AN ARTISAN MARKETPLACE

 FULL BODIED, HUMAN SIZED, SAINT NICK ARTWORK

Yesterday I visited the rather new Kentucky Artisan Center that is located a couple minutes off Interstate 75 an artery connecting  states between Michigan and Florida.   The Center, run by the state of Kentucky,  seems to serve highway travelers in several ways. It has a fine restaurant, restrooms, lots of benches and seating both indoors and outside and a marketplace for Kentucky made goods. One can find artwork, crafts, books, and gourmet food all with ties to the state and for sale.

 

CONTEMPORARY FOLK LIZARD SCULPTURE

Art work and crafts dominate the marketplace. Many beautiful and unusual pieces can be found -- all contemporary and for sale.  

The items cover a broad spectrum, some reflecting the early forms of Kentuckian folk design, while some others, the newly evolved Kentucky arts and crafts, are dynamic and fit well with the old folk forms.

WOVEN RUGS -- THROW RAG RUG TYPE

I took a few photos of pieces that I thought were good examples of the contemporary art work.

FULL BODIED DOG, FOLK ARTWORK

Books by many Kentucky authors such as Barbara Kingsolver or Wendell Berry line the shelves on one wall. I perused them and found a few that I was unfamiliar with. I wrote them down and will order them through my local library.

THE CENTER 'S WING WITH AN INTERPRETIVE APPEARANCE OF EARLY KENTUCKY STONE HOUSES

Overall it was a nice break to visit the Center and stroll through the for sale items made in Kentucky. It was a refreshing exposure to locally made and the idea of  local economies. 

GRAPHIC 2-SIDED GAMEBOARD

HANDMADE GAME-BOARD -- DATED 1986

I like graphic items that are funky and display individual creativity. For me, handmade gameboards usually characterize these attributes.  

Gameboards have been around since ancient times. Some examples would be  checker boards or Chinese checker boards. Individually made boards can be painted in any color, have designs other than the game design painted on the board, be of different sizes, be of any age, handmade and sometimes signed by the maker

FUNKY PAINT COLORS ON ALL WOOD BOARD

This particular board is dated along its wooden frame -- 1986. Not that old but still of the folk genre. It also has a faint name next to the date, M... Lam., difficult to make out. It has two game sides. One being checkers and the other a game I do not know. I guess I wasn't much of a board game player when I was young otherwise I would know.

This board is both folk art and a symbol of a folkway. Folkway, as the individual  crafting of a gameboard  is a socially established custom. 

CHECKER BOARD SIDE 

From ancient times to the present --  gameboards have been made by individuals reflecting their personal interpretations of how the board should appear yet keeping with the game design.


For folk appreciators -- its not the game that is important but the construction, colors, and spark exuded by the visual design that matters. No matter the age.

LOSING A BIRDHOUSE AND A HOME -- Sunday Simplicities

BIRDHOUSE -- REPLICATE OF AN EASTERN KENTUCKY FARMHOUSE

I've lived in many homes in my life-time. All different -- small, large, country, town, city, artist studio, cottage, campground, historic house, apartment, and fairly new. Although each was very different, the old adage rings true when I think of them all -- the heart is where the home is.

With today's economy many folks are losing their homes. A very sad situation. My thoughts go out to them. And, today I am telling a little sad story that relates to not only the economic situation, but the birdhouse in this post..

DETAIL OF SIDING APPROPRIATE TO A DERELICT FARMHOUSE

A Kentucky man and wife lost their home. He is a carpenter. He is a thoughtful husband. Let me give you an example of his thoughtfulness. His wife loves birds. So, over several years he built her magical, folksy birdhouses for their yard. All six were different and lovingly made. Works of art. But then they lost everything and the birdhouses were sold. I acquired one of the birdhouses. I also acquired the sad story that went with it. I will always view this birdhouse with hope. Hope that the couple turned their life around and he again has started to build birdhouses for his wife in a new home. And, hope for all the people that have lost their homes in this economic turn-down.

SIDE PORCH OF BIRDHOUSE

The carpenter husband built my birdhouse based on a photo he saw of a derelict old Eastern Kentucky farmhouse. He incorporated the worn look right down to the weather-board siding. He meticulously placed a hundred-plus individual pieces of miniature wood weather-board siding on the birdhouse to replicate the authenticity of the farmhouse. A metal roof was added and painted as it would have been on an Eastern Kentucky home. A side porch has delicate architectural decor parading around it. The house measures approximately 16" X 21" X 21".

BIRDHOUSE -- DETAIL OF METAL ROOF

It is not only the couple that lost their home but so did the many birds that visited their birdhouses. Birds are fragile yet are tough survivors. I can only think that the couple will be tough survivors like so many others that have lost their homes.

On this day -- the 4th of July -- I find it difficult to celebrate. Maybe next year?

Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom -- Thomas Jefferson