Cast-offs and Misfits

We hope you will enjoy this blog entry by one of our artists Lisa Lenox, from Montgomery. Learn more about Lisa at the end of her blog.

These little birdfeeders/sculptures are highly influenced by the same traditions that brought us bottletrees and shell-decorated graves and a few other really cool things. I have a great love affair going on these days with rusty and usually broken things – with cast-offs and misfits and just anything our society has grown weary of, whether said item has outlived it’s usefulness or not.

The African tradition of leaving something akin to a curse tied to trees around the home using found materials fascinated me. It spoke in dark, sultry words to my admittedly dark  sense of humor. And art without a sense of humor is just…something you buy in the “home” section at the local discount store. It’s pre-framed, pre-matted (if at all), and is most likely done in shades of blue and beige. (I have a whole theory of male behavior which centers around “bachelor blue and beige”- but that’s a ramble for another day).

So I find odds and ends, be it at home, at various thrift stores, or something really cool I wrestled from a large and aggressive squirrel at dad’s shop. The bird feeder/mobile/home protectors are made from found objects only. Preferably things which the family has used and abused over the years. It’s more potent that way.

I twirled and twisted my odds and ends together with rusty old wire, or wire I  might have acquired  in a misbegotten way from a 4th cousin’s cow shelter down one of the last dirt roads left in the U.S., then made sure I had surfaces which birds would not be afraid to light upon and dine.

I know this piece will support smaller birds, because they have used and defiled this one personally. They are my greatest critics, and they have deemed it worthy. I have it on fairly good authority also that the birdfeeder/talisman has great juju - none shall pass without risk to life and limb, and not to mention fortune!

I trust that crossing the sacred boundary to your home will prove infinitely more difficult with these light sculptures guarding your home.

Learn about Lisa -

I was born and raised in Alabama-something which used to horrify me-but now is a source of infinite pride.  Montgomery has been my home for most of 50 years. The area in which we lived was rural – cows and horses chomped grass across the street. The man next door fished with great success – there were always incredibly large fish heads drying on his fence posts (don’t ask why – I have no clue). A murky stream ran through the property, so we girls spent a lot of time figuring out new and exciting ways to catch bigger and bigger crawfish. The Alabama River was a short ways away, and there was a civil war railroad trestle running across it. We were explorers and archeologists as well as artists.

Art lessons were not in the cards, so our trips to the library were used in large part to find books containing paintings we wanted to copy. Da Vinci was my favorite, and I became very good at copying his simple drawings.

AUM was my first true experience with the organized teaching of art. It was simultaneously intimidating and exciting. Between the art department and regular classes, I felt myself become…how do you say it?…well rounded? We’ll stick with that. Many years into my education (a stop and start affair), I found sculptural ceramics. Saying I came home as an artist is too mild a phrase, but let’s stick with it anyway. A year or so into sculptural ceramics, I discovered West African art as filtered through the culture of the South, and saw it as a heritage for not one skin color, but for all who had lived here. It has utterly suffused my work – a fact which makes me happy to no end.

I attended a lecture by Robert Thompson a long while back, and ended up buying his book, entitled “Flash of the Spirit”. Thompson unwittingly changed the way I viewed not only art, but the Southern world in which I grew up – the one which spawned and nurtured me, which up to that point had tried desperately to give me a definitive style – something of my very own to which people could point in horror and scream “Oh NO! Not again!”. Well, some do. Mostly my family, but they are a blurb for another day.

African art should speak to all of us – it is the original – it is our mother and father. If you care to look, you can find those elements in art all around you. We are all one people – something as trivial as skin color and location has only made us forget. One day we are all going to sit around a big cooking pot filled with gumbo or beans or something equally homespun, pass around cornbread and sigh as one people. There’s nothing like coming home.

Turn Your Radio On

On a wintry day in December, Anne Kimsey with the Alabama State Council on the Arts, visited the Black Belt Treasures Gallery. Anne came with the plan of recording an interview with me to be broadcast on the ASCA’s radio show sometime in January or February 2012. Anne spent a great deal of time exploring in the gallery, learning about our artists, and making notes for our interview. Finally at the conclusion of the afternoon, when all was finally quiet and everyone had gone for the day and no telephones were ringing, Anne and I sat down to begin our conversation. Let me just say, Anne is a fabulous interviewer. She was well prepared, organized, and guided me through the interview so that there were no surprises!

I hope you will tune in to the broadcast and listen, not to hear my voice, but to learn about my passion – Black Belt Treasures and Alabama’s Black Belt region’s art, culture, land, and people. I am a proud adopted daughter of the Black Belt and love to share the story of her talented people any time I am afforded the opportunity.

