Pieces of Donna

It seemed more like an excavation as we sifted and dug through old, discarded and forgotten things from Donna’s past. Items like old hats and boots, figurines from her travels, books, family photos, puppets, and other collected objects of interest were piled throughout the old farmhouse up on Hatcher Hill in Baconton, Ga. Donna’s Nephews (Douglas and Will), her father, Douglas, my husband, Tracy, me, and her good friend Rhonda, weathered the hot, humid heat and cobwebs while gasping in excitement and fondness upon finding, what I like to call, pieces of Donna. One by one, stunning, jaw dropping works of art, wrapped up in yellowed newspaper, were pulled out of twenty year old cardboard boxes. Each soulful creation we would uncover revealed intriguing stages of the eccentric, fascinating, and enigmatic life of Donna May Hatcher. Occasionally, her nephews voiced memories shared with Donna and chuckled as they stumbled upon paintings, that as children, were strange, and unusual. “Visiting Aunt Donna was exciting, stated Will and Douglas, and spending time in the old house when we were small on Hatcher Hill seemed like a funhouse filled with oddities and mysterious art.” “I can’t believe the amount of artwork Aunt Donna had created over the years, stated Will, it’s going to take a while to find all of her artwork.” “Yeah, we are going to have to search several of her art hide outs…. we may never find all of her art,” stated Douglas.