Posted by Unknown at 5:43 PM
The free pursuit of ART is a demanding task. Everyone of us who has ever exhibited talent in one artistic form or another understands this, pretty much instinctively. The comforts of Suburban life add stress to these demands; comfort levels offered to us by the "American Way of Life" pose both logistical, as well as character issues that must be dealt with before we can set out in our pursuit.
But, once you have cleared the way for you to finally get your ART on, there are a few things to remember...
We should all do well to remember that MOST artists live in obscurity. Those accepting that fact move on with their WORK, stepping into, perhaps, their true roles in life.
Today's artists must work their ART, regardless of circumstances (typically among the poorest, financially); it is a magnificant obession that will often collide with life in the 'real world', such as it is...
Artists are attracted to each other, since misery loves company; we find joy simply pushing our elbows together over a bottle of cheap wine; hours pass speaking of perspective, or subject, composition or point of view. Philosophy is wrapped around our discussions, having understood that most of the great philosophers were also, practically speaking, without great means.
Artists are very familiar with pawn shops and flea markets; possessions are merely funds we carry around and use as long as we can, then sell when survival is at stake. In the America we find ourselves surrounded by today, ART is, for the most part, too soft a subject to think about buying into. Lay offs, industrial closings, mortgages that can not be paid and how our childred all seem to have developed A.D.D. are far more important subjects, they are the snarl that kills the ART in most of us. Few of us ever, move beyond those limitations.
Taking one of Walt Whitman's walk alongside nature with notebook under arm and no care about shaving, apperiantly, is merely a romantic notion, until you try it. To step out into the raw world without the protection of "The Herd" strikes terror in the hearts of most suburbanites. The folks one might encounter 'off the grid' are not, generally speaking, the sort you want to find sitting beside you, or sharing a bottle of cheap wine at that cozy bistro table on that favorite sidewalk you know so well... But they are the salt that flavors the world, the subjects of our expert eyes.
It's ours to record, or illustrate or sing about in one way or another. We are leaving the details behind that someone, one day, will find and study.
Posted by Unknown at 12:32 PM
About a week away from our third Market Weekend here on The Mountain, The Fabulous Feathermaye and I finally landed on a name for our new ART Shop:
ART'S COOL
We thought it would be a great time to start working with recycled items; why not start out green?
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We walked around The Mountain and picked
up random junk and dead fall...
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Some stuff, like this old broken table, had to be taken apart...
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Once that was done, we assembled it with
other debris to make this...
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Really cool (green) sign...
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Art really is cool, at Art's Cool
Canton Mountain, Canton Texas
Shop Canton, Experience The Mountain!
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Posted by Unknown at 1:24 PM
On quiet nights, the trees up here will speak to you. Some here call the phenomenon "The still, small voice", while others nod, take a deep, involuntary breath and...let go the contented sigh.
You can see the ideas running around behind their eyes; I should know because everyone I met when I first came saw it in mine...and still do.
If you are aware that you are searching, the feeling hits you, as it did us, as soon as you put a foot on the ground here. It is hallowed ground the many who have been here for years.
Inspiration, we've come to find, depends upon limitations. The "Slip-stream of consciousness" that artists dip their imaginations into can often harden its approaches, barring entrance until you say the magic word.
We came here with our limitations: Out of work and homeless sums up the situation. The kindness of friends and the love of family has helped us find this perch, where we can gather what we will before we leap back into whatever life has in store for us.
We discovered a remarkable truth about this place: despite our limitations, our lack of funds and even the limited ability to cook, eat and do dishes in the same building, our focus keeps gravitating to inspiration, rather than all that might hold us back, circumstantially.
We've found no barrier here. Rather, we've opened a limitless source. We can dip into these waters at any moment. A constant flood of ideas, continuously scrawled on whiteboards, notepads and even napkins, come like ghosts who've finally found someone who can actually hear what they are saying... Inspiration speaks here.
Not everyone is affected as such. We've met those who set foot here and can ONLY SEE PROFITS. Sadly, the rest of us already know they are doomed, and they will, eventually fall away as so many others have over the years since those early days when this place was first conceptualized.
The ghosts of those originals haunt this hill; ghost hunters come on a regular basis to photograph orbs, collect what evidence they can of the beyond; who knows if it's really the ghosts of some artist, or some old settler still looking to trade his horse, or even some Native American who would love to see his sacred grounds left undisturbed. When you are up here on The Mountain, you can feel the energy, all one needs to do is... Tune in.
Shop Canton, experience The Mountain!
As always, we wish to thank you for following this blog. You can always find us on facebook as you stumbleupon the web looking for stuff to digg. If you would be sweet and give this one a TWEET!
