Help me solve a haunting art mystery?

in Random Crap

SEE BOTTOM OF POST FOR UPDATE.

So often I stop at estate sales and bring home strange, haunting things that I don’t really need but that I can’t leave behind…especially on Sundays when so much has been picked over and so much will end up tossed in the garbage if it doesn’t sell.

Today was one of those days. And I brought home these large, battered but poignant art pieces that aren’t really my style but that I can’t stop thinking about. Partially because they are remarkably done, but unique like self-taught outsider art…and partially because I suspect they were all done by a patient in a mental hospital over 70 years ago.

This one is watercolor. The title is in Spanish but translates to “Waiting for electric shock treatment (E.S.T).” It (like all of them) is by someone called “L Perea” (I think) and is from 1952.

This one is pen and ink and seems to be of an asylum or institution:

It’s signed “L Perea, April ’55”

This is a large watercolor:

The writing says “The Dipsy Doodle – We want everything neat and clean and tidy and orderly and sanitary and sterile. Some V.I.P.s are coming over on an inspection tour—and oh, yes! Another thing—look happy – that’s orders.“

There’s no date on this one. I’d never heard of the dipsy doodle before but it was an old song, apparently. The lyrics:

The dipsy doodle is the thing to beware
The dipsy doodle will get in your hair
And if it gets you, it couldn't be worse
The things you say will come out in reverse
Like "You love I and me love you!"
That's the way the dipsy doodle works.
You can't eat, you can't sleep. You go crazy.
You're just a victim of the dipsy doodle
And it's not your mind that's hazy
It's your heart that's at fault - not your noodle.
You better listen and try to be good
And try to do all the things that you should
The dipsy doodle will get you some day
And when it gets you the things you will say
Like the moon jumped over the cow - hey diddle!
That's the way the dipsy doodle works.

This one, which is pen and ink and very eerie:

The title is in french but I think it translates to “The man, what is this?” September ’53

And this one, a watercolor:

The front says “The Searchlight – I didn’t realize how important it is not to tell the truth – until it was too late.”

On the back it has more written but I can’t tell exactly what:

” …and after Ray threw the (indecipherable) at me, I told the truth – so they put me in here.” 1952

I tried to find the artist online, hopeful that maybe afterward she (I assume it’s a she since she draws other women mostly) got out and was discovered and found a life in art…but I can’t find anything.

And maybe this is all that’s left. But it breaks my heart…because I’m also a self-taught artist who uses my drawings and writing to find escape from this often broken mind. Because tonight I’m fasting because tomorrow I’ll be at the clinic getting IV infusions of ketamine to try to treat my treatment-resistant depression. Because I know that I could have been her so easily. Because I had family myself who died in places like that and were forgotten.

I guess in some way I want her to be seen, even if we don’t know her name or where she ended up. Maybe someone with greater research skills can find out what happened to her. Or if not, we can at least look at the story she left behind with her art…the stories of so many people who never got to tell theirs.

UPDATE. I think we may have found her?

123 thoughts on “Help me solve a haunting art mystery?”

Read comments below or add one.

  1. ((Jenny)) This is one of the reasons I love you. You want to keep this artist safe, in a way, so you rescued her things from being sent to the trash.

  2. This is haunting work; thank you for giving it a home and for being a witness for the artist. We’re all lost without others to witness and share our stories.

  4. Those are amazing. I hope you find out who the artist is and I hope she created a good life.

  5. It’s so important to cherish pieces like this. Art is our best communication and it often times goes silent. Thanks for sharing it and letting it shout it’s truths!

    – Lagrandesoeur (because for some reason, I’m always anonymous here. And I don’t want to be…

  8. If it was an estate sale, it might be worth looking up the home’s original owner and their connections. If they were an art collector or a descendant of the artist. And if they have any living kin or even if the sale was put on by a management company, they might have more provenance info or someone else who might.
    I have encountered this twice from two neighborhood estate sales, one for a local artist (they were able to putnbuyers in touch with her relatives who had more info on the work) and one for the curator of the Country Music Hall of Fame who apparently lived across the street from me. And a third really wanted me to buy this giant collection of hatpins and brought out info on folks I could contact about it. (I didn’t buy them, there were so many and they were way expensive).
    Just thinking that’s an avenue you could take. (Or if you want to pass that info on, someone else could donthe talking for you! I volunteer! )

