EXHIBITION OF PHOTOGRAPHS

An exhibition of seventy portraits from the Southern Foodways Alliance's oral history archive will be on exhibit at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture from October 2nd through November 2nd. Most of the photographs are mine, since I happen to be the SFA's oral historian. But I curated the exhibit to include photographs by colleagues who have contributed to our ever-growing our archive, as well.

The photograph above is a portrait of A. L. "Unk" Quick of Eastpoint, Florida. I met Unk, an oysterman, during one of my fieldwork gathering trips to Apalachicola, Florida, where I was documenting the seafood industry. I ended up interviewing him for the project. He and his wife, Gloria, became good friends. You can read Unk's oral history here.

GLORY

I've been meaning to share the story behind "Glory" ever since I posted it as the Painting of the Week.

When I was teaching at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) in Houston, I taught a printmaking class. So much of printmaking is so technical and requires such lethal chemicals--acid, turpentine, and the like--I made sure to incorporate a more gentle and by default, I suppose, more immediate approach to making prints: the potato print.

I think all of us, at one time or another, made potato prints. Unfortunately, the process has been relegated to classes that also include finger painting and paste eating. But when I was in art school at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Archie Rand visited our campus. I'm not sure exactly why or for how long, but I definitely remember him being there. Anyway, he was making these incredible mural-sized works that were collections of--you guessed it--potato prints. They were impressive due to their sheer scale, but they were also quite beautiful. I developed a new respect for the marriage of potatoes and ink.

So part of my printmaking class at HSPVA incorporated vegetable prints and eraser prints. The base of my "Glory" painting is part of a quick eraser print demo I did, wherein I carved the image of a tooth into a gum eraser and printed it multiple times on a large piece of paper. The whole thing took me all of about ten minutes. When I was done, I was so fond of the resulting image, that I used it as a ground for a painting. Part of the print is mounted onto wood, then painted and drawn on, creating the finished piece above.

Now the theme of the painting is a different story entirely. Ever had those dreams where your teeth are falling out. I seem to have them when I'm particularly stressed. When I made this painting, I had just turned thirty and was about to make a big move to Mississippi (ahem, that was six years ago), which I guess I was a little anxious about. The other elements of the painting are, of course, the number 30, the word cake, the pink around the tooth (sweet tooth that ate the cake), a glass (for a toast), wishbone (for good luck), and the word glory (glory, glory hallelujah kind of thing that I'm embarking on this wonderful adventure), and then a stamp with the date of my birthday that year. If memory serves, the flood of orange is simply a design element--a vehicle for highlighting part of the word and many of the teeth.

My artists friend Bennie Flores Ansell owns this painting. Bennie creates beautiful installations of butterflies that are actually photographs of pairs of shoes reduced to the size of butterflies. Beautiful stuff. I miss you Bennie! Hope you're enjoying your painting.

LET IT RAIN

I took this photograph in the Delta a few years ago and just ran across it again this week. It's like the grass wanted to be closer to the sky--and the rain--so it planted itself on this rooftop.

It's raining here today for the first time in what seems like ages. Our garden is thirsty, and our pond could sure use a refill. The pond is more like a puddle these days, which is seriously depressing. We canoed in that same pond back in May. Today, you could hardly float a toy boat in there. But the rains are coming, and our pond will be high once again. If not, I'm going to have to resort to some serious dancing.

IT WAS A VERY GOOD WEEKEND

Most importantly, of course, there were pancakes. You know how I feel about pancakes.

And there were cut flowers from the garden, which always make me happy.
























And I finally managed to finish those commissions for Jim 'N Nick's. Evidently, Friday approved of this one. Or maybe he just had a hankerin' for some pork.

Sadly, there were no new porch developments over the weekend. We just couldn't get our hands on the materials we were looking for. Soon, though. Very soon.

BATH ITEMS, BOAS, AND BUNK BEDS

A few choice listings in this week's Tradewinds Classifieds, Mississippi's Weekly Bargain Hunter's Magazine. "The best shoppin', readin', tradin', sellin' magazine in Mississippi." They ain't kiddin'.

FOR THE LOVE OF CEDAR

I came home yesterday to find this scene: the yard strewn with cedar tree trunks, the porch railing gone, and Kurt wielding a chainsaw. It took a moment for my mind to process it all. When I did, I realized what a truly strong, creative, resourceful, and brilliant husband I have. And did I say strong? He hauled each one of those tree trunks (there are five) out of the woods behind our house. All of that, and it was his birthday yesterday. Guess Kurt wanted a new porch as a present and gave it to himself.

There will be more porch/house developments happening tomorrow. I'll catch y'all up on Monday.

Till then, a good weekend to all.

WAKE UP!

A day spent in front of the computer usually includes a little bit of daydreaming and a wandering eye. Yesterday, as I was giving my eyes a break from the screen of my beloved iBook, I took a quick little inventory of my desk. I like surrounding myself with meaningful and interesting little objects (surprise, surprise), so I took some time to consider them. I'm particularly fond of the rock pictured above.

