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Miss Pearce (Has a Friend)

Amy

I mentioned Miss Pearce a few months ago, when she was bequeathed to me along with some other fine art. I have to be honest: I’m only keeping two of the pieces. Miss Pearce and the little girl. I donated the Raphael to Goodwill. And if anyone wants the Renoir, let me know. I’m not a fan of his work because everyone looks like a corpse. I can’t deal with the gray skin tones. I don’t think I need to tell the person who bequeathed me the items what I’m doing with them – after all, this person was my writing mentor, now won’t even read my blog (“Blogs are too personal, and I am not interested in reading self-serving drivel,” or some eye roll-worthy shit like that), and has permanently left the country. But Enough Of That.

Miss Pearce, American, c. 1840

Miss Pearce has her post in the hallway, glancing toward my room evermore. She seems quite mischievous. And her satin dress is silver, which I found out after I scrubbed it down with a gentle cloth. I also cleaned up the gold frame, which is immense and probably worth more than the print.

But who is Miss Pearce? Or – more accurately – who was Miss Pearce?

Some say she was the best friend of the wife of the painter Thomas Sully and was painted around 1840. He was an American painter who lived from 1783 through 1872. Other resources report the painting is American (unknown artist), done around 1840. It’s not difficult to discern the time period of the clothing, but it seems a bit difficult to discern who actually painted her. It seems to be the original is somewhere in Massachusetts, but even that isn’t that definitely known to me. If any of you know more about Miss Pearce and her origins, please leave a comment!

I suppose it will remain a mystery for now. Sometimes a little mystery ads a certain… je ne sais quoi. I like the expression on her face. She is animated and seems to be a tad bored. She has the hint of a smirk and wide eyes, a very light brown shade. Ascertaining her expression is subjective, of course, but we can all agree she’s looking to her left, and something over there has caught her eye. She’s been hanging in my hallway for several months, and frankly, there is nothing of interest anywhere near her, so…I rectified that.

Miss Pearce and her new friend

I will not claim the image she now gazes upon is of the correct time period, but we all know Jamie Fraser is quite familiar with time traveling ladies. He broods in his French finery from Season Two. I think I’ve discussed my affinity for Season Two and its costumes, so I shall not bore you, Dear Reader. I will simply link to my previous blog about it here.

At least now she has something to look at. I pass her by every evening on my way to bed. I wish her a good evening and give her a sideways glance. I’ll have to see if she has an extra twinkle in her eye tonight, now that Monsieur Fraser is next to her. Just as I wish time travel were truly possible, I wish Night at the Museum (Er – Night in Amy’s Hallway?) was also a possibility. I can totally imagine Miss Pearce climbing out of her painting to get a closer look, can’t you? If I hear noises in the hallway, my first guess will be it is Susie playing. If Susie is nowhere in sight, it’s obvious Miss Pearce has hopped out of the painting. Don’t worry, I will check to make sure the painting isn’t blank.

Hmm. This scenario is playing in my mind, turning around, gathering steam and gathering ideas much like an avalanche as it rolls downhill. Maybe Miss Pearce is up for an adventure in a different time and place?

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Published by Amy

I love words. And animals. Photography and fedoras. Welcome. And stay awhile.

32 thoughts on “Miss Pearce (Has a Friend)”

      2. They’re going. I’m still recovering from three viruses that hit me at the same time. I have been very sick. Work is still hectic, and I’m trying to carve out some time to blog and do other stuff. How’s things with you?

        Liked by 1 person

      3. three? One just wasn’t enough, huh? 😲
        I got sick a couple weeks back myself, but nothing like that.
        Work is hectic here too. I’m patiently waiting to get off nights at the moment lol
        Be nice if you can come around once in awhile. Be good to see you!

        Liked by 1 person

      4. Yeah, three. I couldn’t work for the whole week. If you’re gonna do something, do it all the way!
        We’re doing a trial of flex time so I might get back to having my Fridays off , which is very exciting! I would like to come around more than once in a while. I’m still trying to carve out time from my new job, which isn’t really that new anymore, but it is more hectic. Fridays should help. Thanks, it would be good to be back at least a little more regularly. I miss writing, but I haven’t really been inspired lately. I miss interacting with you and the rest of the crew!

