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Early Days With Daisy: The Seasons Past

by Harold V. Biellier; Illustrated by Daisy Cook

14 pages; Saddle stitched; Illustrated children's book; catalogue #06-1667; ISBN 1-4120-9910-2; US$8.70, C$10.01, EUR7.15, £5.00

The paintings by Daisy Cook document activities of family and farm life in southwest Missouri at the turn of the century. Daisy painted subjects entirely from memories of her childhood.

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About the Book

About the Author

Excerpts

About the Book

Daisy Sifferman Cook was born in 1902 and grew up in a rural farming area in Green County, Missouri. As the oldest of eight children, she was a major contributor to the farming operations and daily family life responsibilities. Daisy was her father's helper for almost sixteen years until her eldest brother was old enough to help. Her early experiences were similar to those of the frontier farm families whose way of life changed slowly over time.

Daisy's interest in painting began during her retirement years following her career as a teacher of English and mathematics in the Branson area. She began painting as a pastime when one of her daughters brought home some leftover paints after taking an art class in college. Having only four lessons from a teacher of art in 1962, she tired of painting still life and formal scenes. Daisy discovered that her grandchildren knew nothing about the early experiences and social forces that shaped her early life, so she painted some scenes from memory to document them. When she showed her teacher a painting that she had done at home, her teacher recognized Daisy's unique ability and turned her loose to work in her own manner.

Daisy began painting at age 61 and continued creating her historic artwork for some twelve of the last 15 years of her life. In spite of the development of Parkinson's disease, she produced over 300 incredible scenes of rural everyday life experiences. Daisy's subject matter for her paintings was that which she knew best; farm life at the turn of the century that greatly changed in her lifetime. Her paintings are lean; showing only the people, objects and setting necessary in performing the tasks represented in her work. She also painted everyday scenes depicting family, school, church and community events that shaped our heritage from birth to grave.

The first book in this series, Early Days With Daisy: Rural Beginnings is also available from Trafford Publishing.

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About the Author

Harold V. Biellier was born January 22, 1921 and grew up on a family farm near Republic in southwestern Missouri. His mother, Bonnie Sifferman, was a first cousin of Daisy Sifferman Cook and the Sifferman families enjoyed many family gatherings during his childhood. Annual holidays, birthdays and other family occasions were also accompanied by times of sharing the varied seasonal farming tasks.

Harold graduated from Republic High School and enrolled in the College of Agriculture, University of Missouri, at Columbia and received a BS in 1943. After completing Officer's Candidate School he served five years in the US Army Field Artillery; retiring as a Captain. He returned to the university and completed his Ph D in Physiology in 1955. He was hired by the Department of Poultry Science to teach and conduct research in avian physiology at the University of Missouri and retired in 1986 as an Emeritus Professor.

The lack of material to draw the attention of his grandchildren to Dr. Biellier's storied memories of days past, led him to Crowder College in Neosho, Missouri, where an elaborate collection of Daisy Cook's paintings have been secured. He realized that many other grandparents and seniors of all ages have experienced or witnessed these early life scenes and would welcome Daisy's paintings as an educational tool for recalling our amazing rural heritage.

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Excerpts

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