How Lady Violet & Mrs. Birdtree Were Created

Years ago, I was painting furiously for several months. My husband, Hamish, was also painting and we spent many hours of each day surrounded by canvasses and paint. I tend to work in fits and starts. I won’t paint for months and then a blast of creativity hits and I’m in the paint tubes for days and sometimes weeks.

At any rate, one of the paintings that I completed in the early 80’s was a painting of two English, female senior citizens. I called them Lady Violet and Mrs. Birdtree. They appear to be at a Church Bazaar and Mrs. Birdtree is telling Lady Violet that she just had a breast enhancement and what did she think about it. The humor has to do with the age of my ladies and their little white-haired buns and Benjamin Franklin style glasses. Here they are, in their late 70’s and still trying to keep up with the youth of the world. If breast enhancements are the going thing in the world of fashion and beauty, these two old dears are going to go along with it. They have the attitude of never say die!

I thought at the time, they would make a great comic strip. They were so fun to draw and their expressions tickled me. For years the idea simmered in my mind, but other life experiences and my procrastination won out.

One day in the 90’s, I started drawing the panels again. Here they are in all their strangeness for your entertainment and hopefully, enjoyment!

Norma Menzies