A vase of bookmarks created by RoseMary Goodson.
. . .
This is a follow-up to my 2001 story about RoseMary Goodson from South Dakota Magazine, posted below.
RoseMary Goodson will be 94 years old on September 27, 2011 and she’s still painting, and “keeping busy,” as she puts it.
Her daughter Emily has been working to catalog all the paintings RoseMary made in her lifetime-- an impossible task, since some were sold and she’s not sure where they are. But the ones she’s found, she’s photographed, and RoseMary slices up photographs of the paintings, laminates them, punches a hole in the top, adds a ribbon and bead, and presto! She has a beautiful bookmark.
She sent me a few of these bookmarks several years ago, and retreat guests at Windbreak House love them. So RoseMary started sending me more; now I have several vases of them at Windbreak House, where writers use them as they are reading a dozen books at once during the retreat. When it’s time to go home, each writer usually selects a bookmark or two to take along, sometimes begging one for a friend.
And I’ve taken them to talks I give. In Chamberlain last fall, I laid out a selection of my books on the sale table for people to peruse as they entered to be seated before my talk. Folks would stroll in, glance at the books, and then start visiting with friends. Then I was inspired to scatter a handful of bookmarks the length of the table. Within a few minutes, most of the crowd had left their seats and were scattered along the table, looking at bookmarks-- and picking up books. So I told the audience a little bit about RoseMary as I finished my reading, and made them a deal: buy a book, and take a bookmark for free. I’m sure the bookmarks helped sell books.
# # #
For more information:
Go to RoseMary Goodson's website to learn more about RoseMary's life and see a gallery of her paintings.
Update 2012: RoseMary (who is going on 95) has a hard time with correspondence now and Emily's project of cataloging RoseMary's original art is falling by the wayside. They used to post a contact address on RoseMary's website but no longer do so because they aren't able to reply to website visitors. Sorry.
back to top
This is a follow-up to my 2001 story about RoseMary Goodson from South Dakota Magazine, posted below.
RoseMary Goodson will be 94 years old on September 27, 2011 and she’s still painting, and “keeping busy,” as she puts it.
Her daughter Emily has been working to catalog all the paintings RoseMary made in her lifetime-- an impossible task, since some were sold and she’s not sure where they are. But the ones she’s found, she’s photographed, and RoseMary slices up photographs of the paintings, laminates them, punches a hole in the top, adds a ribbon and bead, and presto! She has a beautiful bookmark.
She sent me a few of these bookmarks several years ago, and retreat guests at Windbreak House love them. So RoseMary started sending me more; now I have several vases of them at Windbreak House, where writers use them as they are reading a dozen books at once during the retreat. When it’s time to go home, each writer usually selects a bookmark or two to take along, sometimes begging one for a friend.
And I’ve taken them to talks I give. In Chamberlain last fall, I laid out a selection of my books on the sale table for people to peruse as they entered to be seated before my talk. Folks would stroll in, glance at the books, and then start visiting with friends. Then I was inspired to scatter a handful of bookmarks the length of the table. Within a few minutes, most of the crowd had left their seats and were scattered along the table, looking at bookmarks-- and picking up books. So I told the audience a little bit about RoseMary as I finished my reading, and made them a deal: buy a book, and take a bookmark for free. I’m sure the bookmarks helped sell books.
# # #
For more information:
Go to RoseMary Goodson's website to learn more about RoseMary's life and see a gallery of her paintings.
Update 2012: RoseMary (who is going on 95) has a hard time with correspondence now and Emily's project of cataloging RoseMary's original art is falling by the wayside. They used to post a contact address on RoseMary's website but no longer do so because they aren't able to reply to website visitors. Sorry.
back to top