am his daughter and I am an artist too), doodling actually enhances concentration on what is being said at the meetings. It is like knitting, creating fun little patterns.

I like how his pen moves around or inbetween the RPI emblem and words on the page.

Description of Richard Hooke, artist and woodworker, written by Robert F. Winne

© a sketch from the sketchbook of Richard Hooke, artist, woodworker, teacher

A transcript of Bob’s handwritten description of his friend Richard Hooke (an artist friend who Bob deeply admired and loved) was recently found by Bob's wife, Patricia:

In the morning as he dresses for work and prepares for the day, his eye cannot help but fall on several of the many pieces of art/craft scattered about the household—pieces that are products of his own hand and have become loyal daily companions. Perhaps he will give one or two of them a quick, gentle stroke in passing, signal both of recognition in its presence and a note of appreciation for the continuing delight it offers in its silky surface, rich color and spirited form. He calls the many kinds of human investment that went into each piece; the explorative wanderings before a breakthrough, the many tentative trials, the disasters as well as the triumphs. His mind touched on instances of realization: of coming to know the personality of the material and its resistances, of where one must proceed with great care, and where one can charge along with great abandon, of recognizing when enough is enough, knowing that a piece is never really “finished”. Those of us who are friends of this man could venture to say that his craft is as much art as craft, and perhaps even beyond art as a way of life.

memorial piece written by Robert F. Winne for Fran Garlock

© from a page written in Robert F. Winne's handwriting

I found this memorial piece written in note form (with some cross-outs and revisions) in Robert F. Winne's notes. It is about his sister's husband's mother, Fran Garlock. Fran Garlock lived in Brockport, NY, where Robert (my father) grew up. This piece is in his own words (and probably addressed to his sister's husband, Fletcher Garlock):

I am writing to express a feeling of shared sadness that your mother is gone. Fran was a lady so much alive and alert, it is hard to adjust to the reality that she is no longer with us. Her continuing presence and spirit has come to mind many times in recent days, as well as some impressions of her character that I thought I might set down here.

Some things I will always remember about Fran:

Her sheer pluck in successfully managing her complex one woman enterprise, and doing it with high humor and vigor.

Her wry wit that demolished pomposities wherever she found them.

Her no-nonsense view of the world, and our lives in it. She was no theorist about life; rather, her wisdom came out of a keen observation of every day realities. This clarity of perception that included people and critters, fruit tress and soil was something I found beautiful to behold.

Her choice was to preserve, what might be called, the 'Herriott image' of a gracious country life, a life I often felt had been somehow preordained for her. The sense of fit between person and way-of-life seemed perfect. I was always awed by how completely and elegantly she carried it off.

Her experience at nurturing all these living things gave her some pretty basic understandings about the nature of life. We humans often get so caught up with our uniqueness as a species and with our delicate temperaments that we get cut off from our primal natures, with what John Updike has called "... a sense of what lies beyond history's edge -- our daily, animal lives persisting in their chronic cycles."

This is to send much love and support, and hope that all the offspring will cherish the memory of such a fine lady.

more of my father's lovely every-day handwriting (notes are about Fran Garlock) 

Winne ancestors of Robert F. Winne

Here are the ascendants of my father, Robert F. Winne on the Winne line (my seventh cousin who is also a Winne helped a bit with this geneology line). I'll be writing a lot more about their particular lives (the ancestors that I know about) in other posts.

* Robert Frank Winne Junior (father) b. 1924  Brockport, NY, professor of Architecture

* Robert Frank Winne Senior (grandfather) b. 1897 Brockport, NY, (had 2 children), banker until the Great Depression; then owned a saw mill, married Miriam Cook Thompson (who was born in Palmer, MA in 1899)

* Frank Aylmer Winne (great grandfather) b. 1850 Fairport, NY, settled in Brockport, NY (had one child), homeopathic doctor, married Alice Parley Nichols (who was born in Spencerport, NY in 1864)

* Christopher Winne (great, great grandfather) 1813 settled in Monroe County, NY (had 5 children), farmer, homeopathic doctor, married Electa L. Henry (who was born in 1816)

* David Winne (great, great, great grandfather) 1791 settled in Fonda NY (had 10 children), farmer, married to Catharine Hone (who was born in Canada circa 1790) 

* Conrad Winne (great, great, great, great grandfather) 1764 settled in Sharon Springs, NY (had 7 children), married to Jannetje Schoonmaker (from Cherry Valley, Otsego, NY)

* Daniel Winne (great, great, great, great, great grandfather) b. 1738 settled in Sharon Springs, NY, married Catherine Houghtaling (born in 1744 )

* Frans Winne (great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather) b. 1713 settled in Bethlehem, NY, married Agnietie Van Wie (1716 - 1757) 

* Daniel Winne (7 great grandfather) b. 1675 settled around Albany, NY, married Dirkje VanNess (who was born in Bethlehem, NY, circa 1679)

* Pieter Winne (8 great grandfather) b. 1620 in Ghent Flanders and settled in 1696 in Bethlehem, NY on land he purchased from native Americans (more on this story in later posts), wealthy farmer, married Tannatje Adams of Leeuwaerden, Vriesland, Netherlands

* Franciscus Winne (9 great grandfather) b. 1586 in Ghent Flanders