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Until To-Day I Thought I Was Folks

This was a painting that Miss Alice was so fond of that she would not sell it, even when a Memphis cotton man offered her $10,000 for it.

According to Tim Moseley, Alice’s son:

The bird dog featured in the painting is Joe, a pointer, my dad’s last bird dog. As my mom told the story, Joe quit eating and drinking not long after my dad died, and she was forced to have him put to sleep. She said that she worked through her grief by crying the whole time she was painting this picture. She said it felt like painting was her way of saying a tearful farewell to both by dad and Joe. In the painting, Joe is very surprised to get to heaven, only to find out that there is one heaven for pets and another heaven for folks. Joe reportedly was both dismayed and angry at being sent to pet heaven, as he had always been treated as kinfolks in the W. J. Moseley family. The original is hanging in the Museum and has a very special place in our hearts, and expresses a truth for those of us for whom dogs are one of God’s very special gifts.