  9. Okay, so I did some digging and found this artist who has the same last name who is active in the mid-century, in San Antonio, and who taught art. A quick search has not uncovered children other than a painting of what could be his son, but that doesn’t preclude him having a spouse or daughter who he taught who might have ended up in this place. Maybe an avenue to explore?
    https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/arpa-jose

  10. Hey # 6 I saw “doorstop” too! Either “quilted” or maybe “gilded”??

  13. Have you tried a Google Image search? Log into your Google account, click on images in the upper right corner and just drag and drop a jpeg version image of these pieces and it may turn up some info or at least similar looking art?

  14. These are amazing. I hope that you are able to find out something about the artist. Maybe someone might see your post and can help.

  15. I read it as “quilted doorstop”, too! My mom made some of those, long ago.
    Thank you for rescuing their work. Sending all the warm fuzzies for a healing trip.

  16. Thanks for preserving and sharing this art, which is beautiful, moving, and a disturbing reminder of how we have treated people with mental illnesses. As anonymous #9 mentioned, there was a Spanish artist, named José Arpa y Perea, who lived in San Antonio during the 1920s. Many brief bios of him online (frinstance: https://latinosinamerica.substack.com/p/jose-arpa-americas-first-latino-impressionist) but no info about any offspring. But if he had kids in TX at that time, and a child of his had psychological issues, they could have been in an institution. And might have had some of the father’s artistic talent. Maybe you can search San Antonio birth records for the 1920s.

  17. The only state psychiatric hospital I’m aware of in the 50s and 60s is the Rusk State Hospital. My mother was there for about 6 months…I recall her talking about the shock treatment and how she finally got released. By saying what they wanted to hear. These pieces hit me So hard. Harder than I would think. Made me sad again knowing my sweet mother was in there thinking she’d never get out. I hope you find someone who is related to artists

  18. These are haunting. What a great find! If you ever have to sell them, let us know.

  19. Holy Cow, these are good.
    There’s a Facebook group called “Identify My Art” that might be helpful, the people there know how to do their research. Let us know….

  20. Thank you for bearing witness to this artist, their name, and their pain.

  21. Fantastic find! I think it would be a great thing to find more art like that and publish a book of them so other people can connect and relate to this.

  22. People are never completely gone until the day comes when no one knows they ever existed. Thank you for saving people from being forgotten.

  23. These are all incredible pieces — spellbinding in different ways. You might have found something very valuable. I like them just as outsider art, but this person had real talent. Have you showed these to anyone at your local art museum yet? I feel like these works are quite special and you saved them!! Congratulate yourself!!

  28. A couple of people have suggested that it might be Jose Perea, but he appears to have died in 1952 and one of the pictures is dated 1953. Also, the first initial of the signature seems to be the letter L, not a J. That doesn’t preclude it being a relative of his, though.

  31. One of the undecipherable words is doorstop. I’ll work on the other one.

  32. If Ray threw a doorstop at her, perhaps he’s a relative. So she’s LPerea who was possibly related or married to Ray Perea.
    Not sure how that helps but maybe it does.

  33. I would research José Arpa y Perea. He was a rather famous painter who died in ’52. He lived in San Antonio/Mexico/Spain. I couldn’t find any information on his personal life in the 5 minutes I just spent, but it wouldn’t be a big stretch to think that he had a family in San Antonio and left them? I’d like to think this was a daughter? Styles are totally different, but the artist has a lot of skill.

  35. These art pieces are incredible. So much talent and so much pain, particularly the shock treatment and the searchlight. Just heartbreaking. Maybe you could have prints made of them with the proceeds going to women’s healthcare in Texas, where women’s rights are being steadily eroded. I’m looking for a similar reputable place to help support in Arizona. I would absolutely buy prints of any or all of these pieces.

  36. Looking on Ancestry on the 1950 census, there’s a Ray R Paria married to an Irene (I think the name on the artwork may be I Parea, and the census records often don’t have last names spelled correctly.) They have a son named Wilbor R. Paria. Ray is 50, Irene is 40, and Wilbor is 16. They are living at 4033 Pensacola Dallas, TX. Ray is listed as a manager of a sporting goods company. There’s another family listed as living at the same address. I don’t know if it’s a single family home, apartment building, etc. The other family is a couple named Jack and Lois Kaster ages 32 and 33. Jack is an accountant. Not sure if these are the right people, but could be.

