Club Clips: June 13, 2019 Edition

Packard magazine lets member show off her artistic side

Maybe you have a knack for finding nice, old cars. Maybe your skill is to restore them. Maybe you have other gifts, too, such as an artistic bent. If you do, you may appreciate Annie Bonham of the Wisconsin Packard Club, a region of Packard Automobile Classics, Inc. Her ability surfaced in the Spring 2019 edition of Cormorant Flier, W5867 Lake Drive, Shawano, WI, 54166 (www.facebook.com/WisconsinPackardClub).

Annie and Jack, her husband, have been mainstays in the club. Even so, some members may not fully know Annie’s artistic bent. The cover of the Spring 2019 issue showed Jack and friend Dave Platten gazing on the 1941 Packard 120 convertible owned by the Bonhams. “It is my husband who has the passion for antique automobiles. I have a passion for creating art and design in any form,” said Annie, which brought her to the subject of their Packard.

For a decade, Annie has been mastering the fine touch of watercolor painting. If you are out of touch with the use of watercolors, think to your youth when a drop of clear water on top of your watercolor painting made the color do funny things. Watercolor painting, taken to its heights, is a mode that takes care and patience.

Several more Packard-inspired paintings are shown in the issue. So, what does all this mean? Find your strength. Build on it. Annie found that watercolor was her medium and she has advanced her ability. She dovetailed it with the appreciation of fine old cars. In effect, she blended the best of two enjoyable endeavors.

Annie took this a step ahead when, at a club fall picnic, she presented one of her renditions of a 1950 Packard to Jean Judd after she joined the ranks of Packardites. “I’ve painted all of our collector cars and even my yellow Smart car, plus commissioned and gifted paintings of antique cars.”

We all have more than one strength. What about you? Some hobbyists engage in painting, as Annie. Others indulge in photography. Still others enjoy researching the history of a car, a company, or local dealerships. Variations of collecting can be developed alongside the appreciation of old cars. Perhaps you know of individuals who collect old ads of cars, past literature, car books, hood mascots, dealership trinkets... the list can run long!

Share your special ability with your club editor. It may turn into an article, to the joy of others.