Beauty from The Earth

Of all Pueblo pottery, the thin walled storage jugs, medicine bowls, seed jars and canteens from Acoma, have reigned supreme. For over 600 years the residents of this pueblo, also known as Sky City, in the western desert of New Mexico, have gathered local clay from secret areas, and shards from old pottery. After traditional and tedious methods, they have turned this gift from Mother Earth into pottery which holds it's head high in the field of hand made art. Special stones are ground with native vegetation to create a paint which is then applied with brushes made from local plants, chewed down to a few long strands. After air drying, the pots are dung fired and with a prayer are pronounced complete.

The earth tone color at the bottom of many of these pots and the thin black and white lines denoting rain and thunderclouds are familiar iconography used by the artisans here. Each Pueblo has their own symbols. Some of the contemporary makers have included designs from their ancestors after having been introduced to these Mimbres symbols at local museums. Both men and woman create pots here on top of and in the three small towns at the foot of Sky City, and they are among the finest in the world. More examples can be seen by clicking on the title.

A Mother's story

Please read this Mother's story about a son whose school suggested he work in a sheltered workshop making nylon pot scrubbers. Hat's off to all Mother's who hold on to a dream for their children and have the fortitude to never let go.

"Michael Jurogue Johnson is entirely self taught. When he graduated from a special education

public school at the age of 21 he didn't want anyone telling him what to do! He learned how to

paint and in 1999 a young couple wanted him to paint portraits of their dogs. They kept sending photographs of their dogs laying around in the garden. Finally Michael did an oil painting of their dogs playing on the beach. He could get a pretty good likeness as long as he could paint his own ideas. Since 2000 he has painted more than 500 portraits of pets, children, houses, a few older people and racehorses. The portraits and the illustration jobs have expanded his subject matter and have challenged him to develop new techniques.

Michael works in oils, acrylics and watercolors. He has no fear of a blank paper or canvas, he just starts painting. He uses bright colors freely and naturally. The colors don't clash, they harmonize. He paints from a cheerful and innocent point of view. He has a limited grasp of perspective but a great eye for detail. Forget washes! Michael wants to paint every blade of grass, every leaf on the tree and every pebble on the beach. He likes to paint all day long and listen to music.

Painting is his job, not his hobby. He sells from his website and has been painting for 17 years.

You can see his current work at: http://www.artistmichaeljohnson.com"

Blood Horse gave Michael many magazines so he could study the physicality of the horses and when he picked up his brush to paint, the work was amazing. The Down Syndrome Association of West Michigan auctioned off the paintings and raised a large amount of money with Michael's art. So much for the school which wanted him to go into a sheltered workshop and make nylon pot scrubbers the rest of his life! Happy Mother's Day to his mom, Robin from an art dealer who was also blessed with a Mother who understood her love of art.

Purvis Young, RIP

Years ago, as many private dealers are wont to do, I participated in a folk art tour, which included a dealer's row. Translation, all dealers registered at the show were placed on the same floor and were allowed to set up their rooms as booths. It was a bustling and affluent crowd and many paintings and sculpture were sold. Across the hall from my room was dealer Jimmy Hedges, Rising Fawn Folk Art from Tennessee, who brought with him an artist from Miami who he had great faith in, rightly so. Late one of the nights, the artist slipped out for a bit of fresh air. He had been painting and speaking with collectors all day. When he tried to return into the hotel, he was stopped by the staff. Refused reentry. He was a poor, black man, and didn't seem "a fit" with the guards. Eventually the artist, Purvis Young, was allowed access to his room.

He died yesterday of a heart attack after a kidney transplant, dialysis, and a long fight against diabetes. He died as a world renown and deeply loved artist. He was a genius, a loving soul, and a keen reporter of life in Overtown, a slum neighborhood in Miami where he lived his life and created masterpieces from recycled materials and paint. His access into museums was a much easier ride than his access back into that hotel. For all who had the pleasure of knowing Purvis, either personally or through his art, I share your pain, and am brokenhearted.

Intuit presents Black Barbers and the Artistry of the Barbershops

Black Barbers and the Artistry of the Barbershop

Saturday, March 13, 11 am
Free and open to the public
(This notification is from the group called Intuit in Chicago. I highly recommend membership here!)

