Folk Art - a few pics and bios, etc.

On the first day of my trip, I got excited when I saw a well-reviewed folk art gallery in Morehead, KY. I got to town too late to visit it that day but there would be plenty of time the next morning to check it out.

I took a lot of pictures there, and the stories of the artists' lives are often at least as interesting as their artistic creations. I'm including just a taste of what I saw there. If you're ever in Morehead, KY, check it out!

This was one of my favorite paintings from the museum, by Hugo Sperger. It's called "The Big Wind":



The biography of Edgar Tolson was my favorite bio from the museum. Until I read this, I wasn't sure whether the characters depicted in the TV series "Justified" were exaggerations. Apparently not!



There were many beautiful carvings on display by LaVon Williams. I really like both his work and his story:



I especially enjoy folk art because it's generally made by regular people expressing their creativity. It's not pretentious or particularly commercial, but it's real. Minnie Black raised gourds and so she made sculpture from gourds:



I was intrigued by the idea of Noah Kinney photographing himself with likenesses of country singers dressed up in his wife's old dresses, so I went online looking for some of those photos. 



I didn't find them, but I found videos of him playing his fiddle and a percussion instrument I'd never heard of before, a "jig doll" or "limberjack":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6iHuVSMyJ8

Then I found another video that shows someone who can really make her limberjack dance!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iphEGI8KCY

I hope I can find some more folk art on my way back home!





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