Charly and I are still very much print medium kind of people. So, we’re still in the process of not only learning to blog, but learning to appreciate blogging. Maybe it’s an age thing… we’re kind of old for the blogging crowd, as it seems 20-somethings are more computer savvy and blogger conscious than we. I am told that people in their 40s blog, but I don’t know many of them. Yet being young at heart, we have not been swayed by demographics or our own limitations… so we continue to explore what it means to blog about art.

We’re not the only ones blogging about art, of course. Our fellow anonymous art critic, Cranky Artist, blogs locally about art. Even the Smithsonian now has an art blog site. Check it out. There’s a great piece on chess (the Game of Artists), and it’s a fun way to explore ideas of art and artists. In the meantime, Charly and I will be seeking to become ever more the hip artist by not just creating art, but blogging about it as well.

Last year, the Huntington Museum of Art had a stunning exhibit of Haitian art and a lecture on voodoo art. Because I love the spiritual dimension of art, that exhibit and talk have stayed on my mind. And as the artistic mind often takes awhile to culminate into a tangible product, several months later I have been drawn to creating voodoo dolls.

Because I think it’s important to focus on the positive, I’ve done an artistic spin and called my collection “Youdoo Dolls.” They are symbolic reminders of how we each need to heal parts of our lives and we can send ourselves healing thoughts and prayers. It’s the reverse of a curse… But when I researched voodoo dolls I found that originally they were made for a positive purpose: to send healing prayers to an area of a person’s body where the pin was stuck. As in many religions, positive ideas can be corrupted into negative ones. Hence the focus on cursing people by using voodoo dolls.

I’ve made meditation dolls before, and this is just a version of that. They’re a symbolic reminder of things we want to work on or be healed from. Or they can just be art you hang on the wall! Either way, part of the cool thing about making art is turning conventional ideas on their head and reinventing them in new ways.

Ouch, I just felt a pain in my side… Kidding!

Recently, Mark Wolfe and I hosted over a dozen friends at an art salon party. Throughout the decades, people have gathered to discuss books and art and current events. We decided it was time to immerse ourselves with fellow artists and art lovers to talk about… ART!

People brought snacks and wine and ideas. Charly Hamilton read his quirky and autobiographical poems, Doug Imbrogno entertained us with performance poetry, and all evening long people mingled and talked about… ART!

Because I love art and I visit art museums and I check out library books on art and I create art, I often think that others do the same. But every week, someone who I admire and respect will whisper to me, almost like a confessional, that they really don’t know much about art.

Admittedly our group was pretty art savvy: meaning that they are artists or art buyers or at least well-versed about art. It was fun to encourage one another and to share ideas, but it also helped me remember that part of what I love about art is teaching other people about… ART!

Sometimes when I’ve been focusing too much on not enough money, or squabbles with loved ones, or all the paperwork I have at the office, it’s refreshing to focus on talking about… ART! Sometimes the way to solve a problem is to try focusing on something else. For me, art is uplifting and educational and the stories of artists and their art often amazing and inspirational. Try doing something smart… talk ART!

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Elvis Presley Wins his First Professional Award at the 1955 DJ Convention, November 1956, Photo by Gordon Gillingham. Gelatin Silver Print. Courtesy Grand Ole Opry ®

By Amy Williams

If two exhibits are great, then three are even better. And that’s what the Huntington Museum of Art is offering as its fall fare. A Grand Ole Opry exhibit, combined with art by husband-wife team Maggie Taylor and Jerry Uelsmann plus a collection of folk art, make a trip to the museum a must.

Since moving to West Virginia almost a decade ago, one of my favorite destinations has been the Huntington art museum Having lived in multiple states, including northern Virginia near D.C. (where trips to the Smithsonian and National Galleries were regular jaunts), I’m familiar with all kinds of museums. The Huntington Museum of Art is at the top of my list.

Black and white photos taken in the ’50s capture the Grand Ole Opry at its best. It was great to see one of my favorite old timers, Minnie Pearl. I remember watching the Grand Ole Opry as a child and even visiting there on the rare family vacation. Rock’n'roll was on the way, the Civil Rights Movement was taking hold in the South, and national turmoil was on its way in the ’60s. But as the exhibit brochure asserts: “What is left are these haunting images of what we today call ‘classic country’ - as Barbara Mandell and George Jones like to sing, ‘country before country was cool.’”

These photographs by Gordon Gillingham are crisp with beautiful lighting, exquisite unplanned poses and the backdrops are amazing.

There’s also an exhibit of digitally enhanced photographic prints by Maggie Taylor and Jerry Uelsmann. This husband and wife team are similar in that they use photographic images to recreate their own art. Maggie does it with Photoshop software, where she layers images (sometimes up to 60). Her husband prefers the old method of the hand-manipulated photo montage and the darkroom to recreate surprising imagery. My exhibit visiting companion and I both preferred her works more - no offense to Jerry who has done quite a nice job himself. While Jerry’s works feel somewhat dated, Maggie’s work is completely compelling. If I had not had another engagement to get to, I could have stood there much longer looking at the layers of imagery in each picture.

Maggie Taylor, Girl with a Bee Dress. Courtesy of the artist.

Hand-made, yet refined

As a bonus, the museum has a collection of folk art. An outsider and folk art-influenced artist myself, this was the favorite of all three top exhibits. Four artists created works that are exquisitely done in their rough yet detailed, hand-made and yet refined works. It’s amazing what people with little resources and a lot of imagination can do. “The Bands of Toller Hollow” are some of the coolest art around — I imagine an amazing amount of work went into creating this depiction of a girl band in painted wood, fabric, metal, and found objects. There’s also a puppet band, “My People,” that is probably my favorite piece in the place.

Often I lament why so many people are at the shopping mall on a Saturday, when the museum is virtually empty. Inexpensive, educational, inspirational and just plain fun, many artists and art lovers fondly recall the influence art museums had on them when they were younger. They still have that effect on me. In a time when war drags on, gas prices rise, fall and rise, and so many things seem precarious, art remains a constant. It’s a reminder of our past, a reflection of our present, and hope that through the creative process our minds can be fulfilled and our hearts lightened.

IF YOU GO:
Huntington Museum of Art: “An Evocative Association: Works by Maggie Taylor and Jerry Uelsmann” through Jan. 8; “The Grand Ole Opry,” featuring 60 photographs of some of country music’s biggest stars by Gordon Gillingham, through Jan. 15. Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. 2033 McCoy Road. Admission $3 per person or $10 for families of four or more (free on Tuesday). Call 529-2701.