The Gallery in our town

Our little town finally has a place for artists to display their work! It's called the Courtroom Gallery...simply because it has been converted from an unused courtroom in our old courthouse. We got a shiny new glass and metal one,..(ugly, but don't tell the local fat cats) and the old, over 100 year old one now stands nearly empty)

My friend Sharran..(her DG name, as I gave her a subscription for her birthday) and I have been busy trying to generate some activities there and we thought it would be fun to show ya'll what we've been doing.

This week we decorated for Christmas. We have a children's show going on at the moment with their artwork depicting Christmas scenes. Next weekend, we'll have a little cookie and cider reception, so we thought we'd make it festive.

Here we are, trimming the trees

Another view

There was a request from the Governor's Office for handmade Christmas ornaments to go on the Kentucky Christmas Tree. The instructions were to use Dickens's Christmas Carol as a theme, and make the ornament relevant to our county.

We came up with this little guy....he's the Ghost of Christmas Past....An old antique quilt made his robe...rabbit fur trimmed it. He has a cane pole to represent the Lakes and fishing that are so popular, he has a little bird on his hood to pay tribute to our bountiful wildlife. A fiddle is in his sack to represent our rich musical heritage, and the orange stars are the symbol of our high school.

So, he's hanging on the Christmas Tree in Frankfort now to represent our county.

Here's a front view

And here's his back...

Our entire county is really into recycling, so the little Santa ornament is made from all recycled materials. His face is soft sculptured from panty hose, his body is an empty plastic juice bottle, the hood and robe are from an old quilt, the rabbit fur is from a 25 year old jacket, and on and on. Next week we will show you the children's work in the gallery.

That's next on my list...will try and post some of that Sun...just popping in for a minute...been scrambling all day....got the house torn completely apart for paint and hardwood.

I know how you feel about the new courthouse. New buildings are often so cold and austere. They just lack the warmth of wood that has been carved by a craftsman! We have many old buildings downtown in the art deco style. They are slowly starting to restore some of them. Unfortunately they are being turned into apartments, but I guess that is better than being torn down. I think your old courthouse will nicely fill the bill for a gallery. Sounds like you two have a lot of enthusiasm and it is great you are getting the kids involved. Look forward to seeing their pictures.

I LOVE ghost of christmas past. How clever!

This message was edited Dec 2, 2006 8:43 AM

This message was edited Dec 2, 2006 8:43 AM

Great work sharron, I love the trash to treasure aspect of your x-mas past and he's very nicely executed.

Thanks, Jude, he was fun to make, and is only about 10 inches tall.

Here are the trees all finished...

(sorry about the delay, but I've been covered up)

Here's the tree sent over by the High School...the ornaments are pantyhose stretched over coat hangers and painted...(in my opinion...the ONLY thing panty hose are good for ! )

Here's some of the artwork submitted by the students...after I get it posted, I'll go back and show you the show that we took down to put up the Christmas art.

Last one for a bit though...gotta run...