I recall hearing Kathryn Tucker Windham say one day a few years ago, “come and sit a spell and listen.” I invite you to stop sometime in the midst of your busy day (or night) and listen to the interview. Then feel free to share the link with a friend and help us spread the word about the wealth of talent to be found in Alabama’s Black Belt region!

http://arts.state.al.us/actc/1/20120205creswell.mp3

Falling Flat on Your Face

Have you ever fallen flat on your face? And, I don’t mean figuratively – I mean literally. Well, I did just recently and let me tell you it was not a pleasant experience. I still have the battle scar and bruises to prove it! But everything about the experience was not unpleasant because by nature I choose to see the good in even unpleasant situations. (At another time and in a different place, I’ll share my “good” observations with you.)

As for now, you are likely wondering…what does this have to do with Black Belt Treasures? Well, I have reflected on my experience and I have found some connection to the artists we represent:

First of all, falling on your face, while not pleasant, is not such a bad thing in the long run, IF the experience results in a new perspective on life. Most artists will attest to having painted over the first layer of paint on a canvas, trashed their first, second, or third attempt at creating a piece, or simply have started over before finally creating a masterpiece! We have some of those masterpieces at Black Belt Treasures awaiting a place in your home or office. And, when you begin to look at those pieces through the perspective of the artist’s attempt to bring to perfection their techniques and interpretation, you begin to better grasp the value of the piece instead of simply seeing it as something to buy. It becomes for you a masterpiece as you recognize that this amazingly, talented artist-creator has journeyed from his/her “flat on your face” experience to a new level of artistic expression which could have only been created out of their unique life experiences.

Secondly, bruises are a natural part of life. You may prefer to avoid the hurtful experience that lead to the bruising but ultimately, it is through those experiences that our lives take on vibrancy. Have you ever noticed the beautiful color palette of most bruises? The array of color is simply amazing – red, purple, blue, pink, yellow, green, etc. And the designs within the bruises can be described with adjectives like unique, ever-changing, growing, shrinking, bold, and subtle. The same is true with artists regardless of their medium. Not only do they come in all shapes, sizes, and colors but they create works distinctively their own.

I think of Charlie Lucas, the “Tin Man,” from Selma – an amazing man with creativity oozing from every fiber of his being. He once told me he sleeps in “sections” and explained that his mind wakes him up demanding that he MUST get up and create. For some who look at Charlie’s work, they can only see the pieces of “junk” he has used to create the object. But for others, like me, the amazing creativity of taking an object from someone’s trash heap, weaving it together with other objects, and transforming it into a masterpiece – well that is just phenomenal!

And lastly, just like good things can come from life’s unexpected events, an artist’s masterpiece often is created unpredictably. One of our quilters, Dorothy Woods, from Montgomery has shared how the fabrics she uses dictate the design of her quilts. She may start a quilt with one vision only to have it change as she pieces the fabrics together.

And have you ever watched a potter begin with a lump of clay on the wheel? As the potter’s hands forms the clay into one shape, the clay takes on a life of its own, often in a completely different direction than the potter expects with the end result being an object of equal or greater beauty.

Or, what about an author, like K. T. Archer (The Silver Spoon and Kismet) who has said that her characters often dictate how the story line will move – sometimes resulting in a completely different story line than she originally anticipated.

As in life, art is a “journey not a destination”. It is with great pleasure that we, at Black Belt Treasures, travel on the journey with many, many talented artists. Each day we have the privilege of enjoying the masterpieces they have created which quite often were influenced by the artist’s ”falling on your face” experiences. We invite you to join us on this journey and bask in the beauty of the world of art created by artists and craftsmen from Alabama’s Black Belt region.

Oops!

What is the old saying, “you live and learn”? Well, that is what has happened with the Black Belt Treasures web site. You will notice many (actually most) of the photographs have disappeared from the web site. Why you may ask? The explanation needs to include a bit of history so please give me just a moment of your time.

Black Belt Treasures is VERY fortunate to have the partnership of the University of Alabama. Under the leadership and direction of Dr. David Hale, Professor of Management Information Systems, a team of students have worked diligently over the past several months to help us transition to a new e-commerce program for managing our web site. The team prepared a training manual for us with a step-by-step guide detailing every aspect of adding information to the web site.

Initially, the UA students photographed items for the website, wrote descriptions of the items, and downloaded all the information to the site. Their objective was to give us a good start until the time that we (the BBT staff) could begin to learn to use the e-commerce program on our own. Well, that day arrived yesterday!

