Exploring Arts in the Community Celebrating FestivALL Charleston
Books
Folk Art & Art for Folks
Capture the Charm of Your Hometown in Watercolor
751.42 qL88c
Loudin, the son of a Methodist minister, had a nomadic childhood and thus became acquainted with a lot of people's hometowns. An excellent teacher of watercolor technique, he focuses on the romantic telling of the story of a town in this book. The artist can help you capture Charleston's charm by showing you how to use, for example, an odd-shaped tree on Capitol Street or an interesting building on the West Side as the focal point for your painting.
search Novelist® PlusCat's Eye
When Elaine Risley returns to her hometown, Toronto, for a retrospective show of her paintings, she finds more than critical acclaim. Local streets, long-gone landmarks, and elements in the paintings themselves trigger memories of her past. Are you inspired by your hometown?
search Novelist® PlusStealing Lumby
How can you lose a barn?? That's exactly what happens when one of the most important paintings of the twentieth century, "The Barns of Lumby," is stolen from a tiny Pacific Northwest town. As a media frenzy descends on the little town, one of the actual barns disappears overnight from the rural landscape-and pieces of it begin showing up in the strangest places. A hilarious combination of small-town charm and art mystery.
search Novelist® PlusMountain Hands: A Portrait of Southern Appalachia
745.0974 V44m
Meet butchers and bakers and candle makers; doll and broom and dulcimer makers; clock and knife and turkey-call makers; soap and fiddle and mandolin makers; and don't forget the moonshine maker in this celebration of gifted people who keep the embers of mountain craftsmanship glowing.
search Novelist® PlusTramp Art: A Folk Art Phenomenon
745.0973 F33t
Tramp art was especially popular during the early part of this century, though it is misleadingly named. Although some itinerant people practiced this decorative skill, it is more a folk tradition handed down from father to son. A penknife is used to cut simple V-shaped notches into the edges of scrap wood, which then is glued, layered, and assembled into utilitarian objects for the home like picture frames, jewelry boxes, and furniture trim. So grab a penknife and this book and get ready for next year's FestivALL!
search Novelist® PlusCarolina Clay: The Life and Legend of the Slave Potter Dave
B D246T
Dave (who went by just "Dave") was a pottery artist of the nineteenth century, but not your average pottery artist. Dave was a slave who made the bold decision to reveal his literacy by signing and inscribing poetry on many of his works at a time when it was a crime to teach a slave to write. This is this Dave's fascinating story.
search Novelist® PlusOn Bear Mountain
Richard Riconni lives in Brooklyn and welds scrap metal into works of art. Tom Powell lives in the Georgia mountains and has a deep appreciation for art and a passionate interest in bears. In 1966, a wealthy cousin of Tom's commissions Richard to create a sculpture of a bear made from local scrap metal. Most are appalled by Richard's abstract creation, but Tom loves it and purchases it to save the sculpture from destruction. And that's when the bear begins to exert its strange powers. Maybe those bear silhouettes scattered among the West Virginia hills aren't there just for decoration.
search Novelist® PlusThe Glassblower of Murano
Switching between modern-day and seventeenth-century Venice, Fiorato's novel is an intriguing mix of history, mystery, art, music, poetry, romance, and politics. A heartbroken woman embarks on a grand exploration of life and love as a glassblower in the city of her ancestors, Venice, and learns that the past may not be as clear as blown glass. For anyone who has ever been inspired by Blenko or Fenton.
search Novelist® PlusWest Virginia Quilts and Quiltmakers: Echoes from the Hills
746.9709 qV15w
This work documents quilts made in West Virginia before 1940. It offers a unique social perspective on domestic life of that time period. Be sure to stop by the Main Library during FestivALL to see the beautiful quilts crafted by several of today's finest local quilters.
search Novelist® PlusThe Healing Quilt
Four unlikely women, each with their private struggles, band together to sew a quilt to benefit a local hospital, and experience a dramatic rejuvenation in the process. Even if you've never experienced the powerful sense of community that comes from quilting together, you will be moved.
search Novelist® PlusThe Sweetgum Knit Lit Society
The Sweetgum ladies meet once a month to share their interest in books and knitting. Their get-togethers are pretty sedate until the town librarian throws teenager Hannah into their group as penance for defacing library property. Then the whole dynamic of the group changes. You can almost hear the clicking of knitting needles as the women's personal stories unfold in this heartwarming tale.
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