RECEIVED: Folk Art Front - "Night Watch Man" by Lynda Jo Thornbrugh (Prosser, Washington, USA)

[De Villo Sloan]

Mail-art by IUOMA member Lynda Jo Thornbrugh (Prosser, Washington, USA)

 

July 19, 2011 - Lynda Jo Thornbrugh is a mail-artist who does wonderful drawings. I like her animals and particularly her owls. So I am thrilled to have received this piece entitled "Night Watch Man." Lynda clearly has loads of talent, and it is wonderful to see her work moving through the eternal network. Even nicer to have one.

 

I suggested to Lynda her roots might be in folk art. I also wrote about primitive art that grew out of the isolation and intense regionalism of early days in the U.S. - the 18th and early 19th centuries. This is a very distinctive (and collectible) kind of art today.

 

Thinking about discussions that took place in the IUOMA Literature and Art group: Sherwood Anderson's "Winesburg, Ohio" is a later exploration of the regionalism that produced the primitive art I have mentioned. You might consider it a kind of expressionism. In addition to pure wonder, the good examples often have a strangeness or eerie quality, which seems far more consistent with the products of U.S. culture than unbridled enthusiasm and optimism we are supposed to believe is the trademark. Try Edgar Allan Poe or Edward Hopper for a reality check.

 

Anyway, Lynda sent a kind note on the reverse side:

 

I think that mail-art is just fantastic for the diversity of work you see. Many Outsider Artists - people whose work simply does not fit in an acknowledged category - find happy and safe refuge in mail-art too. This highly original strain also contributes to the constant evolution that seems to take place. "Night Watchman" is a special piece I treasure. I look forward to more exchanges in the future with new friend Lynda Jo Thornbrugh.

 

[De Villo Sloan]

Good call, SH. Folk music is a part of it and illuminates it.

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Folk Art is a great name for it!
i used to listen to marissa nadler quite a bit, and i can see the art and the music being able to dance together quite nicely in my head!