  37. Touching works of art. I am so glad you have given them the attention they deserve. I can feel the sense of sadness, hope and fear that the patients exude while waiting for ECT. All of them definitely tell a story. It would be interesting to find out the history.. hopefully all of the tidbits everyone are sharing will lead to the artists.

  38. “Ray threw the quilted doorstop at me.” They were popular in the mid century and quite heavy. Would definitely be a weapon. The ink drawing of the building could be the “Southwest Lunatic Asylum” in San Antonio. The images of that building are similar. Three stories, brick and the roof line looks similar. I don’t know if those records are available. https://digital.utsa.edu/digital/collection/p9020coll008/id/9221/

  39. I’m pretty sure it’s the Austin state Hospital which was a mental hospital asylum that looks almost identical.
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_State_Hospital
    If there are patient records stored somewhere you might be able to find the patient that was the artist.
    They had not only patients with mental illness, but also dementia and syphilis.
    https://www.hhs.texas.gov/services/mental-health-substance-use/state-hospitals/austin-state-hospital/ash-history
    Artwork was used to help patients work through their illnesses as therapy.
    While I couldn’t find anything on the artist, it’s lovely that someone saved their work and now you are sharing it with the world. I hope their relatives get to see this somehow and are pleased that their relative is being recognized fir their work.

  41. quilted doorstop (as others are seeing). Haunting art but extremely well done!

  42. If the Antiques Roadshow ever comes near San Antonio, this seems like something they’d love.

  43. There is also a Mary Louise Perea, AKA Mary Louise Martin in San Antonio in the Public Records. I can find her in Ancestry but since I don’t have a currently active subscription I can’t dig further there. Looks like Martin may be her married name and possibly died in 1991.

  46. Found an obituary for a Loretta Chavira Perea who was known in her local community for painting and sewing.

  48. These remind me of much of the art right after WW1, people trying to make sense of the senseless. These are fabulous. Maybe you could display them in Nowhere & ask for ideas on finding & documenting the life of the artist?

  49. These are wonderful, Jenny. I’m so glad you found them and shared them with us, and I look forward to learning what people find out.

  51. I love that you guys appreciate these as much as I do.

    A few answers:

    I think you’re right that it’s “quilted doorstop” or “gilded doorstop”.

    It’s possible that the story about Ray was from the artist but it’s in quotes so it’s also possible that it’s a quote from one of the women in the image. The other image that has quotes seems to be a quote from the people running the hospital and ordering people to “look happy”, so I’m leaning toward it being attributed to something said to the artist by another patient. Hard to tell though.

    The estate sale is a dead-end. The man who lived there had been an antique dealer who picked up lots of art over the years and he couldn’t remember when or where he’d gotten these pieces.

    I suspect the institution was in the south…possibly even in Mexico?…based on the landscape. It looks a little like the Southwestern Institute for the Insane which was here in San Antonio but what I don’t see in any of the pictures of it is the unique masonry designs on the right hand side of the drawing, so I’m thinking that’s maybe not it.

    The more I look at the art the more I see…the recurring chain-link in every image. The claustrophobic, trapped feel. The way the last two women in the electroshock image reach out to comfort each other even though they are seated far apart and isolated…alone but together.

    The searchlight image brings up so many questions. Who is the woman on the left? Is she the head nurse, manager, visiter? She has a purse, implying she can leave…and earrings and a fancy cigarette. The woman next to her seems like possibly an orderly. She has shoes, and a uniform although ill-fitting, and a cigarette stub in her mouth. The rest of the women appear forgotten, isolated. Stripped of their clothes, barefoot, left in the corner with the mops. Is the Ray story from one of them…a reminder that often women ended up in places like this because their abuser placed them there when they complained about the abuse.

    One of the most haunting (accidental) aspects is of the sketch of the institution itself. If you look closely at all of the corners you can see that the picture was hung using just paperclips…it hung so long the paperclips seem to have rusted their shape into the image.

    Such powerful pieces. They say so much while saying so little.

  52. These are hauntingly beautiful. It looks like some of the people in the last piece are the same as in the first one. Thank you for saving and sharing these.

