Kosciusko, Mississippi is not only Oprah's hometown, it's also the hometown of the colorful L.V. Hull. And "colorful" she is in every sense of the word, for "Ms. Elvee" (as she's known) adds color to every thing and every life she touches. Folk artist extraordinaire, she was another one of those accidental discoveries on our trip. After stopping at Kosciusko's Visitors Center, we first took a little side street to drive by a folk artists home. It was Easter Sunday. Surely she wouldnt be home. As we drove up to her tiny home we couldnt believe our eyes. The front yard was filled, no packed, with color, colored and decorated junk. Shoes, tires, boards, containers, tubs, dolls, tools, you name it, you could see it all in her front yard. And it was a beautiful charming sight to behold.
The pictures and captions tell the rest of the story ...
The pictures and captions tell the rest of the story ...
For the next two hours Ms. LV chatted away, explaining why she does her art, how she does it, that no one else can do what she does, who comes to see her, how they act, the wonderful doctors and nurses who take care of her and how she gifts them, how appreciative they act even if they dont like what she gives them, how her own child died when he was four but she raised 15 white children in other people's homes and they still come to see her, and she can get children to behave because they always know who loves them and, and, and, whew! She has wit and wisdom and common sense as she talks. She recycles bottles and containers, decorates them with colorful paint, Mardi Gras beads, buttons and other colorful shiny objects. Then the plastic throw away becomes a work of art! After her child died, her husband had left her and her health had relegated her to an oxygen machine, Ms. LV set to doing her art because idle hands are the way of the devil.
Ms.LV knows her gift is God-given and she has a respect for that gift. It is my thing and no one else can do it like I do it. Now youll have your thing and no one else can do your thing the way you do it too, right? Aint that nice?
Ms.LV knows her gift is God-given and she has a respect for that gift. It is my thing and no one else can do it like I do it. Now youll have your thing and no one else can do your thing the way you do it too, right? Aint that nice?
For the next two hours Ms. LV chatted away, explaining why she does her art, how she does it, that no one else can do what she does, who comes to see her, how they act, the wonderful doctors and nurses who take care of her and how she gifts them, how appreciative they act even if they dont like what she gives them, how her own child died when he was four but she raised 15 white children in other people's homes and they still come to see her, and she can get children to behave because they always know who loves them and, and, and, whew! She has wit and wisdom and common sense as she talks. She recycles bottles and containers, decorates them with colorful paint, Mardi Gras beads, buttons and other colorful shiny objects. Then the plastic throw away becomes a work of art! After her child died, her husband had left her and her health had relegated her to an oxygen machine, Ms. LV set to doing her art because idle hands are the way of the devil.
Ms.LV knows her gift is God-given and she has a respect for that gift. It is my thing and no one else can do it like I do it. Now youll have your thing and no one else can do your thing the way you do it too, right? Aint that nice?
Ms.LV knows her gift is God-given and she has a respect for that gift. It is my thing and no one else can do it like I do it. Now youll have your thing and no one else can do your thing the way you do it too, right? Aint that nice?