When my mom was in town last week, it somehow came up that some study somewhere done by someone came to the conclusion that people with messy desks are more creative and productive than people with tidy desks. I think I fall somewhere in between. As I type, to my left there is an ever-growing pile of papers--receipts and release forms and to-do lists and such. Behind it, a stack of random photographs that need to be dealt with. But there is some organization, namely the northwest corner of my desk (that would be to my right), where there's a picture of Kurt and me, my Bradley's box, a mug, some PostIts, a coffee can of pens and pencils and markers and things, and this rock.

I bought this rock from a man on the street in Palermo, Sicily. It was dusk, and I was headed to the gelateria, but this old man caught my eye. As soon as I saw that he was painting and selling rocks, I had to have one. Okay, two. And when I was looking at the things on my desk yesterday, I lingered on this rock for a bit. It's one of those things that when it sits in front of you day after day, you stop seeing it. But yesterday I gave it some attention: I photographed it.

When I uploaded the photogrpah to Flickr, it occurred to me that maybe there's a Flickr group for handpainted rocks. Lo and behold, there is one. Who knew there were so many people out there painting rocks? Granted, there's some strange stuff there, but there's some really interesting stuff, too. Take, for example, the work by raysto. He draws faces on rocks and either sells them or simply returns them to the beach or the street or the windowsill he got them from. Such a lovely little idea. And they, too, are lovely little rocks.

Dr. Ize D Savino, who painted and signed my rock, wrote the word Svegliati in the center. The meaning? Wake up! Which is what I did yesterday, when I spent time considering this rock.

FIRE DESTROYS HOOVER'S GROCERY

Hoover's Grocery in Greenwood, MS, burned last Saturday night. Located in the Baptist Town neighborhood, the store was a meeting, greeting, and eating place for most of the community. Owners Sylvester and Mary Hoover are friends. I can hardly begin to convey my feelings here. The Hoovers have suffered a personal loss, to be sure. But the people of Baptist Town have lost quite a lot, as well. I spoke with Sylvester yesterday, and it sounds like they're not going to rebuild, but it's probably really too early to know or tell.

I took this photograph of Sylvester a couple of years ago for a pie-related photo shoot. It was a Sunday and earlier that morning, Kurt and I joined the Hoovers for the Ladies Day service at Little Zion M. B. Church, where Sylvester is a deacon. Little Zion also happens to be the place where bluesman Robert Johnson is buried. It's also where Kurt and I got married. Obviously, then, it's a special place. But, of course, so is--or was--Hoover's Grocery.



The Hoovers have other interests, though, which might help to distract them from their loss. Sylvester has been operating Delta Blues Legend Tours for a handful of years. Mary developed and operates the Back In the Day Museum, which is just down the block from their store. Mary also happens to be a wonderful cook and made much of what came out of Hoover's Country Kitchen. Her peach dump cake is divine.

Soon, though, I think I'll make them a cake and deliver it straight to their Delta doorstep.

STOOL + CABIN + LAMP = PURE GENIUS

Behold the Stool Cabin Lamp. This unique little treasure was purchased for a mere fifty clams at the Mason Jar Antique Mall in Pontotoc, MS. I was only about ten feet in the front door when I saw it. Of course, I absolutely had to have it. Just take a few minutes to admire the details.

Those popsicle sticks! Those pebbles! The woodpile at the edge of the porch! And there's even screen over the windows and sand in the yard. Know, though, that I installed the barnyard animals. They’re a nice addition, don't you think?

You can see a few more photos of the cabin right here.













Here are two more treasures I found on the same outing. First, a collection of three miniature wooden bowling pins. Oddly, they're each a different size and color, but I think that's definitely part of their charm.

And then we have the landscape painted on a piece of wood. More precisely, a piece of a tree. Not only do I love this as an object, but it also has a little personal significance. One the reverse, there's an artist's stamp and, while I forget the artist's name, he is/was from Manitou Springs, CO. Kurt and I spent some time in Manitou Springs on our August trip to Colorado. That, and this thing only set me back 75 cents AND it's a perfect addition to our Folk Art Room, which happens to be one of our guest rooms. You'll notice it found the perfect home just above the bed to the left.

I'm looking very forward to my next trip to Pontotoc, although I'm not too sure how much more our little house can hold. All the more reason to get to work on the new studio building, I say.

JESUS IN A PUNCH BOWL

We had a fabulous weekend with Mom and Bonnie, one of the highlights of which was a trip to the Mason Jar Antique Mall in Pontotoc, MS. This place is truly Heaven on Earth, as evidenced by this candid photo of Jesus hanging out in a punch bowl on aisle two. He appears ready to receive any and all offerings of Sprite, sherbet, and little something special for spiking. But I'm only just now noticing the large price tag hanging from his left arm and kicking myself for not checking to see how much he's going for. A steal at any price, I'm sure.

I did, of course, come home with more than a few treasures from this little afternoon outing. Unfortunately, though, I have yet to document them all. I'll do that tonight and offer a little inventory here tomorrow.

