Out of the Fog and Into the Light

About the Book

Hello…I am Shirley (Anderson, Stanley) Hansen born in 1924 in Chicago; grew up in a small town of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin…30 miles from Milwaukee. I had one brother, Alan. I was always a happy girl, but sometimes headstrong. I attended Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin. On the spur of the moment I joined the Coast Guard Spars and spent 14 months, half in training in Brooklyn, and the other half in Seattle, WA. It was a wonderful experience and the fi rst time living away from my parents. Afterwards attending the Univ. of Wis. I studied art and wanted to become an art teacher, but romance intervened, end of college, and a new phase of my life, and within two and a half years a mother of two daughters born two years apart. I often painted in watercolor, took lessons from various teachers and occasionally sold paintings at art fairs and to people I knew. We lived variously in California, Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan. We were in Chicago, my husband died in 1989. I was working at Alexian Bros. Hospital in Elk Grove. This was a somewhat depressing time for me during which my husband had become an alcoholic, He was never abusive, never in trouble with his boss, or the law. I turned to writing poetry which seemed to sooth some of my distress. With painting, some art shows and competitions, sewing, and other hobbies I came through that period with the help of Al-Anon. I continued to paint watercolors and took classes twice from Tony Couch, and other well known artist-teachers. Later I met Stan Hansen and my life took another turn. We now live in Michigan and Florida and have a quietly serene life. I have fi ve grandchildren and four greatgrandchildren. I still paint and write and enjoy my life at 85.

About the Author

Shirley Hansen is author of “Out Of the Fog and into the Light”. She was born in 1924 in Chicago, grew up in Oconomowoc, WI. She now lives summers, in Ludington, MI. and with her husband, Stanley, spends winters in Naples, FL. Her watercolor paintings are of local landscapes and of places she has travelled, in U.S., Canada and overseas or her garden flowers. A few buildings she painted are no longer in existence, such as the Zephyr Gas Station, and the Painted Pony Gift Shop. At age 12, Hansen drew and painted paper dolls, and designed their clothes. In high school and at Carroll College, Waukesha, WI. Art classes were limited. In 1945 Hansen joined the Coast Guard SPARS, trained in Brooklyn and then sent to Seattle. Later attending the Univ. of Wis. she had an extensive art education. Painting was put on hold to become a wife and mother. She took art classes, and loved to paint. Watercolor is her medium. She had several art shows, one at the Ludington Library, one at the Everglades Museum in Florida and most recently, at the newly named, Carroll University in 2009. She paints in a colorful, impressionistic, but realistic style. . Tony Couch is her favorite artist; twice she took week long painting classes from him, and took lessons from other teaching artists. Shirley has two daughters, the grandmother of five and great grandmother of four. Her hobbies are sewing, playing the organ, bridge and dancing, a busy life for an 85 year old lady. Poetry writing became a therapeutic pastime in 1998–1989 before her first husband died in 1999. She said that Al-Anon was a definite help to her over the years and credits that group with helping her through the sad time. Shirley writes poetry ranging from humorous, inspirational, to sometimes sad. Some is based on her experiences and places she has lived or visited, along with an imaginative twist about life, and often her poems are about people’s foibles, and character traits.