  55. OMG, these paintings are so haunting!! Kudos to you for taking them- they deserved to be cared for and remembered. The way the mentally ill were treated back then was appalling (not sure it’s a whole lot better now, come to think of it..). These are incredible examples of outsider art- or, insider, if the person did these as a result of being an inpatient.

  56. Try looking for photos of Terrell State Hospital in Texas. Found pictures with similar stonework including the squares with squares in the corner.

  57. https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fthumbor-prod-us-east-1.photo.aws.arc.pub%2FeyEx41EOzOrklY0nXF956TzCzyg%3D%2Farc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-dmn%2Fpublic%2FOPGV5D4TT7T67O6UIIMNMC6EJE.jpg&tbnid=bdQArLldZe6wyM&vet=1&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dallasnews.com%2Fnews%2F2014%2F11%2F29%2Fterrell-residents-fear-change-if-state-subcontracts-its-hospital%2F&docid=BpqXiSe8f4PILM&w=670&h=503&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim%2Fm4%2F2&kgs=7f476202b69f70f5&shem=abme%2Ctrie

  58. I was raised in Chicago. Our insane asylum was called Dunning. I lived down the street. A man had escaped and ended up in my bedroom. 1952, I was 5 years old. He was confused and just wanted to take a nap with me. They came to pick him up and put him in a straitjacket. Mama and I had to go and make a report. As soon as I saw these pics I got a flashback. I saw similar pics like these. There was a bus stop right in front. While we waited, men or women were outside begging the riders to please let them out from the chain link fence. Some were crying. Thank you for sharing. I’m writing a book about this because my mother was murdered a few months later. DJ Smith

  59. These pictures are incredible, thanks for sharing! I’m really sad this person had such traumatic experiences though. I wonder if it could be Bellevue in NY as it has the strange ‘cages’ on the outside, ladders coming down on the outer building and the chimney looks really similar too… see what you guys think? Thing is the grounds in the pictures do look a bit desert-like so I don’t know!
    https://www.boweryboyshistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/6507153103_98d14ba412_b.jpg

  60. You might reach out to Roger Ricco at the Ricco/Maresca gallery in NYC. https://www.riccomaresca.com/ We’ve had him speak to the artists at AIM Center, our local clubhouse program for adults with SMI several times over the years about outsider art – he’s an expert.

  61. Quite Beautiful, but very ugly. You need to take those Ketamine infusions up your Oh So Texas Asshole. Give up on your oh so garrish ways. Eat clean food, breath clean air…errr I guess you should move. Rather difficult for you there in Texas.

  62. Commenter number 57 posted a link to the image of a hospital that is exactly identical to the drawing! The architecture details along the roofline and the porches match Terrell Hospital.
    I really hope that someone recognizes this artist. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a museum of artwork made by patients where people could see the beauty they had inside them?

  63. On the back of Searchlight, could it read “Gilded doorstop”? And that’s a fancy object, I’m wondering if the institution was an expensive one. No history on these paintings from the seller?

  64. The clothing and hairstyles in “Searchlight” has me wondering if she was possibly institutionalized much earlier and the paintings were done from memory later in her life… the woman on the left is in a dress that doesn’t look like it’s from the 50s, I’d guess closer to the 1910s? The length, high collar, and the angle of the shoulders all seem closer to pre-WWI fashion and the hair and face are slightly Gibson Girl-esque, and her shoes might actually be button-up boots. And isn’t that a long cigarette holder in her hand?

    At the same time, the woman with the cross necklace is in a bra that’s closer to the 40s or 50s, and the woman who could be an orderly is in a uniform more like the factory work uniforms of WWII.

  66. Most people want to be seen for their true selves but are afraid to show it. Thank you for sharing this artist’s work.

  68. The 1955 picture has architecture very similar to the St John’s Hospital in San Angelo

  69. Wow! This art work is beautifully rendered but so very haunting. Voices are heard, even decades after the fact. There is something very moving about this…

  71. I think it’s “T. Perea” as well. I found a census record for “Telecita Perea” from the 1950 Census residing in the San Antonio State Hospital as a patient, aged 55, though the written name looks more like “Felecita”, which doesn’t match the painting, so it might be a dead end. Hoping you find the artist, Jenny! Gorgeous, haunting work.

