ruby & me

the october art bead scene challenge was a piece of folk art by ruby c. williams... ms. williams was born in the 1920s, living in a community established in th 1860s by freed slaves - among whom was her great-grandmother.. she is very proud of this, close to the land and her family... her first art was created in order to draw more attention to her produce stand, self - built and on her own property... for along state road 60 in hillsborough county, florida you will see many of them... 

she uses her painting to speak for her, in the hopes of avoiding rudeness... for passersby will stop and offer advice to her on how to handle being an artist, and what she should paint... 

i have an admiration for those who can work simply and relay bigger messages... primary colors, a simplified background and a rectilinear design create balance and grab our attention... 'i do everything from the bottom of my heart, whether shelling a bucket of beans or making a painting.' you can sense this in her work, i think...

this piece spoke to me at 'go'... while i can appreciate all kinds of art, feeling in color & simplicity is my favorite... i love keith haring... my interpretation focuses around an enameled orange red tag by barbara lewis which approximates the shape of the cow's body... rustic red porcelain bead is encircled in gunmetal wire to evoke the head, used orange czech glass, red porcelain, yellow porcelain for the udder, a turquoise glass bead from marie at bleu verre, green polymer clay from jibby and juna which provided a nice solid flat area of color, white raku bead by keith o'connor, black & white seed beads... because the piece was designed to promote what she was selling, i made an etched 'MILK'  tag (in caps like her!) from a vintaj blank...

a big thank you to jennifer heynan/jangles for this selection...