ASHLAND – Josianne Stone says she can’t write.
She believes she can’t draw, even though she has collected 200 handmade drawings.
Each of her paintings has three letters in the corner of the frame, “GtG” for “Glory to God”. The motto Stone, 95, was accepted through her artwork and her writing.
It is what she believes that she empowers her to create art for the world to see.
Born in Belgium in 1927, Stone’s faith is captured in her new autobiography, “From War to Peace by HIS Grace: A Reflection of World War II and My Life by 2020.”
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This book reflects her childhood growing up in Belgium during World War II and how she led her to find a relationship with God, depicted in hand-painted stone illustrations and vignettes. doing.
Stone hosted a book launch and birthday party on Saturday in Meadows, hosted by her daughter and publishing partner Gigi Stone. Her family and friends in her Florida, Belgium, Ireland and Australia told Stone through her Zoom Happy Birthday.
This is Stone’s second-published book, alongside the self-published book “My Miracle … God’s Grace is Working.”
Stone works can be purchased online at GtGcreations.com.
What inspired Stone to write his second book?
She said with a laugh, Stone didn’t originally think she would be the author of the publication.
She began writing so that children and grandchildren could learn about the history of their family. She didn’t have the idea of publishing her work until Stone shared her second book with her daughter.
“She gave me this book of her memories in 2020,” Gigistone said. “I’ve decided … let’s see if we can publish it.”
Josianne Stone’s autobiography tells of her youth during the 1940s and the Nazi invasion of Belgium in World War II.
She said she was cross-examined by an SS (Schutzstaffel) officer for five to six hours, looking for food in a grocery store with bare shelves, and harassed on her way home on a bicycle.
Stone hopes that this book can encourage people to continue to have hope and to find hope.
“We live in such an era, so many people are so discouraged that there is good reason to do so,” she said. “If a few people can get encouragement from those few pages, it will really make me happy.”
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Stone’s artistry grew when she began taking art classes at the age of 78 at a community college in Long Island after she wanted to learn new skills, her daughter said.
“God has entered my life,” Stone said. “My life was full of miracles. I decided to write some of them in a booklet. I didn’t know the depth of my faith.”
It wasn’t meant to stay on the bookshelf. It needed to be published, she said.
“The moment I start painting, I don’t feel any pain.”
It’s hard to find a place on the wall of Stone’s house without her painting.
Scattered in her living room, bathroom, guest bedroom, and even in the closet, there are pictures of black-and-white lighthouses and colorful honeybees sipping honey from flowers.
“I love living things,” says Stone. “There weren’t many birds in New York.”
She said she was experiencing serious health problems when Stone began painting. “The moment I start painting, I don’t feel any pain.”
Stone traveled to New York on an American ship with his parents in 1949 after receiving sponsorship offers to live in the United States from John and Evelyn Olin of Alton, Illinois.
World War II is over and Stone has saved enough money to go to Paris to become a fashion designer. She said it was her dream to open her own dress shop.
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“I sewed for the first time with my grandmother when I was two,” Stone said.
After graduating from a fashion school in Paris, when she returned to Belgium to greet her parents, Stone’s mother had the message that she had upset her world.
“You wouldn’t believe this,” Stone’s mother said, showing a bouquet of roses. “Your dad and I have the opportunity to move to America, but we wouldn’t go without you.”
Stone loves his country, his family and his friends and writes in books. “I didn’t want to go anywhere, I certainly don’t want to go to America!”
But she was willing to enjoy life in New York City, but there was a gap. She had an unfillable future that she had imagined.
After living in Long Island with her husband Cliff and running a business called the Rock Christian Bookstore, Stone was able to fill the void by deepening his relationship with God on July 12, 1972.
In Stone’s eyes, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy covered the United States with a veil of darkness. Her children grew up and built their lives.
“Why am I here?” Stone wondered.
She believes that God was there for her.
Donations over 95 years old
Gigistone said Stone decided to move from Long Island to Ashland after he wanted to spend more time with his grandchildren.
Since then, Josian Stone has continued to write, draw and work with her daughter, sharing her art with friends and family.
Stone usually draws for 4-5 hours and reads the Bible on his iPad.
Stone still has a desire to continue making his own work and share it with the world.
“I want to be remembered as a person who loved God more than anything else,” Stone said with a smile. “”[Someone who] I loved my children and my family until the end. ”
Contact Grant at [email protected]
On twitter @ritchey_grant
