Regular Folks!: Art By Any Other Name

Art: Something that is created with imagination and skill and that is beautiful or that expresses important ideas or feelings.

~Priceless

You must agree, that's a pretty loose definition. It means that anything and everything created in any way, shape, or fashion by a living being, is art, as long as you refer to it as such. It means if you can take a handful of mud, press it together and set it on the ground, you're an artist (which is very good news for all 2 year old toddlers). If you take a picture of your junk drawer and hang that picture on the wall, you're an artist. If you rearrange your ceramic rooster collection, you are expressing your important interior decorating ideas, and therefore by definition, you are an artist. Congratulations...we're all artist!

These pictures were taken yesterday afternoon in Barry County, Missouri. They represent two of my fine works of art (to date). I call them "Ranch Art" and plan on leaving them on display for the remainder of the 2014 art period. They can be viewed by appointment only, unless you know the combinations to the first and second gates. In that case, you're welcome to view these works of art at your leisure. However, I must warn you: be prepared to be awed, as you have likely never seen anything exactly like these two specific works of art. Even if you've been one of the fortunate few who have previously seen an old axe stuck in a stump, you've probably never seen a Chinese red handled axe stuck in a stump exactly the way this one is. The fact that this raggedy Ol' axe has been in that stump for several years now, serves as an exclamation point to this amazing work. It's been in there so long in fact that at some point in the not too distant future, I expect to drive up and see the axe lying prostrate on the ground, as a result of the stump decaying to a point the wood fibers will no longer hold the stuck axe in place. When that occurs, I'm going to change the name from Axe In Stump to Old Stump-less Axe. Hold on now, hold on I tell ya: here's where it gets really exciting...
I plan on contacting the folks at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art about purchasing this particular piece. The fact that this piece has been 6 or 7 years in the making, should allow for a heftier price than had I just thrown it together on the spur of the moment. After-all, it's not as if I just stuck that darn axe in the first old stump I stumbled across and then casually took a picture with my Chinese iCamera while driving by in the Max Mobile. It has taken YEARS to get to this point; years I'm telling' ya. Most artist, other than Leonardo da Vinci (you may have heard of his little work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel), don't possess the patience necessary to create lasting works like Axe In Stump. And as they often say in the big city art circles....like patience, artistic ability is a virtue.
NOTE: The stump holding the axe is not an actual stump, rather, an old round of firewood. But I didn't think "Axe In Old Round Of Firewood" had the right ring to it. Plus, when you're an artist, you can call your work anything you want.

As a bonus to this artistic post (no surcharge), the art work below is titled Iron and Cable and was created by the author with no less intentionality and "strategary" than Axe In Stump. While viewing these photographs of my art work this morning (which is also art) I was struck with the idea of issuing a challenge to my fellow world class artisans to take their best shot at coming up with some art that might rival my work (any Missouri or Arkansas county would be eligible to participate, except Arkansas's Carroll County). I don't think it can be done but am none-the-less looking forward to enjoying what I'm sure will be numerous world class entries.
Dang, now I feel guilty for having kept all this art work shuttered behind locked gate all these years. I should probably open it up for public viewing. There goes all the solitude. I guess it's just the price you have to pay when you're such a doggone talented Red Neck Country Artist. I hope it's worth it. I'll keep you posted....