#OnWednesdayWeWearArt #FolkArt + how to Wear Pastels in the Winter!

Hello friends + happy Wednesday!  

I hope you guys are having a good week. I have been doing my absolute best this week to not be a total grinch! hehe. I know your thinking  ‘What?! Why?!’ and I wish I could tell you why, I’ve  just been in a funk, and I hate it. But I really can’t complain. A week in a half more of work, then I’m off work for two weeks! AND in just 15 [short] days Chris, myself and my brother are off to Brazil for 9 days! I keep looking at pictures of Rio every time I start to lose it, and it helps me stay motivated to push through. 

AND then today, I came home to the most beautiful journal ever from Blue Sky Papers. [All smiles!] I will be teaming up with them to art journal my way through Rio! I am so excited + thankful for this journal/opportunity. We will be giving one away, to one of you lucky readers early January- so stay tuned for that post! 

Anywho, on #WednesdayWeWear art and this weeks inspiration is folk art, but before we jump right in- let me catch you all up on some things! For those of you who have been following this feature for the past few months, you probably know about my blogging buddy Liv- who has been joining in on the #OnWednesdayWeWearArt series. This is a feature I created to let different types of art/artist inspire what I wear that day + then create a post about my outfit + the art. Some weeks after starting the series, Liv joined in! After chatting with Liv last week, and brainstorming how we can continue to keep this feature running/how we can make it more approachable for others to join in and what we were really aiming to get out of this little feature-  we came up with some really great ideas of how we want to approach it in to 2015 with you guys. 

While I am out of town, Liv will be doing a little guest post about what we came up with and show you how we are going to turn #OnWednesdayWeWearArt into an opportunity for other bloggers to link up with us on our sites. Which I am super excited about! 

Sooo…back to folk art. In short, folk art is art work created by self taught artist and not seen as ‘high’ or ‘fine’ art. It is a niche’ in the art world. One that I happen to be fond of, as it is often colorful + decorative [and a bit on the gaudy side- but not always]. Liv asked me if I had ever herd of the Florida Highwaymen [as this is where is is originally from]. She told me a bit about them + I did some research on my own and learned that they were a group of twenty-six African American men in Florida who made their living  selling their art door to door + at road stands. This was back in the 50’s-80’s, but if you are from the south and vacation to Florida with your family, then you know a thing or two about stoping at all the shops on the side of the road as you drive into/through Florida. You never know what you will find. [and on a side note, Florida has the BEST thrift stores. Old people capital of America = thrift store jack pot!] 

The Highwaymen created landscapes inspired by the scenery around them. The colors are a vibrant representation of Florida’s costal plains. Being from the south, black and self taught they were not welcomed at traditional art shows/galleries, so these artist banded together to create their own sustaining art community that provided a living for themselves + families by selling their art on their own. Original hustlers! 

In researching the Highwaymen, I started thinking back about all the other folk artist I have learned about over time. The first one that came to mind was Howard Finster [as a lot of his work is here in Atlanta]. I typed him into google, and ended up stumbling upon another folk artist named Nellie Mae Rowe. Who just so happens to be from my original home town of Fayetteville, GA! 

A self taught African American artist from the south, who made a living doing what she loved, although- not until later in her life [its never to late to follow your hearts desires]. Her drawings + paintings are so whimsical and colorful, I immediately fell in love. It reminded me of the folk art I grew up seeing here in Georgia. Where every inch of her surface is adorned with something beautiful . Folk artist work with whatever materials they can find, rather than that of what they could buy, or materials [i.e. canvas] that artist would typically use. Nellie did a lot of drawings and paintings that are all beautiful, unique and filled to the brim with color + detail, but her most impressive work of art to me was her ‘Playhouse’ where she lived + worked.  Every inch of her house was said to be painted/decorated. What an art castel dream! See a photo of her in front of it below. [I read that a while back it was torn down :( but there is a plaque there in remembrance of her.]

Okay, this post is huge- I got a bit carried away this week ;P As far as my outfit goes though, my skirt is from the thrift store, my top + clutch is target, boots + tights are Urban Outfitters and the leather jacket is Gap , scarf is marc by marc jacobs and necklace was a D.I.Y.!

You have probably noticed by now, that my style doesn't always follow the fashion norms, and with that being said- it is a personal mission of mine to wear white, pastel + neon colors all winter/year long. I paired my powdered pink skirt with a stark black + white pattern, and I think it makes for a lovely 'winter' combo.  AND on another note...Pantone can take their 'Marsala'  [the new color of the year] and be BORING all of 2015! I know alot of my 'design' friends like, no- LOVE the new color of the year. But those folks also love the color BEIGE and GREY, and in general are afraid of color [maybe this was Pantones attempt to get more people to 'buy' into their color of the year?!]... sooo, yeah. BUT this rant is really for another post on color. 

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