Different Drummers: For Dennis Township woman, home is where -- and what ...
DENNIS TOWNSHIP — The house behind Dolores McAnulty was blanketed in pillowy white snow, with Christmas decorations on each window and door — which was odd, because it stood right next to the sweeping veranda of a Florida summer home.
But you knew something was up when McAnulty reached over, grabbed both of them off their foundations and held them out in front of her, like they were the merest wisps of wood. Which, of course, they were.
McAnulty, 74, runs a unique art business out of her Dennis Township home — by painting exact, detailed renditions of people’s homes on wood, many times based only on photographs.
It all started very simply, she said. McAnulty’s husband Frank, 71, worked in real estate for several years, so he asked if she could paint anything house-related as closing gifts.
“At that point, I was doing country and floral crafts at craft show,” she said. “So I thought, ‘Well, I’ll start painting (houses) as a gift to family members.’ And before I gave them as a gift, I’d take them to the shows and display them with the country crafts. But no one wanted county crafts! They’d come to my table and say, ‘Paint my house!’”