Artists Are Entrepreneurs Too!

Artists are entrepreneurs too!!!

Adrian Swain Curator of the Kentucky Folk Art Center says "Jo Ann Butts is an original and creative folk artist. Her work is colorful and often carries an undercurrent of self-effacing humor. Jo Ann’s work has been selected for use in several temporary exhibitions at Kentucky Folk Art Center. As a member of the broader community of folk artists in Elliott County, Jo Ann Butts executes original work that seems to have remained largely uninfluenced by the many other artists who surround her".

“When I was a child we didn’t have a lot of money so we made our toys. Sometimes it was a piece of wood and we would whittle it into something to play with. That’s where I first started my art”.

This is the story told by Jo Ann Butts of Sandy Hook, Kentucky. Her art depicts native critters she has watched in her yard and in the woods growing up as a child and as an adult. Her inspiration comes from nature. “I like to sit on the porch and watch the birds in the spring” she said. “The little robins get a worm in their beak and they pull and pull until they get it out of the ground. Its so fun to watch them because they bob their heads back and forth just fighting with that worm until they win the battle, or the work gets lose and escapes back into the ground. Then they walk around until they find another one”.

Jo Ann’s signature pieces are roosters and hens. “They were always walking around on the farm and early in the morning that old rooster would crow and wake everyone up then we would have fresh eggs for breakfast” she said.

Her brilliant choice of colors and the whimsical characterizations make her work one of a kind. “I didn’t know my work was art until one day Minnie Adkins said ‘Jo Ann you should sell your work. What you are doing is folk art and a lot of people collect folk art’”. Minnie bought the first piece I ever sold. The next thing I knew I had a booth during A Day in The Country at the Morehead Folk Art Center”.

Jo Ann’s latest piece is a squirrel. “Not many people realize the squirrel uses its big bushy tail as shade from the sun and shelter from the rain” she said. Her smiling squirrel sits with a nut ready to eat and the bushy tail over its head.

Joann, an Elliott county folk artist who sells her work across the country, paints as well as carves. Her latest painting is a 12’X30’ mural on a barn. “It’s what the back porch and back yard of my home looked like when I was growing up” she explained.

Saturday Josh and I drove to Newfoundland to take a picture of the latest mural being painted on a barn. We were pleasantly greeted by the artist, Joann Buts. As we looked at the mural we noticed the boards of the barn overlap to create a perfect row of shingles for the roof of the back porch. “And look” said Joann Butts “the door of the out house is locked from the inside. You can tell because the outside button is pointing up. Yep, someone’s in there”, she said.

The back porch of the yellow house displays a wringer washer; a #2 washtub hangs on the wall, there’s a churn for making butter, and a washboard with a cake of lie soap at the top for treating those tough stains. Among other items used in everyday life on the farm is a lantern. “Everyone used a lantern”, she said. “It was dark going to the out-house at night so a lantern hangs right there on the porch post to use on nights when the moon doesn’t light the way.”

A path of stone leads the way to the out-house. “See the rooster on top of the toilet, yep he crowed every morning. He woke us up early every day”. She said.

Joann sits atop scaffolding with giant umbrellas shading her from the sun. “A humming bird came to the lilac bush” she said as she pointed to the flowering shrub growing beside the back porch. “And the other day, I was just sittin’ here painting and a butterfly lit right on that holly hock” she said with a grin. And as real as the sun in the sky, hens, roosters and baby chicks call the yard home.

A bucket attached to a chain sits on the well box reminding everyone of the days when frost would make the chain stick to little hands who had to draw water for household uses.

The brightly colored rendition of “The Back Yard” has drawn attention by passers by. “People are always stopping to tell me I’m doing a good job” she said. And sure enough, while we were talking, a truck with two young boys in the back stopped to compliment Joan on her work. “It looks just like where I grew up” said the driver of the truck. But it was the blond hair and blue eyes peeping over the bed of the truck that won Joann’s heart “I like that house” he said and waved as the truck pulled away. “Keep Up the good work” the driver of the truck said.

Joann was painting quilts on a clothesline as we walked away. Just before we left she pointed to a quilt on the line and said, “This is my quilt”. With a smile she looked at Josh and said “I have one just like it at home. Its grandmother’s fan”, she explained. Joann painted quilts hanging on the line to compliment The Clothesline of Quilts project.

As you find each little butterfly and baby chick be sure to notice Grandma with her hair pulled in a bun, hanging Grandpa’s long-johns on the clothesline.

Joann is painting the mural on Steve Gray’s barn just a bit after turning on 32 from Route Seven at Newfoundland. It’s a great cultural rendition of life in earlier years. Even if you don’t have a trip planned around route 32 its worth a short drive to see the mural. Thanks to Johnny Porter for the use of his scaffolding. It made painting the mural possible.

Funding for the mural was gained through a grant from the W. Paul and Lucille Caudill Little Foundation.

