This page showcases the artwork of my grandmother, Marian Froncillo. She is no longer with us, but her art continues to tell her story.
She grew up in western Pennsylvania, married my grandfather at 18, and together they had four children and later seven wonderful grandchildren (I was the first — so naturally I like to think I set the standard). She was born with vision in only one eye, which makes her artistic talent even more remarkable. Life was not always easy for her, but she was one of the most positive people I’ve ever known. I miss her light. I still feel her presence from time to time — often she comes to me in the form of a dragonfly.
She primarily painted in oils and had a style very different from my own, but I learned so much from her over the years. Even now, when I look at the layered mountain ranges here in Arizona, I think about a lesson she taught me as a child: distant elements in a landscape are lighter, not darker.
Many of the images in this gallery are scans of older photographs, so the quality varies. A few pieces come from my personal collection and my father’s. The two little Victorian girls featured are my sister and me when we were young.
The farmhouse in the old window frame has a special story. A few years ago, a man contacted me on Facebook after discovering the painting at a garage sale in eastern Pennsylvania. He loved the piece and was trying to learn to paint similar subjects. While searching for the artist, he found me because we share a similar name. I explained that I was her granddaughter and that she had passed, but I was able to tell him a little about her. I don’t know how the painting traveled across the state, but it was wonderful to know it found a new home with someone who appreciated and was inspired by her work long after she was gone. I don’t remember her painting that piece myself, but my uncle recalls watching her work on it when he was in college in the 1980s.
