Exhibit Ends

Today is the last day of my solo exhibit at the Southeastern Quilt & Textile Museum.  It has been a wonderful experience for me.  I've met some great people, made some new friends, and especially enjoyed working with Beverly Hammack, Norma West, April Carlson, and Jennifer.  I so appreciate the opportunity to hang all my work in one space and have people actually come to see it.

It's going to be a bit of a bummer to have to take it all down, roll it up, and bring it home.  But, let's face it, each piece is like one of my children, so I guess it's time they all came home.

September will be hectic.  I'll have one piece in the competition at the GA Quilt Show and another will be part of the SAQA Regional Exhibit there Sept 19-21.  Then, I have to deliver several pieces to the GA Nat'l Fair in Perry, which opens in October.  I'm doing a Trunk Show for the East Cobb Guild on the 27th.  And squeezed into September is also a 5-day class at the John C. Campbell Folk School in NC.

 I'm taking a drawing class and I hope to break down that wall that keeps telling me I can't draw.  There must be some secret or trick I can learn that will give me the courage to put pencil to paper and produce marks that resemble something.  Surely there's hope--it can't really be something that you're either born with or not, like blue eyes or being double-jointed.  I'm like a kid with all my supplies ready and waiting for the first day of school.  Wish me luck!

I finished a new piece recently and thought I'd share it here.  I call it "End of Day" and it's based on several photos I took of a beautiful sunset here in the country many years ago.  The sky changed color almost minute by minute as we hurried from place to place, trying to get the best shot.  It was all over in such a short time and I don't think I've ever seen another one nearly as spectacular. 

More Pasaquan

My previous blog wouldn't hold all the photos I wanted to share, so read it first, then look at the pics.

This was one of my favorite paintings.

 Notice the blue eyes--they're roofing nails.  This was a life size figure.

 This looks Native American to me--a shield?

The corner of a building.  This place is awesome!  Hope you can see it for yourself someday.

Pasaquan--WOW!

Today, my husband and I visited Pasaquan.  If you've never heard of it, you should check out the website www.pasaquan.com.  It's near Buena Vista, GA--a little over an hour from our house.  We've been talking about visiting for several years and finally, today was the day. 

I'm not a big folk art fanatic, but this place is unbelievable.  Eddie Owen Martin was born and grew up in this very rural area, but left in his teens for New York City.  He returned when he was in his mid forties, having had a vision that instructed him to return to Georgia.  I don't want to say any more about him--don't want to screw up the facts--but he was definitely a unique individual with a drive to create that led him to lay hands on every available surface and enhance it in some way.  I should also add that he was a self-taught artist.

His sense of color was phenomenal.  A lot of his work is outdoors and hasn't been treated kindly by the elements.  It's when you see the work on the walls inside that you can get a better sense of what those outside surfaces must have been at one time. 

He seems to have been influenced by many cultures--African, Native American, Mexican--and many religions.  I saw things that seemed Budhist, Hindu, Christian, Muslim and Native American.  There are numerous images that recur again and again.  Circles are everywhere and many things made me think of space and the planets.  There are many wonderful quilting motifs and paintings that look like quilts hanging on the walls.

To say that I was impressed would be a major understatement.  I took about 150 photographs and could have taken lots more.  We were struck by how the same section of wall or building looked totally different when you viewed it from another angle.  Sooo--I'm posting a few of my photos--enjoy.

 These circles with different designs lined the walkway to the front door of the main house.

 This huge painting covered an entire wall inside--it's a quilt, right?

 Notice the metal work and carved wood around the inside of the window frame and the view outside.

 Don't know what this building was used for, but it had a Japanese temple feel to me.

 Lots and lots of faces--this one carved into the concrete. 

 One wall in the kitchen area. 

 This area had a Budha-looking statue inside on a bench.  Notice the metal work at top.

 Circles, circles, circles--not sure what this building was about.

 Believe it or not, this structure hides a large propane tank.

 Another angle of the propane shed.

 A view from the side and back of the main house.

 Note the feather earring on the statue at left--American Indian influence?

 Loved the design on this upright section.

 Is this a Seminole patchwork quilt?  Check out the metal work on top of the wall.

 A metal clad door.