Joseph Gulde in his backyard

Joseph Gulde (1896-1983) posed for this photograph around 1958. By this point in his life, his contracting business flourished, but his eyesight deteriorated. Large cataracts kept him from the job sites so he began to rely upon his sons and other workmen to run the business. Depressed by his situation, his daughter Barbara Gulde Schmall (1934-2004) encouraged him to take up art. He had always loved to draw so he started by painting by numbers, a craze that many Americans embraced during the 1950s and 60s. Eventually, he began to paint on his own scenes despite his failing vision. He would be quite prolific and dozens of his original paintings still exist. Many of those will eventually be featured on this blog. In this photo he stands next to Anna Ayres Gulde's (1901-1982) flower garden in the backyard of 330 East 6th Street in Rushville, Indiana. She loved daisies. He also never left the house without a hat.