Mrs. Mount's studio was on the third floor of a mansion in Jersey City. Sometimes I was late due to transportation problems but the door was always unlocked. Her cat, Ne-touch, was the greeter, a friendly unneutered big boy who often marked his territory on the drapes.
I dashed between rows of Samurai warrior mannequins in full armor and climbed two long flights. The rooms on the way up were filled with Asian, Native American and African Art collections as well as one with Tiffany lamps. It really was a museum and inspired fanciful painting as well as my vivid nightly dream themes.
Mrs. Mount encouraged me to do imaginative work and still life as well as an occasional self portrait. I was ten when I painted me with a hat and one with a kitten in early teen, the pony-tail years. Both are on 16 x 20 Grumbacher panels. I remember her studio space, several easels lined, each with its own stool.
I had a wooden paint box with dovetail corners and a slot inside the cover for my palette. There were separate compartments for paint tubes and brushes and it had a leather handle. I looked up 1950's paint boxes on eBay today and saw one just like mine in Vintage!