One thing that I have always wanted in my future house is a gallery wall. I love the idea of having pretty and unique picture frames to show images collected throughout life. Since I currently live in an apartment, I am a bit limited on space, however I still have been collecting frames for both current and future use. The pictures within the frames are mainly collected from my grandmother and great-grandfather, who have made it their life's work to pin down our geneaology and old family pictures. My grandmother made her own website dedicated to it, as well, which is linked below. The other pictures are ones I have collected myself, namely the Jack Nicholson portrait, which was done by a local (and amazing) artist, Allen Fisher. I was lucky to meet him at my printing job, where he happens to get his prints done, and I commented on how much I love The Shining and his Jack Nicholson portrait. The next time I saw him, he had a print of it in his hand for me. I was exstatic, and promptly hung it up on my wall. Below are the images I have described, as well as a full shot of the gallery wall itself.
Here is a full shot of my gallery wall as it is now. I'm slowly collecting more picture frames, so hopefully it will eventually fill the wall. All of the picture frames were purchased at antique stores, with the exception of the moths that came in the frame already. The moths are real, pinned moths; one came from Zandbroz here in Sioux Falls, and the other from the Oddities and Curiosities convention.
The leftmost image on my gallery wall is of my great-great-great grandfather, Charles Raine, standing outside of his home in Marshall, Minnesota. The picture was taken sometime in the mid to late 1940's. He moved to the United States from England with his siblings and mother in 1910. He lived from 1880-1958, and was a popular opera singer at the time.
The top-left image is a photograph of Mary Eliza Caine, my great-great-great grandmother, and Charles Raine's eventual wife. She was born in 1884 and died in 1955. This image was taken when she was 16, in 1900. She was born in Iowa and emigrated to England with her family to reunite with extended family in Darlington, England. They married at the local church in 1905 and moved to the United States with Charles' family five years later. She was a very talented singer and mathematician.
The top central image in my gallery wall is of Charles Raine's house in Marshall, MN. They moved to this house sometime in the late 1920s, and this picture was likely taken in the 1930s or early 1940s.
The top-right image is of Joseph Raine, my great-great-great-great grandfather, Charles Raine's father. He lived in England his entire life; he was born in 1843 and died in 1900. His wife and all of his children moved to America in 1910. This picture would have been taken in the late 1800s - hard to say for sure, but likely the 1870s or 1880s.
The bottom-right image is of Ann Foster, my great-great-great-great grandmother, Joseph Raine's wife. She lived from 1843 to 1932. She lived in England until the family moved to America in 1910. She lived with them for 15 years until 1925, when she and one of her sons and his family moved back to England. This picture was taken sometime between 1900 and 1910.
