Hi Mauri.

I am sure you would have known DIXIE MUNN.

The reason i am writing this is to find out some HISTORY on Dixie .

Sister Jean Doherty has sold her home and is moving into a Retirement Home which is much smaller than her home. Hence she had to get rid of a lot of stuff.

So last weekend i held a [GARAGE SALE ]at her home for her. Among the many treasured items were .
2 Paintings of the ANTRIM Coast area,painted by,
Dixie Munn.
Needless to say i did not try to sell these,As i am keeping 1 and 1 is going to Australia.

I recall seeing Dixie around Uncle Isaac Collins shop many times,but did not know his history.
If you Mauri or anyone else on the FORUM knows his history i would love to hear it.
I recall being told that he painted by holding the paint brush in his mouth.

Lord Downshire.

Or, As ANN calls me the EEJIT !!!!!

John
Dixi was very frequent customer in the Grocery shop, nearly every day. I delivered grocery's to his house, which was a whitewashed thatched cottage, many times which was on the Causeway end road, now all knocked down to make way for the houses and estates that are there now.
He was born with no arms his hands were connected to his shoulders and he held the paint brushes in his mouth, and as you know from the pictures Jean has, was a very component artist especially landscapes we also had a picture of the Mourn Mountains but I don't know where it went when my parents passed away. I believe his paintings are valuable now.

He was only one of the characters that were customers like Jimmy McCormick who called for his plug of tobacco every morning on his way to the Causeway end where he carried the drinking water from the pump to a lot of the houses there who had not got running water and he would do a little jig if asked he hated to be told he was late he nearly went mad Artie (Jean's husband) and Sidney Bryans used to keep him going.

Another was Kitty McConville who lived across the road from the shop in the old cottages, that were knocked down to build the banks etc that are there now, beside the McKees (Sparrow, Norman Etc) and Billy Lilley on one side and McMullens on the other. She worked in the mill and walked there every day in bare feet and wore an apron made from a sugar bag from the shop. There were many more too many to write about. Changed times
Will talk to you soon.

Hi,

I remember Dixie Munn from the late forties. I did not know him personally but had a close friend called Hugh Spense who took art lessons from him during this time and who became an excellent artist himself. The last time I spoke to Hugh he was giving art lessons in the Crumlin area. Dixie did mostly water colours as painting in oils was tiresome because of his disability. I am almost certain that Dixie used his little hands to paint, not his mouth.

May I suggest to your Lordship that you take some photographs of these Dixie Munn paintings and have them posted on the forum as I'm sure there are many viewers who would love to see them, I know I would.

Jimmy

i remember Dixie very well he lived on the Causewayend road and held a brush in his mouth

Dixie Munn was a household name in Lisburn. My da told me about him as soon as I could understand English. That is why I was so keen to know if, many years later, in the mid fifties, it was the same man with very short arms who helped me to pull Billy Lowery's body out of the Lagan. Whoever it was, he may have been featured in the local press. I 'disappeared' after the incident, though I DID go to the funeral, and Billy's dad bought me a drink.

JOHN, Just lost a reply I had typed so here we go again.

Jim has answered your query much better than I could.Yes I remember Dixie going up and down the Longstone and sometimes he would even stop and talk to us youngsters, but leaving Lisburn just after the war ended to go in the Navy I lost touch with most of Lisburn activities re people etc as I was only home very infrequently over the succeeding years.
I'm sure going into a retirement home is the best thing for Jean as looking after a house at advanced years can be very trying, even the past few days Joy and myself have been talking about the same thing or buying a small condo. This has been one of those weeks first of all my computer went on the blink then Joy's left leg gave up on her and she was in sever pain, managaged to get in and see her doctor who put her on paing killers and also scheduled physotherapy for her next week, in the meantime she is just hobbling around with a cane. You never know whats around the corner as my old Grandma used to say. Mauri

Thanks Mauri & also JIM.

Sorry to hesr of Joys ailment. I do know you will see to getting her the best treatment available. May she soon be AOK.

I have emailed 2 Pictures Of Dixies to Jim & i hope he cam display them on THE FORUM when he gets time.

I also know that another famous N.I. painter by the name of Hugh Spense took lessons from Dixie.
In the meantime i will hold on to the 2 Paintings.

Lord Downshire

Mauri,

Sorry to hear about Joy's illness & pain, we all have our moments of doubt about managing house & gardens, but sometimes if we keep going things work out,maybe slower than before but managable. I sincerly hope so in your case.

It is a big change moving house & getting to know new friends & being away from family, but you know your own business best Mauri, & will do the right thing I am sure.

Sometimes we get depressed with the advancing years & the slowing up of abilities, but in a week or two things begin to get better with time & we just have to adjust to our circumstances. Hope this is the case with yourself & Joy.

Love to you both, Pat

John,
(Much nicer than Lord Downshire)

Look forward to seeing those photos of the paintings, heard of Dixie Munn, but never saw any of his work.

