By Laurie Carmody Ahner
Owner and Director of Galerie BonheurMy particular love and passion is for colorful art from around the world. I first discovered such art in Haiti, and since then my scope has broadened to include the Caribbean, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Southern Asia, Africa, the United States, and Canada.
Through my travels and adventures in search of art, I have found a wealth of talent in this world among artists who have never had an art lesson. These people may be plumbers and mailmen by trade, but they are undoubtedly artists as well. They have a need to create art. Usually, because they are untrained, their work appears more spontaneous and fresh than traditional art. Folk artists listen to their inner voice rather than those of teachers or convention. Sometimes their expression is political, sometimes it is spiritual.
I find these artists to be welcoming, hard working, grateful, and proud. I’ve been in artists’ abodes where I was treated with all the respect due a dignitary. I am always touched when an artist and his or her family will bring out their finest china, special coffee, and specialties of the region. No wonder I love my business! I am treated like royalty by these proud human beings with so much talent, energy, creativity, and strength of spirit.
I find the general feeling of folk art happy, refreshing, expressive, and spiritual. It speaks from the heart and soul, and cheers me up every day of my life. Folk art is charming, easy to understand and appreciate. It expresses the world as the everyday man sees it, conveys the joy found in nature and the beauty of the world God created. Folk art is full of such earnest feelings of faith and peace which have become hard to come by in our fast-paced and materialistic culture. I named my gallery "Bonheur" which is French for "happiness, good feelings, or joy" as these are the feelings that I think that art should bring into our lives.
What is Folk Art?
by Maleen H. Corrigan, Folk Art CollectorThe realm of folk art is defined not so much by the work itself as by the extent to which the artist allows his inner voice to be heard and spoken. All folk art is characterized by a directness and vigor, strength of feeling and passion that is immediately sensed by the viewer. All folk artists, regardless of their country of origin, have one thing in common: they are self-taught , developing their own unique style within the context of their own limited experience. Many folk artists are the products of remote, poor villages; others live in developed cities and might in fact be employed in somewhat sophisticated jobs. All, however, make art without the sophistication of education. Their impetus for making their art evolves simply from the need to release an inner vision.
In spite of the fact that they have never been taught the fundamentals of art, folk artists know them instinctively. Color, design, rhythm and balance are the essence of any piece of folk art. Simple, strong shapes may be all it takes for one artist to make his statement. Another might fill a canvas with careful design and minute attention to detail. In either case the result is always a naive, almost child-like vision, characteristically pure in style.
A significant amount of the folk art featured has been created by artists who come from impoverished areas in Latin America and the Caribbean. Though many lack money, education and the comforts that we take for granted, they can always find time and money to buy or find the supplies they need to make art. While we tend to see art as decoration, they see art as a means of releasing the song trapped in their spirits. A painting isn't just a painting; it is a word or a story coming from the heart and soul of the artist. The images they create are a cultural response to the demands of poverty, often allowing the artist a means to cope. Their need to create results in a transformation from the ordinary to the extraordinary with the power to bridge the gap from their culture to our own.