Kathy Law, our Americorps VISTA volunteer, had been photographing items for the website, and did a fine job I might add. Sheronita Love, our Community Employment Volunteer, had prepared descriptions of all the artwork.

So…we were ready to go! The time had come to venture out and try it on our own.

We sat down at the computer and began our step-by-step guided process. Everything moved along fairly smoothly. We did have a few glitches (which were resolved by a phone call to Caitlin Lovely, the UA – MIS team leader) but overall things moved along well. By late afternoon, 14 new items had been added to the web site! We were so excited and probably strutting just a bit!

However, when we looked at the live view of our web site there was a problem…all the new items had photographs and descriptions but all the other images were missing!

Oops! What could have happened?

No worries, I thought, an email to the UA team and they will figure this out for us. So, I shot off an email to Caitlin, closed down my computer for the day, and headed home. And honestly, never thought of it again until I arrived this morning and read the reply email from Caitlin.

My “oops!” was kind of an understatement! She explained that somehow the images file which housed all of the web site images had been deleted during our “day of learning!!!!” It can be fixed but we can either pay what I consider a very reasonable fee to have the e-commerce company restore the image file, or the UA team can re-download all the images. Well, needless to say, we are paying the fee.

What was that saying again? “You live and learn?” We’ve definitely “lived” through this experience, so now to “learn”! Who would have thought clicking one little button could have changed so much?!?

With all that said, I just want you to know that all the images for our web site will return in the not so distant future. Stay tuned, check back, and follow our site! There is more to come as we “live and learn”…

Window Shopping

Earlier this week, artist Andrea Windham Guy, phoned to say she was on her way to swap out art at Black Belt Treasures. It had been awhile since I had seen Andrea and I was anxious (the excited kind of anxious) to see the new pieces she was bringing to the gallery. Now before I have a show and tell about those new pieces, let me tell you about Andrea.

At age twelve, Andrea’s art career began when her grandmother, Audrey Helton, gave her oil paints and a sheet of typed instructions. Since that time she has studied forestry, welding, writing, and personal training. Andrea has also worked in construction, as a boundary line painter, a kudzu sprayer, and an eradicator of beaver dams – which are all interesting jobs, especially for a female.

Several years ago, Andrea’s art interests really began producing. She is a self-taught, dyslexic artist who uses art for her own self balance. Following in the footsteps of her artist grandmother, Andrea has done t-shirt designs, abstracts, behind the glass three dimensional works, and other media. She says that her work varies greatly, and “the material helps lead me.” Andrea lists her materials as oil-based paints, acrylic, plaster, spackle, metal objects, and just about anything at the hardware store.

After a twelve year hiatus, she recently completed her associate of science degree at Alabama Southern in Monroeville and hopes one day to complete a four year degree. In the meantime she is busy mother of three daughters with the youngest being 5 months old – thus the reason, I had not seen Andrea in a while.

Andrea has a wonderful studio, Bent Art Studio in Repton, Alabama. The studio sits next to her home in the midst of a field and was built by Andrea from recycled building materials. Andrea’s artistic flair resonates throughout the structure in which she paints and teaches.

Now for a peak at Andrea’s newly delivered work…

Window Shopping inspired by Eudora Welty's Underwear

Fearless - Oil on Canvas

 

Andrea delivered several other pieces, most on small boards and even a few on oyster shells. The paintings vary and as she explains, “I am inspired by the imperfections of the materials I work with – I don’t like things to be perfect.”

In addition to Black Belt Treasures, Andrea’s works can be viewed at Patina in Fairhope, Alabama; The Blind Mule in Mobile, Alabama; and Top of the Hill in Perdue Hill, Alabama.

Brushes of the Black Belt

Occasionally when you answer the telephone during the normal course of the day, something exciting will result from the conversation. Such was the case several weeks ago, when Georgine Clarke, Visual Arts Program Manager with the Alabama State Council on the Arts, phoned me at Black Belt Treasures. Georgine had received a letter from the National Park Foundation seeking an artist from Alabama to design and create the ornaments for Alabama’s tree for the 2011 National Christmas Tree display in President’s Park in Washington, D.C. It took only minutes for me to think of an artist. I committed to contact the artist and within an hour, Black Belt artist Sheila Hull, from Sumter County, had agreed to contact Georgine…and the rest is history.

Sheila later phoned me at Black Belt Treasures to share the details of the project and discuss the date when the ornaments would be created by middle and high school students from the Black Belt region. I agreed to contact young artists from Wilcox County and Sheila began contacting students from Marengo and Sumter counties. Fourteen students met on Saturday, November 12, at Sheila’s studio in Livingston, Alabama and worked for several hours creating the ornaments using watercolors, acrylics and colored pencils. These wonderful paintings depict scenes from the life and culture of the Black Belt.

