Original Logo artwork for Mom's art business - Y. Collins Creations.(All Images via: NYCDreamin Archives)
Today would have been Mom's 66th birthday. She has been gone now for 5 & 1/2 years, taken from this world by her God after a long struggle with severe brain damage incurred after a botched open-heart surgery in 1991, after which the good lord blessed her with breast cancer which eventually took her life.
I miss her very much and still think about her every single day.
This post is in her memory...
Excerpts from:
Obituaries - Aitkin Independant Age - 01/14/04
(With additional information by NYCDreamin)
Y. I. Collins, 60, Crosby, died Jan. 10th 2004 at Cuyuna Regional Care Center in Crosby.
She was born June 10th 1943 in Crosby, MN to A. & S. Erickson. She graduated from Crosby-Ironton High School, class of 1962.
She married shortly after high-school and moved with her husband to Grand Rapids, MN, where she soon landed a job as a copy-writer and on-air personality at KOZY-AM radio.
During her marriage to her first husband, they adopted a son (me) in 1970. Yvonne later married (her second husband) of Aitkin, MN and they adopted a son (the ingrateful little snot who never once came to visit her or even send her a birthday or Christmas card for the last several years of her life but kindly decided he could make it to the funeral.)
She worked several years as a secretary in Aitkin. Later (early-mid 1980's) as an entreprenuer, she founded, owned and operated "The Promise Place," a Christian book and gift store. She then started a second business, "Collins Creations" (later also known as "The Sandman), a custom sandblasting/ceramics/artwork business for which she was the sole creative force. Her hobbies included painting, writing poetry, painting, drawing and calligraphy. She was also a pretty good piano player and she loved to sing as well.
An original invoice sheet from Mom's second business, Y. Collins Creations.
As an active member of the Aitkin community, she was a youth counselor for the Aitkin United Methodist Church where she led the church youth group and began a "clown ministry with the kids there. The clown ministry would dress up and perform skits and songs and read to and spend time with the elderly residents of local nursing homes and patients in local hospitals. Around this time she also worked as an employee of the McGregor Day Activity Center, providing transportation to medical and other appointments for residents of the center.
Yvonne, along with her second husband and several of their friends and associates, was also a driving force behind the creation of a "Teen-Center"/arcade which operated in Aitkin for a few years during the mid-1980's. She was also a member of the Aitkin area Chamber of Commerce during the years in which she operated her various businesses in the city, a member of the Aitkin Friends of the Arts, and was also president of the Miss Aitkin Queen pageant for three years.
"The Sportsman's Prayer" - A Y. Collins original...
After suffering severe brain damage from a botched heart surgery in 1991, she fought to regain he independence and continued using her talents to spread the love of God. She moved to Hutchinson, MN where she lived and worked independently for several years before returning to Crosby in March 2001 when she developed matastatic breast cancer. She became a resident of the Cuyuna Regional Care Center at that time and lived there until her death in 2004. Through all her trials and pain, she never faltered in her faith and love of her God.
Below are a few more examples of artwork which Mom created at some point during the early-mid 1980's, a period of intense creative activity for her. I have many more which I will share at some point in the future. There are many more which I do not have access to as they reside with the A-hole I used to call my brother. These are unfortunately lost to me for all time. And then there is all the artwork she sold through her business. She and my step-father (also deceased) sold their creations all over the MN/WI/ND/SD/IA area and I am always on the lookout for pieces of her art to pop up at a garage sale or flea market. I have yet to find a siingle piece, but I continue looking as I know it's out there, waiting to be returned to my collection.
She called this one "War Is Hell" - I think it was based on a painting she saw in a book someplace. This piece hung framed in the stairway of our home for many years.
This is a sketch of some old, abandoned buildings that used to stand someplace near Aitkin, MN.
5 comments:
Very beautiful memory about your mother. She must have been a lovely woman...
Thanks, Mick, for the nice comment. She and I sure had our differences at times as all mothers and sons do, most of it concerning religious ideology in my teen years, but we came to terms with each other eventully and became good friends and I miss her so much. I figured I'd bust out some of her artwork on her birthday to share with the world again since it has no other way of getting out there anymore...
Thank you for sharing, NYCD... I agree with Mick -- she sounds like a very special person. From her work at the radio station to her singing/piano playing... did she have an impact on your love of music...?
Yes...we always had tons of music in our home. My parents had the then-requsite huge 8-track collection and a ton of vinyl as well. She bought me two Elvis records (20 Golden Greats and Live at Madison Square Garden) the day he died and sat and listened to them with me (I was 7 then) and told me how special the "E" was and we always listened to music in the car when we were travelling anywhere, mostly old 50's country stuff, early rock -n-roll and gospel. And when I picked up guitar in my early teens she was thrilled that I was playing SOMETHING, but she was definately NOT thrilled that I was learning Judas Priest, Kiss and Black Sabbath songs!
Bless you Dreamin' for such a beautiful tribute to a beautiful woman. I am fortunate to still have my Mother, and I don't even know how I would deal with her passing.
She lives on in you, the creative, thoughtful son who appreciates the subtleties of life that most never even see.
I was especially touched by your search for your Mother's artwork. As someone who comes from a family of artists, the paintings of my Uncles and Grandfather, who passed away long ago, allows them to leave a permanent presence with us. Those works are very precious indeed.
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