[audiobook] Watercolor Wisdom by Jo Taylor in Arts-Photography

Description

Raised in West Virginia; self-taught artist Carolyn Norris (b. 1948) moved as a young woman of twenty-one to Cleveland; Mississippi; a quintessential Delta railroad town on the famous blues Highway 61. To create one of her first paintings; she tore the wooden back off a dresser to use as a canvas. She painted with available house paint and completed the painting with face makeup. Thus began the realization of a passionate need to paint.Eventually; Norris came to serve as the visual griot of Cleveland. She has used a variety of media; painting on canvas; wood; paper; cardboard; glass; plates; tiles; sheets; floor covering; and mirrors. She also uses her garage door as a giant mural chronicling community events. In her extraordinary images; Norris shows daily black life in the modern Delta.Spirit of the Delta contains 115 color images pulled from Norriss twenty-five years as a painter. Her existing artwork has been photographed by noted local photographer Kim Rushing and copies of the works that no longer exist have been found whenever possible. The book features a biographical essay on Carolyn Norris by Dorothy Sample Shawhan and an essay on her artwork by critic Patti Carr Black; who places Norris within self-taught traditions. In an interview with folklorist Tom Rankin; which took place in 1991; Norris explains the centrality of art in her life.