Please enjoy the following images of our student artists and their paintings. More images and news about the tree will come soon…

Artist Sheila Hull (far right) with student artists.

 

 
     

If you would like more information about this project, or any of our other exciting offerings, please contact me at sulynn@blackbelttreasures.com.

Thank you,

Sulynn

PRESS RELEASE:

Sheila J. Hull Selected To Create Alabama’s
Ornaments For The 2011 National Christmas Tree
Display 

Ornaments from all 56 U.S. states, territories
and the District of Columbia to be displayed at the 2011 National Christmas
Tree Lighting Ceremony in Washington, D.C.

Sheila J. Hull, of Livingston, has been chosen by the National Park Foundation to design and create the ornaments for Alabama’s tree for the 2011 National Christmas Tree display in President’s Park in Washington, D.C.

A local artist and local youth were selected from each U.S. state, territory and the District of Columbia to design and create 24 ornaments.  Twenty-three of the ornaments will be hung from the state or territory tree as part of the National Christmas Tree display in President’s Park.  One of the ornaments will decorate the White House Visitor Center Christmas tree, which showcases one ornament from all 56 states, territories and the District of Columbia.

“The decorating of the state and territory trees in President’s Park is a highly anticipated holiday tradition,” said Neil Mulholland, President and CEO of the National Park Foundation.  “We look forward to including the creations of Sheila J. Hull, representing Alabama during the 89^th annual celebration.”

As one of America’s oldest holiday traditions, the National Christmas Tree Lighting began on Christmas Eve in 1923, when President Calvin Coolidge lit a Christmas tree in front of 3,000 spectators on the Ellipse in President’s Park.  Since 1923, each
succeeding President has carried on the tradition of what now has become a
month-long event presented by the National Park Foundation and National Park
Service.  In addition to the National Christmas Tree display, President’s Park hosts a variety of family-oriented holiday attractions, such as the Santa’s Workshop, nightly holiday performances, a Yule log, nativity scene, and model train display.

“It is an honor to be selected to represent the state of Alabama, said Sheila J. Hull, artist and owner of SH Designs Studio in Livingston. “We are excited to be a part of the National Christmas Tree display and have a part in our Nation celebrating Christmas.”

Our designs will focus on the rich culture and history of the Black Belt region of
Alabama focusing on the 19 counties of this state.  Dr. Tina Naremore Jones,  the Executive Director for the Center for the Study of the Black Belt at UWA, and the board of the Alabama Black Belt Heritage Area were instrumental in ideas for the ornaments. Students from several counties in the Black Belt region were chosen to be a part of the “
Brushes of the Black Belt” to represent our beautiful state in this project.  The ornaments will consist of drawings and paintings that will be placed inside plastic globes.

Four weeks of holiday events in President’s Park will kick off with the 89th National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony hosted by the National Park Service and National
Park Foundation, the official charity of America’s national parks, on Thursday,
December 1, 2011, at 5:00 p.m. EST.  Talent announcements, as well as
other event details and a live web stream of the ceremony will be available
at www.thenationaltree.org.

Tickets for the event will be awarded via an online lottery system, providing the general public a chance to obtain free tickets to the ceremony. For more information visit www.thenationaltree.org for more information.

Merry Christmas!

Tis the season to be jolly…and cold, and creative, and to get out and SHOP!

And Black Belt Treasures is ready to help you with all of the above!

Just walk into the store and “Jolliness” will come over you! Our region’s artists are bringing in new art every day - and holiday themed decorations, ornaments, food items, and gifts located throughout the gallery will bring a smile to your face.

Cold? Then join us for a cup of coffee while you shop…we have a variety of fresh flavored coffee’s available, or the full-flavored coffee connoisseur will enjoy a cup of french pressed coffee to warm their soul.

Feel like getting Creative? We have several art classes to choose from each week…from Adult Art Classes in Painting, Pottery, Chair Caning, and Jewelry Making to Youth Art Classes in Painting, Pottery, China Painting, and more…

Haven’t finished your Christmas Shopping yet…we have something for everyone. Our retail gallery located in historic Camden, Alabama, showcases artwork, sculpture, pottery, woodwork, baskets, jewelry, books and much more. Our Web site, www.blackbelttreasures.com, offers an opportunity to purchase many one-of-a-kind, handmade Black Belt products.

 

And don’t forget…all purchases are available to be gift-wrapped, proclaimed to be the most beautiful bows in town, and works of art in their own right!

Thank you – and we hope to see you soon!