For many years, Jim and Carol Ballard were the owners of the Sybil therapy art and other pieces by Shirley. Jim ran a framing shop in Lexington in 1998, and was at Shirley’s estate auction when a group of her paintings came up for sale. There were nearly a hundred works of art; some produced by Shirley’s pre-integration personalities. They had been hidden in the basement of Shirley’s home behind a stack of National Geographic Magazines. In Jim’s words…
"This art came up for bid, and there were I guess over a hundred people out there. About four or five of us bid on it, and I ended up buying it sight unseen. Come to find out, after I started looking, I found one picture in the collection that was in the book Sybil by Flora Schreiber. It had tape over the name and tape on the back, so I put some water on it and peeled it off, and it had her name, Shirley Mason, and on the back it said Aquatic Forms #1. They got the wrong name in the book."
Jim and Carol lovingly tended to Shirley’s art, referring to it as the Hidden Paintings. It was exhibited at many venues including the Headley-Whitney Museum in Lexington and the Fresh A.I.R Gallery in Columbus, Ohio. The collection included selections featured in the 1973 Sybil book and in the 2007 TV Sybil remake starring Tammy Blanchard as Sybil. The art spanned the period from before the integrations of Shirley’s sixteen personalities on up through her later paintings in the 1970s. Although done physically by one person, the art displays distinct styles in a wide variety of media. The inner turmoil of the artist is easily discernible. The pieces range from three year old Ruthie’s crayon and chalk to sophisticated oil paintings, charcoals, colored pencil drawings, and watercolors. They run the gamut from impressionistic to realism and abstract. After buying the artwork, Jim became something of an expert on Shirley’s life. He hoped that his showing of her work would raise awareness of the plight of those who are living with dissociative identity disorder. As he put it…
"I say this from a layman's perspective because I have no medical training whatsoever, but I want the people I've met who've put her down as crazy and as something that's odd in this world to know that dissociative identity disorder is a problem that people have just like any other problem. There is nothing bad associated with it; it is a God-given way to cope with extreme trauma. She was a wonderful, caring person. Everyone that knew her loved her. This was something that she did in order to dissociate herself from a trauma that I cannot even imagine a child going through."
Carol and Jim relocated to Indiana and reluctantly decided to let the collection go. It was sold in an online auction in December, 2015. Jim's desire to keep the collection together did not happen, but he hoped that each piece of art found a good home where it would be loved and treasured. As Jim explained...
“I’m 83,” he said. " I’d like to see the art sold as a whole collection to a mental health organization or hospital. It would be nice to keep it together, but if that’s impossible, then I will sell individual pieces. It’s just too much work for me to maintain and transport to exhibits now.”
Sadly, Jim passed away March 6, 2016. He and his wife Carol were dear friends. He was a true Kentucky gentleman who never met a stranger. He bought a batch of Shirley's art not having a clue who she was and evolved into one of her biggest supporters and fans. I met him in 2004 and he encouraged me to pursue my book about her. I miss our chats on the phone. I miss the gracious hospitality of his wife and him when we managed to get together. Right now I can picture Shirley and Jim catching up; with her answering his many questions about her life and art. Rest in peace, Jim. Say hello to Shirley for me till we meet again.
Visit thehiddenpaintings.com to see more of Shirley’s art and the availability of high quality
prints.
http://www.hiddenpaintings.com/
"This art came up for bid, and there were I guess over a hundred people out there. About four or five of us bid on it, and I ended up buying it sight unseen. Come to find out, after I started looking, I found one picture in the collection that was in the book Sybil by Flora Schreiber. It had tape over the name and tape on the back, so I put some water on it and peeled it off, and it had her name, Shirley Mason, and on the back it said Aquatic Forms #1. They got the wrong name in the book."
Jim and Carol lovingly tended to Shirley’s art, referring to it as the Hidden Paintings. It was exhibited at many venues including the Headley-Whitney Museum in Lexington and the Fresh A.I.R Gallery in Columbus, Ohio. The collection included selections featured in the 1973 Sybil book and in the 2007 TV Sybil remake starring Tammy Blanchard as Sybil. The art spanned the period from before the integrations of Shirley’s sixteen personalities on up through her later paintings in the 1970s. Although done physically by one person, the art displays distinct styles in a wide variety of media. The inner turmoil of the artist is easily discernible. The pieces range from three year old Ruthie’s crayon and chalk to sophisticated oil paintings, charcoals, colored pencil drawings, and watercolors. They run the gamut from impressionistic to realism and abstract. After buying the artwork, Jim became something of an expert on Shirley’s life. He hoped that his showing of her work would raise awareness of the plight of those who are living with dissociative identity disorder. As he put it…
"I say this from a layman's perspective because I have no medical training whatsoever, but I want the people I've met who've put her down as crazy and as something that's odd in this world to know that dissociative identity disorder is a problem that people have just like any other problem. There is nothing bad associated with it; it is a God-given way to cope with extreme trauma. She was a wonderful, caring person. Everyone that knew her loved her. This was something that she did in order to dissociate herself from a trauma that I cannot even imagine a child going through."
Carol and Jim relocated to Indiana and reluctantly decided to let the collection go. It was sold in an online auction in December, 2015. Jim's desire to keep the collection together did not happen, but he hoped that each piece of art found a good home where it would be loved and treasured. As Jim explained...
“I’m 83,” he said. " I’d like to see the art sold as a whole collection to a mental health organization or hospital. It would be nice to keep it together, but if that’s impossible, then I will sell individual pieces. It’s just too much work for me to maintain and transport to exhibits now.”
Sadly, Jim passed away March 6, 2016. He and his wife Carol were dear friends. He was a true Kentucky gentleman who never met a stranger. He bought a batch of Shirley's art not having a clue who she was and evolved into one of her biggest supporters and fans. I met him in 2004 and he encouraged me to pursue my book about her. I miss our chats on the phone. I miss the gracious hospitality of his wife and him when we managed to get together. Right now I can picture Shirley and Jim catching up; with her answering his many questions about her life and art. Rest in peace, Jim. Say hello to Shirley for me till we meet again.
Visit thehiddenpaintings.com to see more of Shirley’s art and the availability of high quality
prints.
http://www.hiddenpaintings.com/
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