Posted by Unknown at 10:01 AM
Not sure how many others are doing it, but Yours Truly will once again be out on the porch painting during Market weekend.
Weather Underground says we should remain clear, sunny, highs from 58-65 and lows in the upper 50s. Real good weather, folks, the kind to make you want to jump in the truck and come to Canton!
The fabulous feathermaye will be working on our papier mache projects--more about that later...
Stay tuned to the blog next week to get your updates from this weekend.
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Remember, ART HAPPENS HERE!
"ART'S COOL" |
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 8:26 AM
By now, you've become a fan of feathermaye's eye, just like yours truly. Here in pictures, my fabulous, Artist wife begins to show you what this place is all about...
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- This is Canton -
Lots such as these are all over and surrounding the city |
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- This is The Mountain -
During 1st Monday weekends, no autos on The Mountain |
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- This is Canton -
A tribute to the General Stores of old, in the heart of the city |
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- This is The Mountain -
Simply stated: Just cussin good junk! |
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- This is Canton -
A fine, historically rich Texas town with strong traditions |
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- This is The Mountain -
A special place, where art happens everywhere |
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- This is Canton -
A special place, with special shopping, artists flourish here
amid the strong influences of Texas' past... |
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- This is The Mountain -
Many successful artists came here to enjoy the special energy, The Mountain just
makes an artist WANT to go the extra mile with their work... |
Much more to come in the next issues from The fabulous feathermaye! Art happens here every 1st Monday Trade days. Shop
Canton.... Experience
The Mountain
Once again we would like to thank you all for following this blog. Your support is our motivation. Look for us on facebook, and you can find me stumblingupon every week looking for things to Digg. Please be sweet and give this one an extra Tweet!
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 8:33 PM
It really doesn't matter what sort of place you get on The Mountain, as long as it has a really great porch...
Plenty of porches left here...Come claim one of your own. Art, happens here every 1st Monday Market. Shop Canton, experience The Mountain!
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