  72. On The Searchlight, this really hit me: “I didn’t realize how important it is not to tell the truth – until it was too late.” I had an incident in college that was 1,000,000% milder than these gorgeous pictures depict, and it was because I said I might be a little suicidal – not enough to do anything – I just wanted to go “poof”. They reacted like you’d expect a Christian university to act, which was extremely overboard and extremely less than helpful.

    Since then, I’ve been guarded with anything mental-healthwise if there’s even a whiff of serious ramifications. Have you ever had that depression screening bullshit at a doctor’s visit? For a long time I declined filling it out because “I’ll either lie, or you’ll get really scared.”

    Thank you for sharing these pictures, Jenny. ;*

  73. Of course, people who are seriously suicidal DO need to tell the truth and get help. I’m not saying at all that they should hide it. That just occurred to me after posting my initial comment.

    My whole previous comment was a reaction to that statement on The Searchlight and how me telling the truth affected me personally.

  74. If it helps, the Dipsey Dodge is a song. It’s on youtube. I know the version by Ella Fitzgerald probably from the 40’s

  76. Compare to the architectural details here: http://theemptyplaces.com/wordpress/institutions/texas/wichita-falls/

    Photos 21 and 35 look extremely similar to the pen and ink drawing – I think it shows “screened” (chain-link fenced) balconies in front of narrow windows. Note particularly the horizontal bar a third of the way up on each section of fencing in photo 21 and the narrow two-panes-wide windows in photo 34… the drawing seems to show beds out on the balcony and judging by the bench and chairs visible in photo 34 there would easily be enough room for a hospital bed. There are also diamond patterns visible in some of the photos of the brickwork.

  81. These are fabulous! As Anonymous #9 says, take them down to the San Antonio Art League in King William. Let the people there look at them. Wow! What a find.

  82. I believe the French translation is “Man, what is that?” These works of are are spectacular. I particularly love the EST one.

  85. These are amazing. They belong in a museum. Thank you for rescuing and sharing them. I love you Jenny.

  86. I don’t know if I’m remembering it correctly but I think Dipsy Doodle used to be a hair care product. …#27 Hope. Hope, I’m pretty sure you’re thinking of dippity-do. I think it was a product used prior to rolling up your hair in curlers.

    Oh wow, #84 beat me to the punch.

    I remember Dipsy Doodle from an episode of Andy Griffith. The town’s alcoholic, Otis, was singing it while drunk for some damn reason.

  89. Jenny, I think it might be T Perea not L. Look at the “t” in Sept on the “Man, what is this” drawing. Identical to the first initial.

  90. I believe you should sale them in your store by fantasy and horror section and give the money to the organization for the homeless or shelter or safe place for abused women or any of your charity

  92. These are really beautiful. And sad. But beautiful. I think it’s amazing that you bought these and maybe you gave them purpose. You connected with them and they made you feel something, which is all art can ever hope to do.

  93. This seemed to be in a very similar style by Jose Perea c. 1950 (right name, right time period but different subject) being sold now on ebay. Just thought this might add to the story (I hope I am not repeating something someone else posted.)
    https://images.app.goo.gl/NH9gCGkrCcu18U3d8
    (oh, and thank you for sharing!)

  94. ooop… I looked closer and the artist Perea that I found writes their name with a mix of capitals and lower case (“PErea” vs. your’s “Perea”)… so I think I was wrong. Sorry!

  95. Electroconvulsive therapy is not so bad these days as it once was, and very effective for treatment resistant depression. Speaking as a patient, and not a sadist with an ECT machine.

  97. These remind me of my grandmother’s artwork (Charlotte Gililland) who died by suicide in the 1950s. There was so little help for people with mental illnesses back then (not saying things are great now…), it must have felt so helpless. She was a prolific artist whose work is haunting and hangs proudly in my home. I always wonder what could have been had she been born 20-30 years later.

  99. Of all the possibilities for the hospital mentioned so far, I think poster #17 might be right that it could be the Rusk State hospital before it was renovated. Here’s a postcard image from somewhere between 1930 and 1945: https://library.uta.edu/txdisabilityhistory/sites/default/files/docs/20067834-35.pdf
    It looks to me like the pen and ink drawing of the building shows the red brick area farthest left and large white windows to the right of it.
    Like Jenny said, the quotation marks also seem to indicate to me that the artist is quoting someone they’re observing. Maybe the artist is a patient, but I could also see them being an employee at the hospital or a family member visiting a patient.

