In 1990 I bought a crumbling old building in Helena, Montana
to use as my art
studio. It had been built 100 years previously by the Catholic order, the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, as a “Home for
Wayward Women”. But after the nuns sold it in 1905 and moved to bigger digs, the building served as a furniture warehouse and neighborhood eyesore until I bought
it.
During renovations I was dismantling a wall when I ran my crowbar through a cardboard patch and realized there was something intriguing hidden behind it. What I then carefully extracted from the mess was this gorgeous portrait of what I’m sure was one of the early residents of the home. Were it not for the rip of my crowbar, the photo would be pristine. What’s so remarkable is her shining smile, a real rarity for the time! “Wayward”? Perhaps, but not unhappy!
Ever since, "our foundress" has presided over my gorgeous historic gallery at Tim Holmes Studio.
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| An anonymous "wayward woman", ca. 1905 |
During renovations I was dismantling a wall when I ran my crowbar through a cardboard patch and realized there was something intriguing hidden behind it. What I then carefully extracted from the mess was this gorgeous portrait of what I’m sure was one of the early residents of the home. Were it not for the rip of my crowbar, the photo would be pristine. What’s so remarkable is her shining smile, a real rarity for the time! “Wayward”? Perhaps, but not unhappy!
Ever since, "our foundress" has presided over my gorgeous historic gallery at Tim Holmes Studio.
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