Month: November 2010

The big Slotin Folk Art auction begins tomorrow, but what I really want isn’t a face jug or painting.  It’s this.

Craig Black does some wonderful murals and paintings, with installations at Houmas House (a River Road plantation that’s open for tours) and other residences.  Behind Houmas House, there’s even a gallery of his work in the old gardener’s cottage.

But at his house in Gonzales, Louisiana, it’s not all pretty paintings of sugar cane and herons.

It’s this:

…concrete sculpted on the front of his home.

After the Saints won the Super Bowl, he turned it into the Whooo Dat House.

My favorite thing on Gonzales, was probably this sign outside Lamendola’s grocery store:

You’d have to be a wonderful character for your nickname to be “cock-a-doo”, right?  Love that.

On our way to New Orleans, we detoured a bit and made our way to Dr. Charles Smith’s art environment in Hammond, Louisiana.  I thought it would be especially appropriate to post this today as he is a Vietnam veteran, and so many of the figures are holding American flags.

In 2002, Dr. Smith moved to Hammond where he placed his statues and sculptures depicting and memorializing black Americans.  I can’t wait to get these pics printed and show them to my friend Joe Minter, who has the African Village in America environment in B’ham as they are obviously kindred spirits.

Last week, we went to the beautiful Alabama Theatre – well, actually the Hill Center next door for the Cooper Green Mercy Hospital Urban Arts Fundraiser.  Like so many hospitals, Cooper Green stays perpetually underfunded, but particularly so because they accept patients without regard to their ability to pay.    The Urban Arts fundraiser allows them to raise money for diagnostic equipment and other services.

This year, the featured artist was the potter Larry Allen (see those large pots on the center table, below?).  Around the display of his pottery were other artists who were painting pictures of their representations of it:

We were there to support the fundraiser as well as our friend, Joe Minter (who has the excellent African Village in America environment) who took Shug’s baby crib spring frame and made it into a piece that was part of the fundraiser’s live auction.

I was lucky enough to be able to support the fundraiser by adding a giant bowl by Tena Payne / Earthborn Pottery to my collection of her work through the silent auction.

I really-really liked this painting on the right of a wedding couple that was part of the live auction:

I am going to love telling Shug more when he gets older about how part of his baby crib was made into art by *Joe Minter* and how it went on to help Cooper Green!

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The Chattanooga Times Free Press did an article last week about how some storms last month damaged Howard Finster’s Paradise Gardens.  Trees missed the folk art chapel (below) but did fall on the roof of another building.

…just got back from New Orleans and had a great time as always.  Found something that was so special and wonderful (no, not this po boy) that I can’t wait to tell about it.  See you tomorrow!

As a mommy of two boys with very traditional names, and – you know me – a lover of the great Southern tradition of two first names, when our new Governor gave his acceptance speech Tuesday evening, it made me smile to hear him thank his children:
John Mark, Paul, Luke, and Matthew

He managed to get all four Gospels plus an Apostle.

He has two grandchildren – girls – with two first names too.  Nice!

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…and I’m loving this, from the B’ham News:

British humorist Dom Joly writes about trying to buy tickets to London’s 2012 Olympics in The Independent. Judging from the accent, he takes the man on the other end of the phone to be from Alabama. “I’m not in Alabama, sir,” he’s told. “I’m in Szechwan Province in China but we have been taught to speak in this accent as it is the one that most people instinctively trust since it is friendly and homely.”