  100. Maybe? In the 1950s census

    Name Lawrence L Perea
    Age 16
    Birth Date abt 1934
    Gender Male
    Race White
    Birth Place New Mexico
    Marital Status Never Married (Single)
    Relation to Head of House Ward
    Residence Date 1950
    Home in 1950 Bernalillo, New Mexico, USA
    Street Name Indian School Road
    House Number 1704
    Apartment Number Sr
    Dwelling Number W1r
    Farm No
    Acres Yes
    Occupation Farm Helper
    Industry Farm and Childrens Home
    Occupation Category Working
    Hours Worked 30
    Worker Class Without Pay
    Institution Name St Anthony Boys Home
    Institution Type Siatus & St Francies Home For Dependent Orphange & Children

  101. I would send images of them to auction houses, Sothebys – Christies – or museums near you.

  102. The first initial is definitely an L. The writer puts a detail on their Ps that makes it look like a T at first glance.

    (Yep. She separates it out as an L at least once. ~ Jenny)

  104. Just a hypothesis, but I think these drawings were saved not by the artist (who was more likely a patient than a staff member or outside observer), but by a doctor or staff member at the hospital. When I worked inside a prison in the 1980s, inmates often gave me drawings they had done. I saved many of them for a long time. These are so good – so hauntingly beautiful – I can easily see a doctor or staff member saving them. Maybe research into hospital staff, once you’ve determined the artist and location, might turn up more information.

    The paper also appears to be newsprint-type, which would have been common for use in institutional settings back then.

    The wire screens across the front balconies were also standard back in the day to prevent patients from throwing themselves off or trying to escape. Griffin Memorial Hospital, an abandoned mental health hospital in Norman, Oklahoma, looks very similar to the one pictured in the artwork. It may have been a standard design in the southwestern region of the US.

    Thank you for saving these pieces. They are incredible.

  105. A girl on Facebook was selling this painting. I recognized the painting style as soon as I saw it. I bought it and brought it home to your brother.

  106. Last year we were in Madrid, and at the Reina Sofia art museum. There was an exhibit there that this art immediately made me think of. It was about an art movement spearheaded by someone named Tosquelles inside a mental institution in La Catalan in the 1940’s. Very very interesting exhibit. It looks like it is in the states now. https://folkartmuseum.org/exhibitions/tosquelles/

  108. Searching the census records, I found Laura Perea who was a patient at “West Texas State Hospital for the Insane in 1940;” she was 24. Not sure if this is our artist but she was there with her twin sister Helen. They were both college educated women; their father Clifford was a registrar at Trinity University.

    1950 had Laura living with her parents, Clifford and Della but no mention of Helen. This Laura passed away in 1995.

    (I think this is her too. Another person on my insta found her too. You guys are great researchers! ~ Jenny)

  109. Jenny- maybe reach out to the Visionary Arts museum here in Baltimore. They specialize in this type of Art from artists they are mostly self trained & have a story. It’s my favorite museum. I bet they have researchers that could help. They may even be willing to buy the pieces to display at the museum if they can verify artist(s) & learn more. Who knows.

  112. i think the pictures are amazing, poignant and profound. thankyou for rescuing them. sometimes there are institutions that show art work of patients, if you didnt want to keep them, but needed a good home for them. i will see if i can find anything about the artist..

  113. I don’t have Insta so I can’t check to see if this info has already been posted, so…

    In both the 1940 and 1950 censuses, Laura Dickerson Perea is listed living at home with her parents Clifford and Della as well as a resident of a mental institution; in 1940, the “West Texas State Hospital for the Insane” (likely the hospital in Big Spring) along with her sister Helen, and in 1950, the “San Antonio State hospital” by herself.

    In between the censuses, Clifford and Della moved from Waxahatchie to San Antonio, and the sisters were likely moved from one hospital to the other before 1948, the year Helen died in the San Antonio hospital (cause of death listed as suicide by Carbon Di-Sulfide poisoning, which sounds like a truly awful way to go).

    Because Laura died under her maiden name in 1995 in San Antonio, and there doesn’t seem to be a listing for her obituary out there, despite the date being recent enough it should at least be indexed somewhere, it seems possible that she was still institutionalized at the time of her death.