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      5. A lot of us have been up and down with the creative doldrums too, so we get it totally, trust me.
        Like you, my current schedule does not allow a ton of time, so I am on a bit less these days myself.
        Maybe if you can get back in the swing, the ideas will start flowing again. 😊

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      6. Hopefully. The weather’s been total crap too, so maybe once it gets warmer I’ll feel more inspired. I need the spring. 😊
        Even if I tried brainstorming that might help. I did have an idea, which I mentioned in this post, but the actual writing part of it seems daunting. Baby steps.😊

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      7. It is tough, especially if you have not done it in awhile. I’ve been taking breaks off and on, and it seems like a lot every time I restart too lol
        I hear you on the weather – Still buried under ice here 😜

        Liked by 1 person

      8. It feels very daunting to start. And I wonder how I ever did any of it. It would be easier if I could actually answer the prompts. But I’ve answered them all and what’s the point? I feel like answering the prompts. Every day was a motivator. Even though I made fun of them, it was still motivating. Lol

        It has been the coldest winter I can remember. Gotten a fair amount of snow, but nothing huge. It snowed very often, but no big accumulations. Just enough to be highly annoying. I’m sorry you’re buried under ice. Today is the first day. there’s no precipitation and nothing on the ground except for grass. Lol

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      9. You can still answer them, it just takes a bit of a workaround, I’ve discovered lol
        You can copy/paste the code from last year’s prompt question in the new post, and tag it with the daily prompt number, and it’s a clean slate to answer it all over again. I have been doing that with some of them off and on because I can’t answer them either 😄

        If you’re looking for a lightweight way to dip your toe back in, photo posts are always an easy one too.

        And yes, it’s a lot easier to find the time to write when you are actually motivated to do so. If you aren’t, it feels like an insurmountable task.

        We got hit with a pretty good storm which accumulated and then turned to rain, which was then followed by a deep freeze. Today was the first day above freezing in about two weeks or so.

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      10. I did not know that! Thanks for the helpful information. I will try that when I see a prompt that looks like I want to answer it again. I will actually save what you wrote somewhere so I don’t lose it in the comments.

        I did have a bit of an adventure with a squirrel the past few months that I have been wanting to write about. I have plenty of photos, but it’s quite a story. 😊

        We haven’t gotten any accumulation really but it’s been sleet and ice. And then it’s cold for days on end. Below freezing and windy. Today is sunny and I am thinking it’s going to be above freezing. We have some temperatures in the 50s coming up this week. I’m looking forward to that. It will feel like summer. Lol

        Liked by 1 person

      11. It was 35 here today, and it felt like a heatwave after the single digit temps, yes lol
        I think we’re going to be like that for the next few days so hopefully the melt continues.

        You could always post the story in smaller chapters as you go if you so desired. Just a thought 🤷‍♂️😉

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    1. Miss Pearce does have a lot going on. She’s wearing a fabulous silver satin dress, she’s staring at Jamie Fraser, and whatever life she lived years ago, she was in America. I like to think she was best friends with Thomas Sully’s wife. Thomas Sully was born in England, but he became a naturalized citizen of the United States, living most of his life in Philadelphia. He is buried there. I’ve been to Philadelphia many times; it’s not the greatest, but it’s not the worst. 😊 I like to think Miss Pearce had a decent life in Philadelphia.

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  3. I know this is going to sound weird, and maybe I’m just imagining this because I know you’re American, but her expression to me looks like an American expression. I remember a friend came back from the UK after living there for about 8 years, and I saw him walk across the road and shake someone’s hand. And he did it like a person from the UK, he had acquired those attributes. Similarly, I sometimes cringe at Australian expressions on adverts, because they are so Australian. It is quite often easy to tell what ‘area’ someone is from simply by the way they hold their face. I’m not always 100% right, but sometimes it just strikes you.

    So to me, this expression is an American expression, the poise of the way she holds her head and her eyes. It’s certainly well captured.

    Next you’ll tell me she had just arrived from Ireland a year before. Ha. Maybe that’s where America gets it’s expressions from.. 🙂

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    1. No, it doesn’t sound strange to me. I know exactly what you’re talking about. I agree she has an American expression. I have no idea if she was born in America or not, because I can’t figure out who she is, lol, but I would guess she was a citizen at the time of this portrait. Something in my gut tells me she was born in Philadelphia. Nope, I don’t think it’s strange at all. But we do certainly have a lot of Irish heritage🍀

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      2. I don’t know if there’s just one Philly expression, or if I know it. Lol

        I guess it looks a little bit like him if I turn the phone and squint . 😉

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