A work of art as a pebble in a pond
November 18, 2010
A work of art is born
Sometimes seeing a work of art acts on me like a pebble dropping into a pond. First the ground-zero splash, and then concentric rings rippling out in all directions. The best art pebbles and splashes ripple out further and further until… well, maybe forever.
Here the pebble splash is an intriguing and perplexing photograph by Debbie Martin. Hmmm… a bit of a mystery. What’s going on here? OK, it’s a musical instrument… a bass fiddle, right? But what’s the painting about and why is it on the bass? Who is this woman – her hair bountifully adorned - engaging us with a serene gaze? Isis, goddess of magic and life? Or – given our Dahlonega homes in the midst of these north Georgia mountains – perhaps a Cherokee earth or maize goddess?
While there are some ambiguities abiding, we’ve also got some clues about what the next ripples are and where they’re headed. The painted fiddle is the latest work of north Georgia folk artist Billy Roper (www.billyroperart.com), a visual storyteller of regional, national and international renown. I have had the good fortune of knowing Billy for the last several years and reflect on how much fun it is to talk with him about topics that range from art to Appalachian heritage to families to relationships to religion and just about everything under the sun. His stories draw from a deep well of candor, humor, compassion, knowledge and wisdom.
Billy has created this folk art bass to support his passionate belief that schoolchildren have opportunities to learn how to play instruments as ways to experience and express traditional Appalachian music. To that end, raffle tickets for the painted bass will be sold, and the proceeds will support the Georgia Pick and Bow Traditional Music School, a non-profit through which area musicians give music lessons to children in grades 4 through 12.
The next ripple occurs this Sunday evening, November 21, at The Crimson Moon Cafe on the square here in Dahlonega where the bass unveiling will occur during the aptly named event, Wood, Strings & Painted Dreams. In addition to the bass being publicly presented for the very first time, Pick and Bow students, music instructors and friends are gonna get down for a hand-clapping, foot-stomping rowsing good time. For tickets, give The Crimson Moon Cafe a call at 706.864.3982. BTW, your admission ticket Sunday evening gets you a raffle ticket on the bass, too.
On to the next ripple: we all have an opportunity to support the Pick and Bow dream by buying raffle tickets over the next several months. Contact Jimmy Booth by emailing him: jimmy@jimmybooth.com.
And all this leads to a giant ripple when the raffle drawing for the bass will be held at next spring’s Bear on the Square Mountain Festival on April 17, 2011.
So how far out does this bass rippling go and how long does it go on? Let’s see… Billy’s bass… Sunday’s event… we all buy tickets in the months ahead… the drawing next April… proceeds support the childrens’ lessons… they play for their families and friends… and then the children grow up and have their own children… who grow up in musical homes… and learn to play themselves. It feels like the rippling spreads around and down through the generations to come. So pretty far and forever, I reckon.
Come Sunday and join in on the fun. If you can’t this time, buy a ticket. Be the ripple you want to see in the world.
