Last summer my brother Richard and I made a day trip to Fayette. I've written about the town in northeast Alabama here. Our main purpose was a visit to the Fayette Art Museum. We had previously corresponded with Anne Perry, the director, who had expressed interest in having some of mom's artwork in the museum. She kindly gave us a tour, and I wrote specifically about the museum here. Richard and I were impressed with the collection of some 5000 pieces which includes works by well-known Alabama artists such as Lois Wilson, Jimmy Lee Sudduth and many others. That collection fills display areas on two floors, with much more in storage.
Since that visit the family has donated a number of mostly watercolor originals to the museum. On April 26 a reception was held at the museum to announce the opening of a gallery devoted to mom's art. Dianne and I were able to attend and met the city's mayor and his wife and current and former museum board members. We enjoyed refreshments, and the drive to the museum and back to Pelham took us through some wonderful undeveloped countryside in northeast Alabama.
We know mom would be very pleased to have her work in this museum in the company of its wide range of artists. More comments are below.
As I described in the previous piece about the museum, the Fayette Civic Center and Art Museum are located in a former elementary school that opened in 1930. The facility is used for many different events from concerts to wedding receptions, all in the midst of art displays everywhere.
This creation guarding the front entrance is one of several frogs around town created by local artists. in this case Deborah Hill in 2021.
We were greeted by a nice display featuring one of mom's floral paintings in oil. She worked in that medium for some years in the 1970s, but she was so prolific she wanted something that dried faster. She tried acrylics, but soon took up watercolor for good.
One of her favorite subjects was birds, and she painted many. On the left is what she called an enhanced mat, one on which she painted something decorative on the mat.
On the left is "On the Green" one of her "Bird Life" series of humorous bird paintings. On the right is one of her many hummingbird paintings.
In the 1990s the Franklin Mint issued two series of six plates each featuring mom's bird and bird house paintings. Here are four; below are two of the original paintings.
AMIA Studios specialized in stained glass items, from larger wall hangings such as the one below to smaller pieces. The original painting is above. The company celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2019, but no longer seems to be in business. AMIA also issued suncatchers, candle holders and similar items featuring mom's work.
Jack Black was a newspaperman in Fayette and was instrumental along with the city council in founding the museum in 1969. He served as director for 15 years.
Some of mom's work was featured in the museum's Christmas festival in December. Two of her many holiday paintings hang on the left.
The oil painting of two owls is the largest work of mom's we've ever seen. Through a fortuitous series of events, we purchased the painting in September 2023 from an estate sale in Huntsville. The work had been purchased from mom at an art show in the 1970s and hung in a home all those years just a few miles from mom and dad's house.
Work by Carolyn Shores Wright can be purchased as prints, greeting cards and on many other products at Fine Art America.
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