Mabel

Mabel showed an aptitude for sewing from a very early age and was apprenticed to the local dressmaker by fifteen. By twenty she was already considered an expert in her own right, and she was designing clothing for both women and men. Many expected her to move to the city to make a name for herself in fashion, but that didn’t happen. Instead, she married Zebulon, and the two of them set up house right downtown. Every morning they would step out together and open the little gate to the sidewalk, indulge in a quick, business-like kiss, and head off in separate directions: he to his office in court square, and she to her atelier in the back of the dressmaker’s shop.

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One of my latest obsessions is going to estate sales and antique malls to find a frame that perfectly matches my fancy bird portraits. This custom giclée print of Mabel has been mounted by the artist in a vintage wooden frame.

• Frame dimensions: roughly 15 in. x 18 in.