WELLSVILLE — Two previously unknown paintings by Elizabeth Layton are on display in the Tortoise Gallery of Fine Art in Paola. The Miami County Republic reports an employee at a Wellsville nursing home, Kelly Forbes-Jones, was surprised to find two paintings that appeared to be by Grandma Layton stored behind a breakroom refrigerator at the nursing home. The nursing home changed owners and the new owners ordered many items to be discarded. Forbes-Jones told the paper that when she asked about them, she was told to take them or they would be put in the trash. She kept the paintings for five years before deciding to put them on display in Paola. She says members of the Layton family had no idea that the paintings existed until she contacted them. One of the works, which has a glass vase with sunny yellow flowers, may be from a book that Layton illustrated. The other is a self-portrait of Layton looking over a tablescape with a bouquet of flowers, a white cat and a bright red bird.
Updated 5/6/13 @ 11:18 pm
