Senior Connections Senior Connections Feb 2019 | Page 11

A creative mother
When Eva met her future husband and
decided to get married, Hull was a little
disappointed, because it meant that art
would no longer be Eva’s focus.
“Basically, it was a choice between be-
ing an artist and being a mother,” Mike
said.
Life was different for Eva once she had
a husband and two children, but she still
created art any chance she got. She did
several portraits during this season, in-
cluding one of Mike as a young boy.
“She also took a job as a designer at
a Christmas ornament company,” Mike
said, explaining that Eva started as a la-
borer, but when managers found out about
her art, she was promoted to product de-
sign.
Eva’s husband, M. Dudley, was a sales-
man, and the family moved many times
due to his job. One of their later homes
was in the Wisconsin Dells area, where
Biblical Gardens took shape.
M. Dudley got the idea for Biblical Gar-
dens from the owner of a restaurant he of-
ten visited. The owner mentioned that the
property was for sale, and that it would be
an ideal spot for something like that.
The statues Eva Newsom created for Biblical Gardens were situated amidst trees and natural landscaping. This scene
shows the crucifi xion of Jesus Christ.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
100 years young
This spring, Eva will be celebrating her
101st birthday.
Although she is legally blind, the desire
to create has never left. Evidence of this is
the annual pumpkin-decorating contest at
Eva’s assisted living home.
For the past seven years, Eva has not
only entered, but won.
“Every year she says, ‘oh, I’m not going
to do that again,’ but then when it comes
time, she gets an idea and has to do it,”
Mike commented.
Eva’s prints
Mike Newsom and his
daughter, Caroline Wigmore,
along with the rest of their
extended family, have started
a kickstarter campaign to help
raise the funds to create prints
of Eva Newsom’s artwork.
For more information, visit
kickstarter.com and search for
“Eva Newsom.”
Eva Newsom drew this portrait of a young girl who fell asleep while
posing. The original portrait is on the front side of the paper, and this
sleeping one is on the back side.
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Senior
Eva Newsom created this portrait of her son, Mike, many
years ago.
Connections February 2019
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