This is my grandmother, Esther Thorkeldson Long, the artist’s mother. She is my only grandparent who came to the United States from another country, emigrating from Norway in the early 20th century with her sister Alvine. I’ve inherited her coloring and long bones.
The portrait must have been made in the late 1930s or early 1940s. This is how I picture Grandma Esther from my earliest memories. The painting lives in Chicago with my cousin Kitty, who cared for Esther in her last years.
