Outsider Art

Outsider art, quirky, creative, unusual -

all of these words could be used to describe the 

Wisconsin Concrete Park in Phillips, WI.

Retired lumberjack, Fred Smith (1886 - 1976) was the mastermind

 behind this menagerie of 237 concrete sculptures.

A "green" artist ahead of his time,

 Fred used shells, glass shards, beer bottles from his tavern - The Rock Garden Tavern, 

and other junk art materials to create a cast of historical characters.

You'll find larger than life cowboys, miners, Indians,

soliders, horses, oxen, wild animals, and gigantic fish

standing against the backdrop of a pine forest.

Built over a period of 14 years,

 this self-taught sculptor said of his obsession,

"It's Gotta Be In Ya to Do It".

As they say in northern Wisconsin,

"Yeah Ya Betcha!"

Wishing you a Blessed Holiday Season

and a wildly creative New Year!!!

I'll be taking a holiday break......

see you on Monday, January 2, 2012!

Linking at The Creative Exchange.

Finish Line

I've been busy working to finish up a couple art quilt and beadwork projects.

These will be the pieces that I enter into shows in 2012.

I was thinking about how it feels to finally be finishing these projects after months of work ~ 

Pride? Joy? Exhilaration?.......

well actually, I mainly feel relief.

Relief because, now I can start something new.

I always have so many creative project ideas with only two hands and 

only so much time to do them in!

I'm looking forward to new beginnings :)

Wishing you happiness in all your creative ventures!

P.S. I've added a new category heading titled, Camera.
On this page you'll find info about what's in my camera bag and
a list of my favorite photography books, all with links.
I hope that you find this helpful.

Linking at The Creative Exchange.