Posted by Unknown at 2:59 PM
I've always wanted to sit outside, on some crowded sidewalk, painting as people come and go around me. This past Market Days weekend I did just that.
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| S Bond outside of Art's Cool |
For weeks, I had been looking down the street that extends to the left of our porch (Here at the Little Red School House). There is a door down there, the only thing along the view that is truly Perpendicular to the street. The other doors and windows are all facing the street, and thus nearly hidden from view.
Just how to paint that special doorway has been on my mind a lot over the weeks leading up to Market. I took pictures to study, in various lights, and then put together a simple paint kit, something akin to Bob Ross meets Jerry Yarnell and they fight to the death, sort of deal... Anyhow, I had paint, brushes, and a good idea, I hoped.
I figured, quite obviously, that to become successful with ART here on The Mountain, I need to get plenty of material on display. The Art Buying public can be a fickle lot; one never knows when or where they will be moved to purchase. I can only count on the fact that THE MOUNTAIN calls people up here in some special way, and that what I'm capturing, hopefully, calls them to take it home with them, a part of The Mountain to call their own.
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We had a few pieces ready as Market came:
Plus some of the awesomeness that can only be Feathermaye:
as we opened the new studio/shop: Art's Cool...
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Sign made entirely of random debris we found laying around on the hill
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So, after two afternoons, I had this finished:
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Porches on Lazy Days Lane
by S. Bond Herndon |
It's clear that we've got a ways to go yet. We need walls full of Mountain, and that's what we'll spend this next month working on...
Once again we thank you for following this blog. You can always find us on facebook as you stumbleupon looking for stuff to digg. Please be sweet and give this one a TWEET!
Posted by Unknown at 5:29 PM
It took the fabulous feathermaye and I exactly two seconds of standing on this Mountain to realize that we were looking at ART WORLD:a place full of subject material right out of an artist's dream...
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I mean, c'mon... this place is a time warp, what would you do if you found
all this around you? Got paint? Got a sketch book? A camera? |
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This one, and a couple of others are set ups for a few pen & ink pieces
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Classic walkways that disappear around
irresistible corners...
In reality this bump of sand was once
the playground of artists
The aged wood, shapes...tickle the sketcher's eye...
Old West meets our age...
all yours to capture
look up...
look down...
Art is waiting for you here...
This place has been home to painters, photographers, and World Class Sculptors. Street performers and glass blowers with chainsaw art wielding husbands. Musicians, dancers and (like your's truly) a few novelists. This fertile mound is now ready for its next colony of artists to form. They only need set foot here once...
If you've been a starving artist working shows and traveling from here to there, you need to add Canton, and The Mountain, to your plans.
If you have a closet full of paintings, or a garage full of furniture that you've reclaimed and turned into fantastic works of art, you just might find the place where it all comes together, here, were ART HAPPENS every 1st Monday of the Month "Market Days" here in Canton, Texas.
Shop Canton, Experience The MOUNTAIN!
Posted by Unknown at 12:59 AM
Okay, so I'm a bit self-prejudiced since she is, after all, my lovely wife...However, I'm the grandson, and son, of artist-women-folk; good ones. I know good when I see it with my eyes.
and so, I'm quite proud to announce that the Herndons have gotten their ART ON!
Next Market Weekend will be the official unveiling of feathermaye multimedia's "MOUNTAIN ART".
Here's just a taste folks: Another masterpiece by feathermaye...
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Waiting in the Wings: by feathermaye
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We hope you'll drop by to see our
work... fun!
Shop Canton, experience The Mountain!
We invite you to follow our little blog here, and thanks to all who've just joined in on the fun. You can always find us on facebook, and I'm known to Stumlbeupon great notions that I Digg. And, hey, if you'd be so sweet, please give this one a Tweet!
Posted by Unknown at 9:06 AM
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| Throngs of shoppers flood Canton |
Over a Million visitors flooded the town below us, but only a few thousand ventured up this hill. That's in part due to the fact that most of what happens up here, happens at night. However, low crowds during the day are also due to the fact that the word about the place is not getting out, any more. That's part of the role we've assigned ourselves...
You've all witnessed how we have fallen in love with this sandy bump in East Texas. We can't let it lose its identity as "The Best kept Secret in Texas". No, sir, and we ask not for one dime, we just want the word to get out; we want stale and out-of-date websites that still draw hits at the top of search engines, to be replaced by hits that filter through this blog, by you, our faithful followers. After all, this is about getting your attention, and trusting that if it moves you to do so, you'll not hesitate to pass it along to your own networks. Hey, that's what a blog can do...
But for all of the ones that found their way up here...