In conjunction with the exhibition The Treasure of Ulysses Davis, Quincy Mills, Assistant Professor of History at Vassar College, will give a presentation on the social and political culture of African American barbershops in the mid Twentieth-Century. Black barbershops have historically been places where commerce, culture and community intersect to inform African Americans' individual and collective freedom.

Ulysses Davis cut hair and created sculptures inside his barbershop in Savannah, Georgia, as an expression of his economic and artistic freedom. Barbering provided him the skill to maintain control of his economic life and the barbershop provided him the space to exercise his artistic creativity.

From Intuit, a new and very important exhibition

The Treasure of Ulysses Davis

February 12, 2010 - May 15, 2010
Opening Reception: Friday, February 12, 5-8pm

The Treasure of Ulysses Davis debuted at the High Museum in Atlanta and traveled to the American Folk Art Museum in New York and the Menello Museum of Art in Florida, before arriving in Chicago. Organized by Susan Crawley of the High Museum of Art in collaboration with the King-Tisdell Cottage Foundation of Savannah, Georgia, this retrospective features about 109 pieces, including 78 from the King-Tisdell Cottage Foundation, which acquired most of Davis’s work after he died, fulfilling his desire to keep his corpus intact. The title comes from Davis’s explanation of why he disliked parting with his work: “They’re my treasure. If I sold these, I’d be really poor." The exhibition will increase public knowledge of and appreciation for the work of this much admired but rarely seen sculptor.

Laura N. James, praying out loud

With an Antiguan heritage and a love for detail and storytelling, in the year 2000, Laura N. James made a spectacular group of paintings for a Book of Gospels , for the Roman Catholic Church. There is a diverse cast of characters represented, of all shades and nationalities, and the artwork is gorgeous! But this young New Yorker also paints Jazz figures which seduce the eye with their colors and movement, and her series, "Nannies and Other Mothers" grabs at your heart. Women who leave their own families far behind to come to the United States to care for the children of others is a powerful and often neglected subject. She handles it with a grace and compassion for all involved and the paintings are luscious.

Before he was Paul........

Connecticut artist, Paul Pitt is known for his folk art paintings of scenes from a gentler time, populated with up to 250 men, women, children and animals. And always there are two running boys, one Black and one White, one of whom is wearing the ever present red scarf. But searching through an old barn this week, Paul's first efforts were rediscovered. These vintage paintings, over 30 years old, are much different from the idyllic scenes for which Paul Pitt is well known. The earlier works have an appeal all to themselves so I've decided to share them with you. Tell me what you think!

A link in the title will bring you to Paul's work as it is recognized today. He is in many permanent museum collections and his work has been on the cover of quite a few magazines. The older works are now available for purchase.

Sculpture show hits the big time....

Click on title to see TV coverage of the sculpture show, or better yet, enjoy these photos taken by &ndrew at Urban Papers Art dot Blog Spot dot com.

Sculpture in The Garden Show

Well, it's that time of year again. Artists show up with truly amazing sculptures made from recycled materials and turn my garden into a wonderland. Especially in this time of thrift, I'm so proud to welcome these talented folks who have made something out of nothing. Old car, truck and tractor parts and forsaken out of date machinery morph into robots, life sized horses, moose, sunflowers, dancers, musicians and birds and animals of all descriptions. It is so much fun, for me, for the artists, and for the hundreds of loyal followers who show up to my amazement each and every year. The biggest crowd I ever experienced was during a weekend of torrential rain. If you are in my area, please do come by......and children are most welcome. Merritt Parkway, exit 58 is only one and a half miles away. Or Whalley Ave. to Fountain St. to Ansonia Rd. to Lorraine Drive. Looking forward to spreading the joy!
Beverly Kaye Gallery
15 Lorraine Drive
Woodbridge, CT

Owls, Jacks, Pixies and Fairies

Karl Mckoy is a wondrous artist as well as a master gardener! His owl begs for a child's wall, but would be savored for a lifetime. The next image reminds me of jack in the pulpit puppets in a storybook scene. He is a magician with both earth and paint and no one knows what will sprout next in the garden of this fertile mind. A favorite of the gallery. Please contact Beverlyskaye@aol with any inquiries about available works.