What Is: Sewing Bizarre Things From Old Clothes For A Living?

False Spring is officially upon us, and although the see-sawing temperatures bring about emotional upheaval and parka/flip-flop fashion combos, I’m ready for it. The ice storm completely annihilated any fondness in my heart for cold weather-related things such as the Winter Olympics, Santa Claus and the color white. I would be happy to never see another non-margarita-related piece of ice again. So, since the weather is toying with bouts of being absolutely glorious, then let’s all get out there and enjoy it!

This past week, I was motivated to do just that. By weather and job circumstance, I left winter hibernation and emerged from my art studio on Main Street. Some of y’all Main Street regulars probably noticed a film crew in town. They were working with The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., to document a handful of artists across the country.

The thesis of their project is to focus on these artists in relation to their specific communities. The crew made a stop here to film a little bit about my artwork and our community. They spent the week going up and down Main Street, getting familiar with and interviewing some town folks in Water Valley.

I realized one thing from this exercise and was reaffirmed by another. I was reaffirmed that people here can be open, friendly and eager to host others. I already knew this due to the bang-up job we did with that during the Ice Storm, but it was nice to see it in action under the casual circumstance of welcoming out-of-towners. The thing I realized that I wasn’t entirely aware of before is that pretty much nobody in town knows what I do for a living.

There are so many more interesting things in town to gossip about in my column, so I rarely bring up my work. But, just in case anyone is curious, I’m a visual textile artist. For material, I use old donated textiles and clothes that people in town leave in bags at my studio door on Main Street. I have several regular contributors and many anonymous contributors. I take these textiles and sew big, bizarre sculptures, upholsteries, quilts and collages. The material is entirely provided by townspeople, and Sartain’s Hardware has sold me what must be millions of staples and hardware for these works. These works go to galleries and museums, if they’re good enough. I do this full time like a real job.

Okay, now that we got that out of the way, we can talk about real art, which is the BTC’s Rainbow Salad! In my de-hibernation state, I went out for lunch for the first time in many months. Boy, do I not regret that. Not only did I have the best salad of the year, but Alexe somehow talked me into buying an insane amount for strawberries, which I very much did not need (although I very much enjoyed!) Just call her Alexe Up-Sale van Beuren. Alexe clearly missed her calling in running a car dealership.

Lastly, mark it down on your calendar: The Water Valley Main Street Association will host the Casey Jones Music Fest on Saturday, March 21. It kicks off with a 5k run starting at 9 a.m. at the Casey Jones Museum! See ya there!