Until then, three words: stool, cabin, lamp.

HOUSE GUESTS

My mom and her friend, Bonnie, are staying with us this weekend, and we're ready to have a Mississippi adventure. Look for a recap here on Monday.

Till then, have a super swell weekend, wherever you are.

FOR THE LOVE OF JARS (+ OBJECTS)

I've been wanting to make a post about jars since I uploaded my painting "Grade A Large" as the Painting of the Week. You may not be able to tell, but in that painting there's a jar hovering over the carton of eggs. Inside the jar is an egg with a wishbone in it. Now that I consider all of this, and the fact that an egg is an undeveloped chicken, and a wishbone comes from a very dead chicken, I'm kind of alarmed that this thing ever sold. But I digress.

Thing is, I have a have what probably amounts to an unnatural fascination with jars and the things that people put inside them. Containers, in general, but glass jars are definitely at the top of the list. So when I went searching for interesting stuff to share about jars, I found a veritable bounty of inspiring images.

The display of random collections of objects inside glass jars that are stacked into towers in the photograph above makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. I have a small collection of things like this, but nothing quite on this scale. Towers of jars and objects, what a joy. [photo by tangerinee]
























And then there's the oddly interesting blog by Lionel the Vampire Cat, called The Argyle Academy. I don't know who Lionel is, but I sure like his series "Stuff in Jars." The paper airplane in a jar is my favorite.

Believe it or not, the National Center for Home Food Preservation has a pretty wonderful drawing of various shapes and sizes of jars used in canning. It's really a lovely image--a fabulous still life of jars with their lids.


And then there are these small bottles and jars filled with random little objects that you can wear--or carry around and simply covet, I suppose. These bits of cast resin are made by Leslie Keating, who has a blog called Onegirl Designwrks. There's a wonderful interview with Leslie on the blog Craft Synergy, which is where I originally came across these little gems.

Last but not least, I would like to introduce you to the fabulous collection of dirt-filled jars that are housed in The Museum of Dirt. My favorite specimen is this submission of backyard dirt from John Waters. I lived in Baltimore for a time, you know, and I can hardly think about that town without thinking of Mr. Waters. And I love that he's proud of his dirt. Seems entirely appropriate.

So there you have it, people: a cornucopia of wonderful jars and containers and objects and such. And links. That should keep you busy for a while.

I'm going to go home and admire my jars.

THIS IS NOT A PINK BAG

I took this in Cefalu, Sicily, back in 2005, and it still cracks me up.

To see more of my photos from Cefalu, go here.

PIG ON FIRE

I know I said I haven't been spending much time in the studio lately. Well, I lied. I have been working on a couple of commissions for Jim 'N Nick's BBQ. A little peek at one of them is featured here. It's a pig superimposed on a stylized background of fire. The other painting is of a pig on a pile of wood. Both paintings are being created to complete a set of sorts that was started with this painting, which was a gift. They liked the gift so much that not only did they commission two paintings, but they put the first painting on the cover of all of their menus. So if you ever find yourself eating a plate of bbq at Jim 'N Nick's, take a moment to admire the front of the menu before you dive in for the pulled pork and chocolate pie.

The peek at this painting and the title of this post remind me of my "Pig on Coke" post from a while back. Here's the pic from that post for comparison's sake.

Crazy pigs.

MORE DONKEY LOVE

Meet Genevieve (foreground) and Daisy (background), my two very favorite donkeys in North Carolina. I first met these gals back in June, when I headed to Chapel Hill for work. Well, work took me to Chapel Hill yet again, and I made sure to pay Genevieve and Daisy a visit. We had at least an hour of quality pasture time together. And I'll tell you, I thought the softest part of a donkey was its nose. I was wrong. It's the patch of fur at the bottom of their chest, just where their legs come together. It was sure hard to leave their sweet company. And as luck or fate would have it, D & G are up for adoption. Unfortunately, though, I don't know how to get them from North Carolina to Mississippi. Maybe they'll break out and follow my scent all the way on down here to Oxford. I'm waiting for you, ladies!

TABACCO COUNTRY

I've spent this week driving from one end of North Carolina to the other and, of course, looking at a lot of tabacco. It's a beautiful crop. Especially when the evening sun adds a yellow glow to those big green leaves.

I'll be back on Mississipi soil on Sunday. But first, I have to go see about some donkeys.

MLK BLVD.

Taken on HWY 70/MLK Jr. Expressway in Goldsboro, NC.

My friend Rob Walker has been documenting MLK Boulevards for some time now. Check out his MLK BLVD website right here. And see his Flickr group here.

Hey Rob, do expressways count?

PARTY TIME

Taken on HWY 7 North, Lafayette County, MS, at 6:00 a.m. yesterday. I was on my way to the Memphis Airport to catch a plane, so I had to pass the party right on by. Maybe it will still be going strong when I get back.

I'm in North Carolina all week, digging up more barbecue stories, believe it or not. Check back tomorrow for more photos from the road.

Party on.