Artists, Artists Everywhere!

Today I went to the most fascinating place: The Mississippi Crafts Center. It's a wonderful building filled with art by all types of Mississippi craftspeople. The outside lawn has many whimsical outdoor sculptures. The interior has a shop filled with incredibly beautiful handmade items. Think pottery, wood, furniture, jewelry, weaving, quilts, baskets, and decorative items. I'm a sucker for handmade, hand crafted and imaginative items. For instance, how about using all those empty wine and whiskey bottles?

One of the highlights of the day was getting to meet several of the artists who were doing demonstrations of their art. First, was Max Goodman of Ogre Forge who makes the most amazing handforged knifes. He takes a raw piece of metal and turns it into a large hunting knife with an exotic wood handle and a handwoven leather scabbard. He was in the outdoor area - like a big garage, but three of the walls were windows. He had a small forge there and all sorts of blacksmithing tools. He gave us an interesting talk about the chemistry of forging steel. It's quite complicated and the chemistry is very precise. Forging is not trial and error anymore. Mr. Goodman is a retired geologist.

Then, there was the German Baptist basket maker. At first, because of her clothing, I thought she was Amish, so I just asked and found out she was German Baptist - obviously, not a Southern Baptist. This community migrated to Mississippi sometime in the 19th century, and the traditions are still alive - witness her dress and the cap covering her hair. She's a basketmaker, and she actually finished this basket in the time that we were here. You can see the stainless steel staircase and glass walls of the Center behind her. This is a place to work and to teach. The Center, which is on the Natchez Trace just north of Jackson, runs summer programs and is a galley offering the works of 0ver 400 members of its Craftsmen Guild.

Without a doubt, the most cutting edge art we saw was an artist making clocks using material and ideas from the past four centuries. First, personal clocks date back from the 18th century. This is when it really became possible for ordinary people to own a clock as a decorative item in their home. Larry L. Smith, the artist, makes clocks using a compilation of materials. He begins with 19th century weathered wood in blocks or cut into 18" long pieces of 2x4. He mounts computer mother boards and disc drives as well as 20th century vacuum tubes from radios and televisions onto the wood. The 21st century computer detritus is what he mounts the clock works and hands on. He actually buys antique wood to use. He's branching out from weathered fence posts and barn wood and has just bought the wood interior of an old elevator from New York City. He has friends that are really happy to give him their old computers which he salvages for parts. In the gift shop, there is a killer grandfather clock he has created. He confided it was the grandfather clock that got him into the Craftsmen's Guild. I can see why; it's spectacular. He calls what he does PC Art. Imagine 18th century personal clock, 19th century wood, 20th century vacuum tubes, and 21st century computer disc drives and motherboards. I'm so sorry the picture didn't come out; technology, what can you say?

Another demonstator was making chainmail. Martha Scarborough has learned the medieval technique of making chainmail - the shirts knights wore to repel knives, swords, and pikes. (That's why the longbow was such an awesome weapon - fired from afar, it could pierce chain mail.) Nowadays, there's not too much call for chainmail armor, so she is using chainmail techniques with silver, copper and gold wire to create jewlry. There are formal patterns (turkish, celtic, etc.) that she uses to make her jewlry. I asked her how she got started, and she confided that she went to a craft school with some girlfriends, and the silver working class was full but the wire class was open! An artist was born.

I think overall each of the artists that I spoke with came to art late in life. They don't have fine arts degrees. They all have 'day jobs' - actually careers, and they pursue their art in their spare time as a passion they can not deny. I can identify with that drive to create which drives my embroidery work.

The drive to create can be all consuming, but most artists don't have the luxury to create on a full time basis. That's the real beauty of the Mississippi Crafts Center - it's a showcase for art that sometimes only finds a home at local craft fairs or church bazaars. The Center legitimizes this type of artwork. The venue is really great - spacious, full of cases, shelves, hanging space, and light. You wander from one beautiful item to another. Some are lyrical, some are whimsical, some are functional. All have that creative spark of artwork. Drake has faithfully promised that when we come back for the next ballet competition (yes, we are having that great of a time - you should have seen the contemporary stuff last night) that I can shop the Craft Center for decorative items to furnish our house when we re-settle. Now, because of our tight space and weight requirements, I only got a handmade ceramic magnolia magnet (my Mississsippi magnet), and SOMEONE who reads this blog got a gift from this wonderful place.