From Quilt Squares to Apple Baskets: Arts in Appalachia

this post is a newspaper article I wrote for our local paper. It tells of a very interesting road trip I had yesterday.

If you’re looking for a good day trip to visit some interesting places without spending a lot of money, you can do it in our own area of the Eastern Kentucky Hills.

Because I have not completely fulfilled my obligations as a community scholar, the Kentucky Arts Council asked that I take pictures and write stories about quilt squares in eight Eastern Kentucky Counties for a book they will produce. Monday, I took a vacation day and started driving. I left Sandy Hook looking for Stanley Franklin’s farm in West Liberty. You can see the quilt square on Stanley’s barn form route 7 soon after you turn left to go into West Liberty. What a beautiful setting. The large barn wits atop a knob with a background of rolling hills. Cattle have carved paths around the sloping pasture land surrounding the barn. It's a perfect view of farm life. It’s worth while to leave a few minutes early, pull off at the top of the hill and marvel at the magnificent view and beautiful setting of the barn with “Three Pansies” quilt square on it.

Then it was on through Magoffin County…my childhood home. I took a picture of “The Crazy Quilt” On the side of a black barn and proceeded to a store to ask who owned the Barn. R.C. May owned the store when I was a child. It was a general store where Mom purchased our shoes and the family groceries. To my surprise, the store that seemed so huge to a little girl is a very small building. It now sells tack and other supplies needed for horses and pleasure riding. Randy Adams, who now owns the store, told me Sam McNew owns the barn with the "crazy quilt" hanging on the side.

From Magoffin County, Flo and I drove into Johnson County where we visited and photographed “Apple Basket” that hangs on the Country Music Highway Museum. The square was hung in tribute of Loretta Lynn. The original quilt was made for Loretta Lynn by a fan in Johnson County. The design is to honor the Apple Festival held each year on the first week-end in October. The Museum boasts the likes of Hylo Brown, Loretta Lynn, Crystal Gayle, Patty Loveless, The Judds, Billy Ray Cyrus, and other musicians along Highway 23 including our Own Keith Whitley. One of the best things is the gift shop, which is stashed with souvenirs of artists, carries Blue Monday candy bars that are made in Mount Sterling, Kentucky. If you’ve never had a Blue Monday, be sure to purchase one when you visit the Country Music Highway.

A visit to Butcher Holler was a treat. Van Lear was once a coal camp. We stopped by what was once the Company Store, which still has the same furnishings and atmosphere. It is owned by Herman Webb. Madonna, the niece of the great country music stars, Loretta Lynn and Crystal Gayle showed us a video Crystal Gayle recently made on the Front Porch of the Old Home Place. What a wonderful treat to hear her sing one of my favorite Gospel Songs “Wayfaring Stranger”. Just up the road, Herman has a quilt square hanging on his barn that is different than any others I have seen. His square, a simple "nine patch" has threads painted on it as if the quilt was tacked rather than quilted.

Nothing prepared me for “The Black Barn Produce” on Route 23 between Paintsville and Louisa. I was told it was a produce stand. In my mind it would be a shed closed in on three sides and open on one long side. My mental picture had rough lumber supported by saw horses with baskets of produce displayed on them.

Well I was shocked to find a log barn with a hip roof and a sign that said “Black Barn Produce, a step back in time. Penny candy for kids”. I could have spent the day in the Black Barn Produce.

Before I went inside I took pictures of the quilt square that was made to honor Hylo Brown, a bluegrass star who paved the way for many other artists from the hills o f Eastern Kentucky. Two men walked by as I was snapping pictures “It’s a family operated business” I heard one say “Me, My wife and daughter run the place” he said. This really interested me.

Inside you can cut your personal amount of cheese off the chunk sitting atop an old barrel. Barrels of “penny” candy angled just right for a child to put in a hand and pull out a bunch, supported other items for sale….all the candies that were in RC May’s store when I was a child was there. I’m sure my eyes lit with delight just the way they did when R.C May gave me a piece of Taffy and pack of Kits. Yesterday, I reached in the barrel, got a handful, and paid for them! Wash tubs, wood baskets, handmade dolls, and relics that bring back memories of “the good ole days” are there waiting to be purchased.

“The Barn belonged to my Grandfather” Shanna said. “He was a logger and he parked his trucks here in the barn”.

They took a part of their history and recreated it into a treasure for today emphasizing the past. The Black Barn is a family heirloom made into a business with its own niche. “Our major concern is the amount of customers we have. We didn’t expect the business to be as successful as it has been”.

On into Louisa to snap one more shot then onto route 32 and home. What a day! There’s so much to see and enjoy here at home. I feel extremely lucky to live in an area with so many assets, such a rich heritage, and history and opportunities.
The vacation continued today as I drove around Boyd and Greenup Counties. Have you visited the McConnell House in Greenup County. It was built in 1833-34. Pre-Civil War!! Renovations have kept it as original as possible and it is an educational treat to visit.