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This painting was started by the late Drew Reese and finished by Yvonne Dunn. Reese’s daughter, Debbie Potts, found Mrs. Dunn through a friendship with her son, Rodney Dunn. Courtesy photo

The bottom of the painting has two signatures.

One belongs to the late Drew Reese and the other to Yvonne Dunn.

The two never met, but now they share a connection that will bind them for years.

“My dad in his final years had Alzheimer’s and this was his last painting,” said Reese’s daughter, Debbie Potts. “It was very apparent to us that he pretty much forgot how to paint.”

The painting sat for more than five years with only the top half completed - a blue sky and a field of trees.

One day Mrs. Pott’s mother, Gertrude Reese, saw a painting by Mrs. Dunn at her daughter’s house.

“She was visiting, and I have one of Yvonne’s original paintings and mom passed by and said, ‘Do you think there would be anyway she would do this?’” Mrs. Potts said.

Mrs. Potts is a member of a supper club with Mrs. Dunn’s son, Rodney Dunn, and she presented him with the idea of having the painting finished.

Mrs. Dunn had not painted in more than four years and was overcome by the offer to complete the painting.

“It’s just such a sweet story,” Mrs. Dunn said. “I couldn’t believe they would honor me by asking me to do it.”

After receiving the canvas, Mrs. Dunn took time in deciding how to complete it.

“I studied it for about two weeks,” Mrs. Dunn said. “I kept it where I could look at it during the day. I knew that the two paintings somehow had to come together.”

Mrs. Dunn confessed that during the project, her task seemed overwhelming.

“There were times when that canvas grew,” she said looking at the painting. “I would get to a certain point and look and there would be much more to cover. I would think, ‘Oh, I don’t know if I can finish this.’ But then I got through it and I was so happy.”

The rocky road in the middle was almost a wandering creek, but changed because the painting already contained “plenty of blue,” Mrs. Dunn said.

Now, she hopes the road will invite people onto the canvas.

“My focal point is the end of the road,” she said. “I hope people look at the road, go down the bend and on into the painting.”

The finished product was unveiled during the March meeting of the supper club.

“It just exceeded every expectation we had,” Mrs. Potts said. “The whole unveiling process was like Christmas morning and you have more gifts than you ever believed you could get.”

Dunn showed the top half of the painting first, followed by his mother’s half.

“So I had half an unveiling,” Mrs. Dunn said with a laugh.

Mrs. Pott’s father was 82-years-old when he stopped work on the painting and Mrs. Dunn completed it after turning 82. She sees the finished painting as a fitting end to her career.

“I’m still a dreamer,” Mrs. Dunn said. “But I really intend for this to be my swan song. It’s possible I might paint some small little paintings, but my brushes are getting dry.”

Mrs. Reese is just grateful that Mrs. Dunn decided to wet her brushes one more time and complete the painting.

“We were delighted that she finished it,” Mrs. Reese said. “It was awesome to see it completed and I couldn’t believe their styles blended so well.”

--rrenfrow@temple-telegram.com