Just in time for Mother’s Day I wanted to add a few of my favorite images by Jessie Wilcox Smith, whose artistic work was vibrant during the Golden Age of Illustration. Jessie Wilcox Smith’s Illustrations graced the cover of over 100 Good Housekeeping Magazine covers during the years she was actively painting. She was often compared to Mary Cassatt for her romantic depictions of the mother and child relationship, as well as, the exuberance and innocence of childhood. She was also inspired by the impressionists and to me, her beautiful handling of light mirrors many of the great impressionist painters who took to the outdoors to work in “Plein Air”. I found this article to be interesting if you would like to read more about her. Jessie Wilcox Smith

I have included 6 of my favorite illustrations in the gallery below. For me they are beautiful and resonate as a daughter and as a mother. I am using these to make Mother’s Day greetings cards for the women and children who are coming over to Mother’s Day Tea. They are in the Public Domain and as such please feel free to use them for your own decorative and craft pursuits. These can be printed at home or at the print shop to become beautiful wall art. You could print and frame any of these to give as a gift to a special person in your life for Mother’s Day, or any for any reason really. You can print these out on a smaller scale and they would make lovely cards as well. In my previous posts I have made some recommendations for the kinds of paper I have used in the past for home printing of art and cards. Any kind of art print paper will work, and for the cards, I have enjoyed trying everything from card stock, to watercolor paper.

As you click on an image below it will come up in a full screen view. You can right click the images you would like to print and choose “Save As” from the drop down menu. Once you have saved them to your computer you can select the printing specifications you would like.

I hope you enjoy these Jessie Wilcox Smith gems as much as I do! Happy Mother’s Day!