Local museum showcasing work of ‘Grandma Moses of eastern Ohio’

BELMONT COUNTY, Ohio (WTRF) — They call her the Grandma Moses of eastern Ohio.

Estella Armstrong Perkins was a gifted artist who didn’t start painting until she was elderly.

Now, 19 of her hundreds of paintings are on exhibit at the Belmont County Victorian Mansion Museum in Barnesville.

Perkins was born in Armstrong Mills in Belmont County and remained there throughout their life.

She’d never been to Holland, but she skillfully painted windmills, saying she based her work on pictures in Life magazine.

So Estella Armstrong Perkins was born in 1870 and passed in 1962. And as she kind of got up in age, she needed a way to support herself a little bit so she learned to paint. Her eyesight was getting bad by the time she was painting, so it makes it even more impressive the beauty of these paintings that she was able to do with limited eyesight.”

Brock Rogers, Museum board member

Perkins was the great-granddaughter of Thomas Armstrong, who founded the town of Armstrong Mills.

She died at age 91 and is buried there.

The exhibit is on display at the museum through the end of June.

It’s open from 1 to 4 p.m., Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

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