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| LZ putting the final touches on her evolving dream |
TWIRL! a Photography Boutique premiered this weekend and I watched, grinned and even twirled my-own-self as the vision that was only last Market Days referred to by its central story line: "Miss Lilly's Closet", metamorph'd, in serendipitous fashion, to become 'Twirl'. Feathermaye Multi-Media even zipped together a really cool sign with Laurie's script design in lights that made the joint pop even more.
Like a magnet people were drawn to the elaborate Zebra Tree set, wondering what, oh what, could this be... Then, about sundown on Friday, it took off as the first set of girls flooded in, chose outfits and got to twirling while The Divine Mz. Z, feathermaye, and even a reserve photographer (Becky Mottolese) put their creative eyes behind Mz. Z's designs and directions, and as spectators stood agape in the street watching, the dance that is 'Twirl!' flowed, organically, magically. By 9:00pm Saturday, the artists were spent, dragging...
Be sure to check out Part Three in the next issue!
As always, we would love it if you follow this blog,and you can always find us on facebook. Often, you'll stumbleupon us, but if you'd be so sweet, please give this one a Tweet! Digg it!
Posted by Unknown at 7:36 PM
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That's right, we rented this little Red School House, right
here on The Mountain: Current HQ for
feathermaye multimedia |
IF you're just joining us, I'll begin by telling you that we are hiding out on The Mountain, here in Canton, Texas.
You'll also find several additional blogs here on the site about The Mountain, Canton, and what, exactly, The Herndons are doing on this hill.
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The Texicans were in full swing:
led flying, pistols popping
every hour! |
Now, for everyone else in the Posse...
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| Lecia's Designs were a natural crowd stopper... |
We had us a root'n toot'n, shoot'em up weekend here on The Mountain. Our guest Artist Lecia Zinna set up a small exhibit of her work and met many fellow artisans that love coming here, not only for the exposure to thousands of eyes during Market Days, but also for the camaraderie shared by an artist's contemporaries, regardless of their art, we all starve, we all crave the company of others with similar aspirations, however lofty, or simple they may be...
More about this weekend coming in the next issue!
As always, we would love it if you follow this blog, and you can always find us on facebook. You can also find us as we Stumbleupon and if you'd be so sweet, please give this one a tweet! Digg it!
Posted by Unknown at 4:09 PM
I know I've already told you about the little B&B we are staying in: The Mardi Gras is but one of many similar Bed and Baths, or in some cases Bed and Breakfasts that dot the Calliope-like mix of structures on this hill.
Mountain B&Bs are a mainstay here; many of the shoppers and night clients of THE MOUNTAIN are those staying in these quaint little sleepers. They've shopped all over Canton during the day, and after dropping their bags in their B&B, are once again ready to take to the hill for some night time fun!
At the base of the hill, you'll find great places like: The Long Branch Hotel where Tony Lewis runs, what has been voted: one of The BEST Hotels in Canton for the last eight years. Tony also puts out an excellent breakfast buffet, with all the trimmings for his guests.
Buffalo Girls is as rustic as they come...Old West charm in the middle of the twenty-first century. That's the point of this place. There's even a scheduled Shoot Out in front of the porch, usually lined with spectators as THE TEXICANS start slinging led.
As you move up the hill you'll see more and more of the smaller B&Bs. Right next door to us is The Big Easy, another of the festively decorated B&Bs. Pink Debbie owns the Big Easy and a few others as well. She's from Deep Down in Louisiana, where they make Mardi Gras floats and gowns. Some of those very same gowns are on display in various B&Bs around The Mountain. The artwork alone on these gowns is incredible!
This would be the longest blog in history if I tried to put up shots of all the B&Bs here... Instead, I've tried to put in a wide range of styles, since the styles can very from boxy old shot-gun design to something akin to a fort built by Spanky and the gang, or even Butch and his gang--I wasn't thinking of Sundance and Butch, but them too.
No matter the architecture, it fits with the general idea of The Mountain: FUN.
After all, Mountain B&Bs are about having a nice, comfy, or even cushy place to flop after you've dropped from all the shopping!
I'm including a list of all the websites and their respective booking sites for you to choose from. We really hope to see YOU on The Mountain soon!
As always, we would love to have you follow this blog, and if you'd be so sweet and give this one a tweet!
Disclaimer:
Images used on this site are a combination of search results and personal photography; we in no way intend to infringe upon any rights. As applicable, our 2011 (c) belongs to one or more of the following: S. Bond Herndon, Heather Hyde-Herndon, feathermaye. If you feel you have a claim to any image used on this site, please feel free to contact us at query@feathermayemultimedia.com