Pat

Thanks Pat, Yes Joy's leg has improved but not quite back to normal yet,? she is hoping the physiotherapy she is starting on Monday will be a big help. We were able to get out last night for dinner with Joy's daughter and son in law which took her mind of it, we tried a recently opened restaurant which turned out to be very good both in food and reasonable prices. Mauri

Hi L.D.,

I also knew Dixie Munn, his brother Harry, who was a Lisburn councilor was our next door neighbour. My Mother had two of Dixie's paintings, one of White Park Bay and one of Belfast Castle which he painted especially for my Mother as she came from that part of Belfast. I would like to add that Dixie was very generous to my family when my Father was very ill.

Lord Downshire ("John is much nicer says she). I told you to watch yourself after buying her lunch. She's latched on now, you'll be forkin' out every time she's over in Canada.

"John is much nicer" - aye, right.

I was correct when I called you "an oul eejit".

Mauri, I hope by now that Joy's pains and aches will be much better.

When you're unwell, things tend to look bleak. Don't make any decisions until you are both fit and well again. Even then, think hard about your long-term plans. I find, personally, that if I wait for a while, things have a habit of working out. I hope this is so in your case.

Thanks Ann, Joy's leg has improved a little, she goes for physotherapy tomorrow which should help. Like yourself we do tend to take our time about making important decisions and the thought of clearing this house out etc really re-enforce's that. Mauri

dixie was the brother of my mother,s boss in the lagan factory in young st he had dixie paint her two paintings as a wedding present in 1936.
when mother died i brought the two painting back to canada had them reframed and they hang on my wall in vancouver.
i could not find out any information on dixie through the art people in belfast or dublin,i did hear threw my cousin in lisburn that his paintigs where quite valuable.
hugh spence my wife,s uncle had a lot of instructions from dixie.but have never seen any paintings of his.

Hi, countydowner

There is an article jn " THE ANTRIM TIMES "
Published Tuesday 8 March 2011.about Hugh Spence.

Appraisal & Exibit for the Antrim Art Club -Community.

[ JOHN ] Lord downshire

Ann.

Dont get your KNIKERS in a knot because Pat and i are now good friends.
You still come second.!!!!

JOHN

Lord Downshire, you obviously go for the older woman.

Ann,

Did you never hear the saying

"The older the fiddle the sweeter the tune."

Pat

Hi
John's Dixie Munn pictures are online at http://lisburn.com/oldphotographs/Photo_pages/dixie-munn.html

Jim

John & Jim,

Thanks for putting the Dixie Munn paintings on the Exiles pages. They are lovely scenes & so well executed by a true artist. Lisburn has produced some fine artistic people in all fields.

I had heard of Dixie Munn, but this is the first time I viewed any of his scenic paintings & they are worth the wait. I marvel at his skill.

I believe I said on the Forum some time back that Dixie painted one of Joe's father's prize winning pigeons, which his Dad gave to Mooney's pub in Lisburn.

I saw it in the house in Brookvale & it was a very detailed painting, every feather was distinct. It was a faint pink & grey colour, very beautiful. It looked like a real photograph. Perhaps it still hangs in Lavery's Bar.????

Pat

Jim thanks again for your trouble in posting the paintings on the FORUM.


I should have said that one painting is of WHITEPARK BAY.

The other is of " THE COVE " At BALLINTOY .

Both Co. Antrim Coast.

JOHN [ L.D. ]

My thanks to both John and Jim for posting the paintings of Dixie. I enhanced them slightly with photo shop and they certainly reminded me of the Antrim coast, one of my favourite haunts.
Jimmy

Jimmy.

I intend to have PRINTS of them made as they are very fragile after being hung on a wall in sunlight for over 60 years.

if prints come out better than my photos.I will try and post them.

John [LD ]

And thanks for the thumbs up on Facebook.

John,
I knew Dixie Munn when I was a boy growing up on the Causeway End Road in the 1940s. My mother bought quite a few paintings from him as wedding presents, and I distinctly remember the one of the cottages at Ballintoy. He may well have painted several of the same scene, but I would love to know the history of the one you have. Can you throw any light on where it might have been between 1948 or 9 and 2013.

Dennis

Good Day Dennis,

My Brother in Law The Late Arthur Doherty . Worked for my Uncle Isaac Collins before coming to Canada in 1952. He & my sister Jean bought the two paintings from Dixie at that time.

The 2 paintings hung in their home in Scarborough Ontario until Jean moved into a Retirement Home last year.

Hope this answers your question.

John

Many thanks for the information. I was up in Dixie's cottage a lot, and watched him painting. My mother thought I had some artistic talent and asked Dixie to give me lessons, but his less biased eye told him not to waste his time on me. He painted by gripping the tip of the brush between his teeth, and guiding it with one small hand - the brush between two fingers. I have kept an eye open for his painting over the past couple of decades, but they are rather rare. I have just one from Causeway End days. I particuarly remember an especially good one of Dunluce Castle - I wonder if anybody out there has come across it.

Dennis K

Dennis There was also one of Dixie's paintings hung in Felix Elmore's office and if my memory serves me right it was a harbour with a trawler in it, this was around 1951 or 2 but it was known as one of Dixie's

John,

I see my dad had posted images of your paintings here http://lisburn.com/oldphotographs/Photo_pages/dixie-munn.html - they look fantastic. I love that one of White Park Bay looking towards Portbradden, it's a very special place. (I just learnt that Portbradden is one word too!).

Darryl