This inlay of a clipper ship is one picture, and perhaps the only picture, that Mother made. Mom's name "Minnie Blood" is burned in the lower right corner, and Dad labeled the back as "Russell M. Blood, Western Woodcraft, Ralston Wyoming." This labeling means the picture was completed between the years 1941 and 1944. The clipper ship hung on my bedroom wall all the way through high school and when I left home in January 1950, I just assumed this picture was mine and took it with me. That was a regrettable oversight, as Dad and Mom searched for years to find it. Once I told them that I had it, Mom very kindly just said that as long as she knew I had it and had taken good care of it, that was fine with her.
The marquetry in this picture is flawless as, of course, Mother never accepted any job that was less than perfect. It holds a special place in my life because I have had it for nearly 65 years and because it was such a priceless gift from my mother. It has hung in my bedroom, wherever I lived around the United States, for all of these years. I have seen it every day, a reminder of days gone by and of the hours that went into the completion of this inlaid picture.
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