To follow up on the
excitement and interest in our library’s Annual Quilt Show, and to welcome the
new downtown Arts Center to Decatur, this blog will highlight books
from our collection focusing on folk art and the visual arts in Alabama.
First though, did you
know that one of the official emblems of the state Alabama is the lovely Pine
Burr Quilt? Here are a couple links to information on and instructions for this
pattern:
http://www.archives.alabama.gov/emblems/st_quilt.html
http://www.archives.alabama.gov/activity/PineBurrQuiltbrochure.pdf
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimPL7IMgFDpyTI39-q2UVpmT_vdcnEWj5UMZDtuMw4e7BDKcaiRtlxo0ty6d6xcrDCgv2gFb3k5LpsoCZ93zD6zS-uaAZWoq3j5R1I2FPCEiS18QNWl-XwwmOufsrpSHD7wPT-9FJqCyTh/s200/2012+Quilts.jpg)
At DPL, we already have
many books of interest to our patrons who enjoy the Arts, and we are evaluating
the existing collection to add more that may supplement or support Arts Center
students as well.
While there are many
related fiction books with artist characters and artistic themes, most of this
current list are books from our nonfiction collection (shelved in the 700’s).
These include exhibition catalogs, books of art history and criticism, artist
biographies, and books on craft technique.
Some of the books are cataloged and housed in our Alabama Room
collection, and as such are non-circulating, but may be used on the library premises.
However, the majority of the books are in the general collection and are
available for checkout; most of these art books
are large sized and profusely illustrated. Art books such as these
titles are a delight to look at and informative to read!
Quilts and Fiber Arts:
ALABAMA
STITCH BOOK: Projects and Stories Celebrating hand-Sewing, Quilting, and
Embroidery for Contemporary Sustainable Style. Natalie Chanin. STC Craft, New
York: 2008. 746.44 CHA
ALABAMA
STUDIO STYLE: More Projects, Recipes & Stories Celebrating Sustainable
Fashion & Living, Natalie Chanin. STC Craft, New York: 2010. 746.44 CHA
ALABAMA
STUDIO SEWING & DESIGN. Natalie Chanin. STC Craft: 2012. 746.4 CHA
Three
books of projects by Natalie Chanin of Florence, AL sharing techniques and traditional
skills to create handmade clothing and home decorations.
THE FREEDOM QUILTING
BEE. Nancy Callahan. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa: 1987. 976 CAL
During the late 1960’s
Civil rights era, the black women of Wilcox County created quilts and a
handcraft cooperative, the
Freedom Quilting Bee, acclaimed across the
nation.
GEE’S BEND: the
Architecture of the Quilt. Tinwood
Books, Atlanta: 2006. 746.46 GEE
Book and exhibition
offering a focused investigation into the nature, inspirations and future of
the quilting tradition of Gee’s Bend.
LEAVING GEE’S BEND.
Irene Latham. G.P. Putnam’s Son, New
York: 2010. JF F LAT
Juvenile novel set in
1932 and inspired by the quilting history of Gee’s Bend; a delightful,
satisfying story of a young girl growing up.
THE QUILTS OF
GEE’S BEND. Tinwood Books, Atlanta: 2002. Oversize
746.46 QUI Oversized art book about the quilts and quilters of Gee’s Bend,
a small isolated community where generations of women created quilt
masterpieces from the early 20th century to the present.
Alabama Folk Art:
ALABAMA FOLK POTTERY.
Joey Brackner.
University of Alabama
Press, Tuscaloosa: 2006. ALA 738.61 BRA.
A valuable resource for
collectors and scholars, Director of the Alabama Center for Traditional Culture
Brackner presents a definitive survey of folk potters and pottery traditions in
Alabama from the early historical period to the present.
HOWARD
FINSTER: THE EARLY YEARS. Thelma Finster Bradshaw. Crane Hill Publishers: 2001. B FIN
As
well as being a fresh and insightful profile of one of America’s most esteemed
visionary folk artists (Howard Finster, born in Alabama), this book is also a
loving tribute from a daughter to her father.
