Folk Art

It was several years ago that I was at our dumpster/recycling center and saw this rather amazing bit of folk art in the back of a truck.  The fellow who made it told me that he was working on a whole set of them as a gift for his son -- a set of bar stools.

I love the use of inlay and the whole cheerful/religious look of this piece. 

In fact, I love folk art.  Primitive, naive, whatever -- pieces that look as if the maker had fun doing them.

I only have a few pieces. This charming hippopotamus below was found at a flea market.

This mule and wagon were a gift from a friend who is (alas!) moving and seeking to pare down her collections.

I adore it! The wheels are bound with thin strips of aluminum (probably from a beer can, says my husband) and the same aluminum strips form the mule's harness.

See the brake on the wheel? And the comfortable slant to the seat back?

And, as my husband said, the person who carved this knew mules. Lean and hammer-headed, this is a quintessential mule.

Last of all is this charming cat, a gift from my friend Kathy, the prototype of Sallie Kate the realtor in my books. 

Kathy got a listing for a house that had belonged to two bachelor brothers.  One or perhaps both of them had worked tor the state road department and evidently they had brought home a number of old road signs which they proceeded to turn into folk art.  Kathy has a whole array of them which she rescued before the family hauled them off the the dump. I love the cat's smile.

And speaking of cats, I left my laptop unattended for a few moments and came back to find Miss Susue Hutchins sitting on it. 

Below is what she has to say about folk art ... or something. It may say, in cat, 'It's too freakin' cold in this house.'

But I'm just guessing. Maybe one of you is fluent in cat.

 

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