    Jenny – with only one long-deceased sibling, and no children of her own, had it not been for you finding her artwork and asking for help in finding Laura’s story on the 39th anniversary of her death TO THE DAY, she would have likely been forgotten. Instead, thanks to you, this entire community of weirdos is out her searching for and mourning and celebrating her.

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  117. My great grandma was put in a mental institution in her late 20’s/early 30’s. The picture I use on Substack is her, Sophie. I would do anything to know about her life or have something that she created. She passed away of old age in a mental institution. No one knew she was even alive until my dad tracked her down right before her death. She didn’t remember anything or anyone who was supposed to love her. I am so thankful that my husband cares for me and loves me and mental illness isn’t as shameful as it once was. It is people like you, Jenny, who give us love and light. I hope you find the family of this talented, broken, beautiful woman who lived life the best she knew how.

  120. What an important find! I’m so glad you rescued these from obscurity… or worse.

  121. I cannot stop looking at these paintings! I hope they find a wide audience. I wrote my senior honors thesis on The Yellow Wallpaper, and Laura’s handwriting looks just like my grandmother’s. This art speaks to me, and I know that it would speak to many more, given the opportunity. Thank you, Jenny!

  122. Carbon disulfide was very popular as an herbicide in the 40s. It was very definitely not an easy death. How tragic for her, and for her family, particularly her twin.

    Those paintings are haunting. I am so glad you found them, and cared enough to share them and find the artist. <3 hugs & love

  123. Pingback: Uncovering the mystery of L. Perea and trying to erase the stigma of mental illness. – The Bloggess

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Flourish in Progress: (T)hug Life: Part hood. Part good.

Pregnancy Calendar at Alpha Mom: Amalah’s week-by-week guide to the miracle of pregnancy and all the various indignities that come with it.

The Mack Files: Digesting life in bite-sized pieces through the lens of clichés, quotes & “truisms”.  Often irreverent, always honest.

Barking at the Moon: If your dog is your furry child, you will laugh out loud at Tracy Beckerman’s book about her family & a one-dog wrecking ball named Riley.

Stephen Metcalfe Words: Novels, Screenplays, Stories and Plays that reach around the heart, massage the brain, and usually give a happy ending.

Welcome to xanaru: A mostly funny blog about the quest for happiness through authenticity, Great Danes and indiscriminate swearing. Plus hand-painted, custom artwork on bags, jackets, backpacks & more.

How the Hell Did I Not Know That?: Humorist Lucie Frost shares daily Instagram reels with learnings of the day—words, music, whatever–with plenty of laughs and all the curse words.

Beautiful Writers book: Writers! This coming-of-career memoir (w/ the BEST advice from celeb authors, real shit you haven’t heard) is life. A page-turning beach read doubling as how-to. #Magic

The Dating Days of Marta O: When I told my sister I was building a blog she said: “Do people still read blogs?” I do not know, but if YOU want to read it, here it is. Keep in mind, my stories about dating after 40 are for the brave.

CONNECTED: A Personal Journal for Ketamine Therapy Created by writer & patient Katherine Davis for this powerful clinical treatment. If considering ketamine for major depression, check out this essential tool.

Eye Candy: Ethereal original art and reproductions, streamable painting instruction & art journaling lessons for curious minds. Daydreams & mystics welcome.

Sylvia Shults, author and paranormal reporter: I sit in dark, spooky places so you don’t have to. Check out the award-winning Gone On Vacation: Haunted Zoos, Museums, and Amusement Parks, available in print and ebook.

Cake4Kids: We bake and deliver free birthday cakes to underserved kids who might not otherwise receive one.

Where the Hell is Ivy Dell by Indie Sparks: It’s not like some shirtless guy with a scorpion tattoo is going to change my whole life.

Florida-splaining by Cathy Salustri: We’re not all crazy assholes down here. Really. Here’s a whole book about what makes Florida spectacular.

Immerse yourself in Marcy Lane’s A Mercy of Widows: A story of love, loss, and legal battles over assisted dying (MAID) laws in Canada. This gripping debut is a finalist in the 2023 Wishing Shelf Book Awards for fans of heartfelt, humorous, and humane tales of life’s toughest choices.

Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh: SO GOOD.

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