GONE
HOME: Southern Folk Gravestone Art. Jack and Olivia Solomon. New South Books, Montgomery: 2004. ALA 929.5
GON
Compilation
of historical epitaphs, with accompanying photographs of gravestone art,
collected from cemeteries in central and southeast Alabama
LIFE AND ART OF
JIMMY LEE SUDDUTH. Susan Mitchell Crawley. Montgomery Museum of
Fine Arts: 2005. ALA 759.13 SUD
An elder statesman of
Black folk art in America, Sudduth’s distinctive paintings were created largely
using various colors of local clay. His rich and evocative creativity has
expanded the boundaries of what is considered mainstream art.
REVELATIONS: Alabama’s
Visionary Folk Artists. Text by Kathy Kemp; photos by Keith Boyer. Crane Hill Publishing, Birmingham: 1994. 745.0976 KEM
Profiles of 31 artists
and their work showcasing Alabama as an active center of visionary art. This
genre, also known as outsider art, is typified by an artist’s ability, without
training or use of traditional materials, to create vivid, fresh, primitive and
spiritually inspired works of art.
Fine Arts in Alabama:
ALABAMA MASTERS: Artists
and Their Work. Edited by Georgine Clarke.
Alabama State Council on the Arts, Montgomery: 2008. ALA 745.0976 ALA
Full color catalog of a
2007 “Year of Alabama Arts” exhibition featuring work by 20
th
century Alabama artists from the collections of six major state museums.
FACING SOUTH: Portraits
of Southern Artists. Jerry Siegel. One hundred photographic portraits of
contemporary Southern artists, including many from Alabama. University of
Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa: 2012. 770.975
SIE
IMPRINTING THE SOUTH:
Southern Printmakers and their images of the region 1920’s-1940’s. Lynn B.
Williams. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa: 2007.
ALA 769.975 WIL
A visual history of
printmaking in the South. Including biographical sketches, samples of work and
analysis of imagery of over 60 artists.
Photography:
OF TIME AND PLACE:
Walker Evans and William Christenberry.
Thomas W. Southall.
Amon Carter
Museum: 1990. 779.9976 SOU
From a joint exhibit of
Walker Evan’s iconic photographs from the 1930’s and native Alabamian William
Christenberry’s art
of a generation
later.
Also includes essays exploring
the interrelationships between these two artists.
LET US NOW PRAISE
FAMOUS MEN. James Agee. Library
Classics: 2005. F AGEE
AND THEIR CHILDREN
AFTER THEM: the Legacy of Let Us Praise Famous Men: James Agee, Walker Evans
and the Rise and Fall of Cotton in the South.
Dale Maharidge and Michael Williamson.
Pantheon Books: 1990. ALA 976.106 MAH
PICTURE TAKER.
Photographs by Ken Elkins; Foreword by Rick Bragg. University of Alabama Press,
Tuscaloosa: 2005.
Collection of 100
photos
by Ken Elkins, selected from his
42 year career as the chief photographer for the
Anniston Star. Demonstrates his eye for
capturing with great dignity images of rural southern lives and landscapes.
Graphic books (about
Alabama):
DARK ROOM: A Memoir in
Black & White.
Lila Qunitero Weaver.
University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa: 2012.
Transplanted
at age five from Buenos Aires to Alabama, author and artist Weaver encountered
the racially charged culture of the early 1960s as a Latina who is neither
black nor white. She creates a emotional
story in a rarely heard voice from the turbulent past of U.S. race relations in
this unique graphic novel format.
SCOTTSBORO
ALABAMA: A story in linoleum cuts. Lin Shi Khan and Tony Perez. New York University Press: 2002. ALA 345.73 KHA
While
not produced by regional artists, this book’s topic ties it to this list. An
example of powerful political art, this graphic book of linocuts from 1935 links
the struggles of black America, as seen through the Scottsboro case, with the
oppression of the working class.