Recently I found some papers that my mother put aside. There were clippings from the news paper about my dad and his Art Gallery, Auslew. So I decided that I needed to write about my dad, Donald Sykes Lewis Sr. It is easier to write about something or someone who you are not attached to. How do you get a handle on writing about someone who means so much to you.
Dad was tall with green eyes and wavy dark hair. He was very handsome and mother and dad made a beautiful couple. Dad originally was in the army, he worked as a mechanic until after being tested he was transferred to intelligence service working in the states during WWII to test the security of the military bases on the east coast. After the war he had his own business machine business in association with his father, Walter Judd Lewis. Dad had attended Carnegie Tech when he lived in Pittsburgh PA although he never graduated. He always wanted to be an artist and he loved art. I remember that both Dad and Mother took portrait painting lessons when I was a small child. They had a studio in the attic of my grandparents home.
Dad's love of art led him to buy up paintings from antique shops and store these in the same attic. I remember sitting around the dining table and my grandmother worrying about how many paintings were up there in the attic. That is when the discussion of opening an art gallery began. They said that they did not know if an art gallery would make it in Norfolk, VA. Richmond was able to support a gallery, but Norfolk?
Dad nevertheless decided to give it a try. I was in 3rd grade,when Dad opened Auslew Gallery with a friend combining their two names Austin and Lewis. Earl Austin barely lasted a year in the business, but gave us the awesome name, Auslew. That summer mother my brother, Don jr., and myself sat at the Gallery while Dad managed to run two businesses. It was not long before it was evident that the Gallery would succeed. He found a better location still on Colley, but closer to where we lived in Ghent.
The portrait painter, Ted Tevis, set up his studio in the Gallery. Dad proved himself to be a very good business man. He cleaned and framed the paintings which he had found. He also did framing for customers and eventually did restoration as well. He also found time to start painting.
One weekend he brought home paints and primed boards and had the family all paint. He actually had put in the background and we all found something using photos from the National Geographic to paint by. I remembered doing a Greek fishing boat on sand. I forget what mother and my brother painted,but we had fun painting together and learning from Dad.
Dad took seriously the idea of teaching us. He passed on a lot of wisdom concerning life. He wanted always to make sure that his family was well taken care of. Knowing that he could not always be there for us he imparted as much of his wise ways as possible. I remember being newly married and having Dad call me to reinforce ideas on handling finances and other important issues in life. How I have missed not being able to ask his advice.
Some how even after he has gone I have felt that he was taking care of us. He had purchased 15 North Main Street building, before his death thinking that this would give me a way of making a living. Some how he managed even after his death to have each of my sons get their feet on the ground a succeed. Family was what he was all about.
Back to Dad's paintings, he experimented with various styles trying different techniques and styles. He was a modernist at heart. He came up with a style that he called clutage. This was a combination of metal and paints. He used found scrap metal pieces from the printing of photos from the local paper. He would nail these to boards combining metal nails and paints to form interesting modern art pieces. He even had a show in New York City. During the show Leo Costello saw his work and wanted to handle his work. This was the same man who managed Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns and Jackson Pollack. He wanted Dad to do larger pieces. Because of the weight of the boards and metal combined, Dad thought that they would be too heavy, also he said that he had a family to take care of. Dad took his responsibilities seriously.
Mother and Dads love was truly a romantic love story. Dad's cousin Margaret Old was making her debut. Her mother was a friend of my grandmother Porter. She decided that Beverly Porter would be a good date for Donald. I think that Margaret and Dad were cousins. Dad's name was on the back of Mother's invitation and hers on the back of his. All it took was that one date and they fell head over heels in love. This was a love that continued their whole life.
I certainly was so lucky to have had such a loving, caring, and talented man for my Father.
