Road Trip

I'm looking in my rear view window as I drive ahead on this artful journey. I've watched and been a part of Primitive Folk Art for twelve years now. It was difficult to find at first. I remember coveting one of the last issues of Country Folk Art magazine. Found in dog-eared pages, were a few "Prim" dolls in all of their tea dyed glory and old looking wood pieces with paint taken off the edges and corners. I would scour the local LARAC show for these works every Spring with friends. I was hooked the moment I stepped into Netty's home and spent many an hour paging over every detail of Hollyberry Hill Catalogs. There, the hand drawn artwork captured so many of us and we were introduced to Nicole Sayre, Deerfield Farmhouse, Folk and Whimsy and the Ragged Edge to name a few. Little did I know back then, that I would later meet and get to know some of these talented women whose work nestled into the hand drawn pages and came alive in my mind's eye.

I would yearn for a stolen day or two to explore Market Square Shows and catch the Hilton Show at Valley Forge in the cold winter days before Spring. Brimfield was a magical land filled with antique dreams. With two young daughters, it was a world and years away... but l reached for that star above that holds our dreams, I grabbed it and I'm still holding on to the ride.

I sit proudly beside so many of you. Not of the very beginnings, but still new. We have done good shows and bad, Port-A-Potty and school gyms. Drenched in rain or sweat from the sun. Sold everything or nothing and have many, many wonderful memories and chuckles. Some of us became friends at shows and some through the Internet. We have enjoyed the heyday of Crow Soup and Folk-of-Art. We've cheered each other on for auctions on Ebay before their rules changed. We've seen our work and each others in magazines.

Over the past couple of years. we've watched new venues and new artists come aboard with welcoming smiles for their journey ahead. We know that there is room for all of us on the journey. The ones to watch will have to put time in, pay their dues and let their own style define them... they will set trends because they aren't afraid to take a chance. They will inspire us all. The ones in it for the art and spirit will let their work pave the way just as ours has. The journey still has miles to go...for all of us.