Edward “Mr. Eddy” Mumma was a “hobo” for part of his youth; later he farmed and was a junk dealer. After his wife died, and with his daughter’s encouragement, he enrolled in a painting class. The instructor criticized his work for being sloppy, so Mumma never returned. He was unemployed due to alcoholism and ill health; diabetes would necessitate the amputation of both his legs. He tried to paint a picture a day, the “same” face with hands-on-chest, in many variations, while confined to his home. The images were zealously realized, and sometimes painted on both sides of the boards. With bold lines and painterly brush strokes, his freewheeling use of color made each one a distinct portrait. “A magician in color,” Mumma’s friend, the artist Lennie Kesl, said about him.